Swimming

Top Finishes

• 2007 – 6th at National Championships (50 backstroke)
  space– 1st place at Volente Beach 2K open water
  space– 1st place relay team at Marble Falls triathlon (1K open water)
• 2008 – 2 silver & 2 bronze at Spring Regional Championships (backstroke, breaststroke)
  space– 1 gold, 2 silver & 6 bronze at Summer Regional Championships (backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle)
  space– 1st place relay team at CapTex triathlon (1.5K open water)
  space– 2nd place relay team at Marble Falls triathlon (1K open water)
  space– 2nd place relay team at Longhorn Half-Ironman triathlon (2K open water)
• 2009 – 3 gold, 1 silver & 1 bronze at Regional Championships (backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle)
  space– 10th at National Championships in 2 events (50 backstroke, 200 backstroke)
• 2011  – 2 silver & 2 bronze at Regional Championships (backstroke, breaststroke)
• 2013  – 1 gold & 1 silver at Regional Championships (backstroke)
• 2014  – 5 gold, 1 silver & 1 bronze at Regional Championships (backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle)

Pesonal Best Times (Masters Age)

Backstroke:      50y – 28.53          100y – 1:03.24          200y – 2:19.71

Breaststroke:   50y – 32.86          100y  – 1:12.05         200y – 2:44.54

Butterfly:          50y – 27.38

Freestyle:          50y – 24.75          100y – 55.81              200y – 2:11.20          500y – 6:23.73          1000y – 12:49.18

Individual Medley:                       100y – 1:04.33           200y – 2:26.88

Swim Workouts (for competitive swimmers)

Over the years I’ve cataloged quite a few workouts.  I organized them in a document that can be printed in color and then laminated with pages put back-to-back before laminating.  This way you can have your chosen workout page with you on the pool deck.  I used different highlight colors to more quickly identify your chosen workout in between sets.  Where you see interval times, realize they are for my level of swimming and for a 25 meter pool.  Click on the graphic to download a PDF version of the workout document or click here if you want the source spreadsheet document for your own personal editing.

• • Workouts and substitute main sets ranging from 1200 to 3650 meters
  • Warm-up drills and end-of-workout killer sets
  • Special-purpose sets (ie – hypoxic)
  • Long distance workouts to assist with open water season
  • Suggested intervals and pacing (expressed as % of race speed)
  • Lots of variety

Getting Started with Swim Workouts (for non-competitive swimmers)

If you have tried, or are considering, swimming as a new fitness exercise, click here to download some advice I’ve shared with many others and compiled into a single source.  In addition to a recommended progressive approach and sample workouts, the document includes stroke advice, equipment recommendations, tips for avoiding injury and a website reference for finding good lap pools while on business travel.

Tips for Triathletes Looking to Improve the Swimming Portion

Most triathletes either hate or tolerate the swimming portion of the competition.  That’s because most of them didn’t grow up swimming but everyone learned to ride a bike and knows how to run.  Learning to swim with an efficient and effective stroke later in life isn’t impossible at all but doesn’t typically come easily without some level of coaching from someone who knows what to look for.  Swimmers with a proper technique look like they are just gliding through the water effortlessly.  Click here to download a document I put together with a handful of tips and tricks for frustrated or under-producing triathlete swimmers, including workout drills, equipment recommendations and race day suggestions.

My Favorite Swim Gear

Web-Based Software for Summer League Swim Teams

If you’re a coach for a summer league swim team or a parent of a child that swims on a summer league team, you’ve got to check out SwimTopia.  It’s a web-based software solution specifically designed for summer league swim teams.  It’s easy to use, very affordable and is compatible with the Hy-Tek Meet Manager software commonly used to run the actual swim meets (time recording, results, rewards, etc).  SwimTopia includes online team registration, team merchandise ordering, volunteer sign-up, swim meet entries, automatic relay team selection, tools for easy communication with the rest of the team and a customizable website for your team.