US Long Course Nationals

By David

Please don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not trying to be self important; far from it. But I have attended swim meets ranging from the Aqua Hawks East Coast Champs in Napier, New Zealand to the Olympic Games, and they’re about as far apart as you can get on this earth. And this weekend I’m at the USA National Championships with Rhi Jefrey and John Foster. If you ever get a chance come to a USA Nationals. It’s a hell of a meet, and so far I’ve only seen the first morning.

It’s not that the fastest person is all that fast. You’d expect the winner of the heats of the men’s 200 fly to swim around 1.57 and sure enough that’s what Gill Stovall did. It’s not surprising that Brendan Hansen won his heat in 2.11.50 or that Rebecca Soni won the heats of the same event in 2.28.37 or that Dana Vollmer swam 2.09.82 to record the fastest women’s 200 fly. This is a world class event; you expect world class times.

What does surprise is the bloody depth: the sheer number of fast swimmers. In most countries those that never qualify for the finals here would be lauded as national champions. Just look at this mornings four events. In the women’s 200 fly Melissa Jaeger will watch the 24 finalists tonight after swimming a real good 2.15.46. In the women’s 200 breaststroke a swim of 2.34.34 was still not good enough to get Jullie Stupp one of the 24 night time swims. In the same two events for men, 2.02.32 and 2.20.12 would see you watching the finals on TV. It’s just bloody amazing. With depth like that to watch where else would you want to be?

That depth of course can trip up even the very best. Who would dream that Tara Kirk would have to settle for tenth in the heats of the 200 breaststroke or that Michael Phelps even in one of his few “off-events” the 200 breaststroke would end up eleventh in 2.15.81. The depth of talent is amazing and impressive.

To be part of all this is a small piece of swimming heaven. I might sound like I’ve got a bad case of the “gee-whiz” disease but it’s bloody good to wander around the pool where Skip Kenny (did you know he was once an army sniper – wouldn’t want to misbehave in his pool), Dave Salo, Eddie Reese, Richard Quick and a score of other coaching names ply their trade. It’s fun to just say hello to Michael Phelps as he buys his morning bagel and coffee across the road from our hotel. It is an honor to meet Haley McGregory who was a heart-breaking third in both the 100 and 200 backstroke at the 2004 USA Olympic Trials and remains one of the nicest, upbeat and positive people you could ever meet.

The USA National championships; it’s a fun, it's serious and great place to be.