Final Day in Mesa
I’m writing to you as I am heading home from the long and exciting week I spent in Mesa. Casey and I made a quick stop to climb a mountain (which seemed like a must-do while we were there) and are flying back home as I am typing this. My last event at the Pro Series meet was the 100 freestyle, an event that I have struggled with the last couple of years. This event used to be my absolute favorite event, but due to the way college championship season works I rarely got the opportunity to swim it as my ultimate race. Losing focus with this event has really been difficult for me especially swimming it long course, but ending my meet with this even seemed very fitting for where I’m at as a whole. Although I did not swim a best time in this event I definitely was not too upset with having swam within a second of my best. Luckily Casey filmed my race and I must say that after watching it back I see very clearly my uncertainty with this race. You can actually see me thinking and changing up my stroke throughout the event but overall I am very happy with the way I swam this week.
After taking a little bit to let things sink in I feel very proud, thankful, and excited with where I’m at. Across the board I swam at best times or better and was willing to make some changes and consider different perspectives. I find so much confidence in the fact that I was able to make finals in multiple events and race some of the fastest swimmers in the world while still holding my own. All of that, and to be honest I don’t even feel as though I competed completely rested and fresh. There’s still plenty of work to do these coming weeks/months/year but I could not be more excited to take on this challenge. Coach Casey can attest to how excited I am about planning this next step not only in my own swimming career, but how we can start to apply what we learned to the program as a whole. I am excited to get back in on Monday with the National team and back to coaching Gold. To each of those groups, be ready because I’m bringing my A game! Thank you so much everyone for your support and I will continue to compete and coach with the honor and pride of representing Lyons.
