Friday morning: Finally, almost to the end of the week! This weekend is going to be packed with activities--the Gold Rush regatta up at Lake Natoma, my college friend's engagement party, and some real-life-job work to do the rest of the weekend.
Due to Malcolm X Day, which was yesterday, Thursday's swim was moved to Friday. Since this morning, we had no Lake Merritt Rowing Club (LMRC) Women's team practice, I got to swim this morning--a rare treat for Fridays! Plus, more importantly, today was the last day that this guy visiting from Japan would be here (see Tuesday's swim). There was no way I was not going to show up for the last showdown of 6x75yd kick with fins in the warm-up.
If you are a casual swimmer and maybe did not swim in high school or college, you probably do not bother with flip turns when you swim your laps. I used to be like that because I would be faster doing an "open" turn (basically touch the wall and go) than a flip turn. Today, I lost because of the flip turn. For the 6x75yd kick, Marcia had us do flutter kick with the kick board. I think this guy visiting from Japan and I were about the same speed, but he did a flip turn off each wall, WITH the kick board and came in a few seconds before me. I was too chicken to do a flip turn--fearful that I would lose either the board or my fins or both in the process. From now on, I will practice the flip turn with a kick board so the next time this guy shows up, I will be ready!
Marcia had a special set for us today. Instead of swimming back and forth, she had us pull out the lane lines and practice open water swimming. If you have never raced open water before, it is like the Wild West. Murky water, buoys, arms and legs flying everywhere, and the sensation of panic and drowning. We practiced sighting with "alligator eyes," just your eyes above the surface and checking that you are on course. Marcia's advice here is, "Never just follow everyone else. Make sure you do your own sighting!" We also practiced turning around the buoy, which requires taking a stroke on your back to make the turn.
Open water swimming is similar to bowing a blind boat, i.e. boats, such as singles, doubles, quads, pairs, that have no coxswain. When you open water swim, you have to be conscious of the swimmers around, maybe find someone to draft off of, check your course every 10-20 strokes, and keep swimming no matter if you get kicked, have to swim on top of someone, or lose your goggles. When you bow a boat, you have to be aware of all the other boats on the water, maybe pace another boat and wait to make your power move, check your point every so often (depends if you are racing in a lane), and keep rowing no matter if someone catches a crab, you miss water, or you lose your hat.
Both open water swimming and bowing require you to be a smart athlete, use your brain, and make a judgement call. Sometimes you can make the wrong call--you cut another boat off, you make a move at the wrong time, or you over-correct your course. But that's how you get experience!
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