Swim-Offs

The First Time

The first time was in June 2003 at the Charlotte UltraSwim. 

It was me vs. Eric Donnelly, a great friend of mine with an outstanding swimming career.  It was Eric’s birthday this past week, which reminded me of swim-offs and how this one in particular will always make me smile.

For context, Eric and I tied for 16th place in the 200 LCM Butterfly with a time of 2:11.00.

Now, at the time, my personal best was 2:10.20, although I had a good summer and went 2:06.98 two months later in August 2003 at Summer Nationals.

Eric’s personal best on the other hand was a 1:58.69, and he had been as fast as 2:01.54 two months earlier in April 2003 at Spring Nationals.

So right off the bat, we have a disparity of anywhere between 5.5 and 11.5 seconds depending on the inputs. Or, in MeenaMethod (MM) terms, my best time of 2:10.20 earned 90.30 points against Eric’s best time of 1:58.69.  Or, for 2003 specifically, my (future) best time of 2:06.98 earned 95.52 points against Eric’s best 2003 time of 2:01.54. So, if this were a betting event, I should have been handicapped 4.48 to 9.70 points.

Furthermore, the guy who placed 15th was swimming the 800 LCM Freestyle later in the day and was going to decide on scratching the 200 Butterfly after he finished the 800 Freestyle.  My point is, if he decided to scratch the 200 Butterfly then Eric and I would not have to do a swim-off.  The catch, though, was we would have to wait until after all of the 800 Freestyle heats were over to know.

Now since this was June (i.e., peak training season) our coach, Gregg Troy, said it was best for everyone (i.e., us to train, and the rest of the team not to have to wait) if Eric and I just went ahead and did the swim-off. So we did.

But first Eric, being part mentor and part competitor, decided to recruit some of his National team friends to stand behind his lane because he knew it would likely get in my head.

Well, I wish I could say I put up a fight, but sadly that was not the case.  In the swim-off, I added 1.40 seconds for a 2:12.40 and Eric (that sandbagging weasel) dropped 1.21 seconds for a 2:09.79.

Luckily (said in a very sarcastic tone) for both of us though, 15th place guy ultimately scratched from finals in the 200 Butterfly so Eric and I never needed the swim-off to begin with, but the damage was done.

In finals, I added more time and went 2:12.88 for 16th place, and Eric ultimately finished in 15th place with a 2:11.45.

The reason I like this story so much, other than being a nice memory two friends can still talk about 17 years later, is because it speaks to the fluctuations a swimmer goes through in peak training.  Every swimmer is different.  While some can consistently perform within a relatively narrow margin of time (like me), others perform in a much wider margin (like Eric). I remember in college at the University of Florida, Eric would be ranked in the world in the 400 IM but would get 8th in dual meets.  Meanwhile, I was pretty consistent with my in-season times.

Another thing I like about this story is Coach Troy did not think twice about choosing the tougher option for us.  He knew another swim would not hurt in the long term, and maybe it is a reason I dropped three seconds that summer.

But the cherry on top of this story is that the swim-off never mattered since the 15th place guy scratched.

Here is a breakdown of my three swims and Eric’s three swims that day.

The Second Time

The second time was in November 2009 when I was swimming for the New York Athletic Club post college and, well, my endurance was not quite what it used to be.

I do not remember the name of the Other Guy I had to swim-off against, but I do remember he was in high school and got his whole team to stand behind his lane during the race.  I also remember that the race was over before we finished the first lap. 

I tied Other Guy for 16th place in prelims a 1:01.80, which at that time earned 77.38 MeenaMethod Performance (MM) points against a world record of 50.40 (Ian Crocker, 2005) and earned 91.65 MM points against my personal best time of 57.04 from 2004.  As such, I was pretty happy with my time for the lack of training I had been doing (because I had a full-time job, FYI) and therefore I agreed to the swim-off because I wanted to try again at finals.

So, I stepped up on the blocks again, this time just me and Other Guy, and that was the only time I stood a chance at winning.  Ultimately, I did not have it in me for back-to-back swims and I added 2.50 seconds, went a 1:04.28 (for 72.46 points).  Other Guy beat me by two body lengths and I think he went a 1:01 or 1:02.

Here is a breakdown of my swims and Other Guy’s swims that day.