Swim Season Wrap-Up
Hello again!
The swim season has come to a close and now it’s time for some much needed R&R. This season has had some pretty cool highlights.
I kicked the 2023-2024 campaign off with international competition at the Santiago Pan American Games, where I earned four medals. Over the course of the season, I continued to take steps forward and generally improved my season best each competition.
I travelled… a lot. With clinics, meets and an altitude training camp mixed in, I spent much of my time away from home. However, this was a great opportunity to have new experiences and meet new people. I got to race in a NFL football stadium in front of the largest swim crowd in history. That was awesome.
I raced some more after that and I’ll talk about that shortly, but I have put myself in a strong position to make the US National Team for the second year in a row. Overall, it has been a phenomenal season and I can’t wait for what’s in store for the future.
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What’s Happening?
After the Olympic Trials concluded, I went back to putting some work in. I wanted to put my best foot forward at the Summer Champs at the end of the summer before taking a true break. I did get the chance to go home to MN over the Fourth of July and went up north for some family time at the cabin. During that stretch, I practiced a few times with Aquajets. My former teammate-turned-swim coach Giovanni Gutierrez gave me a super tough butterfly workout, but I managed to survive!
I got back to racing only three weeks after trials with Speedo Sectionals in Columbia, MO July 10th-13th. The pressure was off and I wanted to swim some events I didn’t race at trials. On my first day of competition, I won the 200 backstroke with a season best 2:01.22 (only 0.55 away from my PB from the 2021 Olympic Trials). I wish I had the chance to swim that fully tapered at trials, but the stars didn’t align! At the end of that session, I raced on the 4x50 freestyle relay and anchored in a 22.34.
The next day, I took another crack at the 200 freestyle and swam a 1:48.05, only 0.13 off my season best from prelims at trials. This was a huge swim and gave me loads of confidence going into the Summer Championships. On the penultimate day of the meet, I raced Mizzou backstroker Grant Bochenski in the 100 back where he got the best of me 54.92 to 55.83. On the 4x100 free relay, I anchored in a lifetime best 48.14, which is also a very competitive freestyle split. The final day, I won the 100 free with a 49.84 and led off the 4x100 medley relay with a 55.38 backstroke split.
I enjoyed the low key racing and focusing on having fun. This ended up being a great final tune up for the Summer Champs.
I had a great outing at the Speedo Summer Champs in Irvine, CA July 23rd-27th! I started off the meet with a strong 1:55.79 in the 200 butterfly, only 0.14 away from my best time from trials and good for silver. The next day, I placed 4th in the 100 free, going a 49.56. On the third day, I only swam prelims of the 100 butterfly and rested up for the 200 free. After a disappointing performance at trials and a good showing at sectionals, this event was my primary focus in Cali. I raced to a 1:47.01, placing me second and my fastest time in two years from when I went a 1:46.92. What a breath of fresh air and fantastic way to cap off the season!
Looking Ahead
I’ve been swimming without a break for the last twelve months and am excited to just relax. The next racing I have scheduled will be the three-stop World Cup circuit in Asia in October. The first stop is October 18th-20th in Shanghai, China, then it’s Singapore October 24th-26th and finally Incheon, South Korea, October 31st-November 2nd. I will start getting back into shape in the middle of August, but plan to prioritize family and fun for those first few months of training.
Fun Fact: I was born in Hong Kong! While I’m in Asia for the World Cup, I plan to stop in discovery bay and see the house where I spent the first few years of my life!
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