First Long Course Meet

Natalie went to her first long course meet this past weekend. There were no 50 meter races, only 100 meter and 200 meter races for her. Patrick told her that the first time he was in a long course meet, he looked across the 50 meter pool and thought, "Wow, it's a really long way to that wall!"

Natalie's coach wasn't at this meet. There was a meet in Corpus Christi also this past weekend, and he was there with some other members of his team. The coach from the team above Natalie's was her coach instead. She wasn't that familiar with him, but Patrick told me that he seemed like a really great coach.

She swam in the 200 IM and 200 Free races on Saturday and the 100 Free, Breast, Back, and Fly (in order) races on Sunday. Her seeded times and actual times, along with how she placed amongst the 10-year-olds are listed below:

200 IM--Seeded time 3:36.51/ Actual time=3:28.36/ 8th out of 15

200 Free--Seeded time 3:10.71/ Actual time=3:07.93/ 8th out of 17

100 Free--Seeded time 1:26.66/ Actual time=1:25.36/ 7th out of 19

100 Breast--Seeded time 2:00.02/ Actual time=1:59.71/ 13th out of 20

100 Back--Seeded time 1:29.81/ Actual time=1:27.64/ 1st out of 23

100 Fly--Seeded time 1:36.18/ Actual time=1:40.53/ 3th out of 7

Note that the seeded time were mathematical conversions from a 25 yard pool to a 50 meter pool. Patrick says there really isn't an accurate way to do that since the times are affected by how well a swimmer does turns in the pool and other factors. Other notes are as follows:

--Natalie improved her seed time in all but one of the races. Still, she was in tears because she thought she could do better. Her tears were more short-lived than in the previous meets, however, so hopefully she is starting to find that balance between high expectations and reality.

--Her coach gave her specific critiques after her first race of the meet, the 200 IM race on Saturday. She took this as "stuff she did wrong". We explained to her that was not the case. He was merely letting her know what small things she could do to improve. Patrick keeps telling her that she is getting good enough that there aren't any big things, only little things that she can improve on to decrease her times.

--She really does better when she hangs out with her friends in between races. She calms down and enjoys herself more. They also encourage each other. She got a better time in the 100 Back than two of her friends (Renzi and Aspen). Renzi was the one who came up to her and informed her that she got first place.

Natalie's big goal is to meet the TAGS Time Standards so she can go to the big meet in July. She has high expectations for herself but that goal is actually very possible. I'm praying that will be the case because meeting that standard will go a long way to giving her the confidence she needs to keep going for the long term.