So there I was sitting in the marshalling area surrounded by kids. It was the slowest heat and I was in it. I wasn’t in the slowest heat because I was slow, I was in the slowest even because I didn’t have time to register. 2 weeks of training under my belt, about 7 sessions down and about to dive in for my first swimming race in over 5 years.
The first objective
We all sat in the straight line with chairs which is labelled 
one through eight. The marshall called us out name by name. As he did we walked out and sat behind the diving blocks at the end of the pool. I was giving lane eight which was right up against the side wall of the pool. To be honest I didn’t mind being out in lane 8. However being blind in my left eye meant that I couldn’t see any with my competition through my peripheral vision, not that it mattered. I say not that it mattered because I really wasn’t racing then I was racing the clock. I just have to beat the qualifying time of 43 seconds 50 meters freestyle.
The swimming race in front of us left and took off down the pool. There I stood behind the block of lane eight. Shirt off, fat and flab everywhere and swimmers as tight as a ducks arse hanging on to my waist for dear life. I felt weird, I didn’t know whether I was being judged or being admired. If I had to guess I think it would’ve been the first of the two. I’m sure not everyone thinks this is a good idea considering that I coach swimming which seems to be a handful already.
Board shorts
Did I mention up until now I training board shorts? I figure if I’m going to do this then I have to do it properly and I have to work my backside off. So wearing board shorts makes things twice as hard. The board shorts have three pockets, two open pockets at the side and one zip pocket at the back. When training I make sure they’re all open. Trying to swim with board shorts on is a lot harder. It produces more drag and makes everything so much slower.
The starter blew the whistle which is the sign for people to get up on the starting blocks. I stepped up on the block and stomped my right foot three or four times on the block. This is a habit I do just to try and put myself up a little bit more towards to come. “Take your marks,” said the starter, then a large audible beep could be heard. In case you didn’t know these days they don’t use a cap gun, it’s a beep with a flash. And that was it I was off.
Racing
I hit the water and did my usual four fly kicks and then started my freestyle kick.
I popped up out of the water and I think I was sitting in about second last place for most of the swimming race. As I said it really wasn’t about placings it was just about time. As I got to 20 meters to go I could feel myself start to slow down. The worst part was there was nothing I could do about it so I just put my head down and kept going as hard as I could.
I touched the wall and a wave of relief washed over me. I did it. 36:97 will endeavour qualifying time for New South Wales Country Championships. With 25 seconds between each race, I didn’t have time to recover. I just had to drag myself out of the pool and try not to collapse in a heap on the concrete.
The second objective
So that was one swimming race out of the way, 50 backstroke to go. I got a fair bit of rest between each of these races. So I went had a couple of drinks of water, some bread rolls for some carbs and went back to my coaching and duties. 12 a clock rolled around and it was time to go to marshalling again. I walked over got my name checked off and Saturday chair. As everyone around me chatted I tried to focus on the job that was in front of me. I had to make the other qualifying time. Again the marshall called out our names as we walked over to our blocks. Again I was in lane 8 purely because I didn’t have a time yet. As the rest of the swimming race progressed down the pool and then I was up again.
I stood behind the blocks that same feeling judgement washed over me. This time, however, I tried to not to let it worry me this time. I did my usual habit of stomping my foot as the check starter blew the whistle for us to get in the pool. Dropping straight into the water and the crouching on the bottom of the pool. I then exploded up out of the water to grab the handles on the starting block.
Just the start
I used to have a pretty good backstroke start however our the wall of our local pool can be a tad slippery. So I had one foot a little lower than the other just below the line. The idea was to give me a bit more grip so that I couldn’t slip in completely stuff up. Thankfully this worked so when the beep happened I got a fairly decent start and was able to get a good streamline position. Plus my fly kick was pretty solid under the water.
To be honest I have no idea where I was placed in the race because I couldn’t use any of my peripheral vision to see where everyone else was. There was no way I was about to turn my head look. It felt pretty solid for most of the swimming race, then again I was about halfway. From then on it got harder and harder, my arms started to feel like lead and tops my legs felt as if they’re on fire but I had to keep going. I had to make this qualifying time.
Staring at the sun
Normally on an outside pool, I try to keep my eyes focused on one cloud the whole race. By doing this I can hold a straight line, but of course, today was just all blue skies. So I bit the bullet and just stared at the sun that way I could hold my straight line 
without hanging either the wall or the lane ropes. I really don’t recommend doing this and I probably won’t do it again. As I saw the backstroke flags pass over my head I knew I had 5 meters to go.
I kept kicking as fast as I could and tried to spin my arms a faster. I hit the wall on a full stroke which I think was more good luck than good management. Again I had 25 seconds to drag myself out of the pool. As I lent over to catch my breath I had no idea what time I did or what I was even close to the qualifying time.
I got back to our coaches table by where myself and the other coach were sitting for the day and he informed me of the good news. I did it objective number 2 was achieved. 44:25, I was well and truly under the qualifying time of 51 seconds.
Well, that was the first goal achieved now time to set the new task.
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