My favorite race

By Alan Tapley

Editor’s note:  Alan Tapley is the parent of two female swimmers, ages twelve and fourteen.  Over the past eight years he has been with them at hundreds of meets and practices.  He has had countless conversations with swimmers about what they would like the public to know about their pursuit of this grueling sport.

The week before Junior Nationals, my daughter was asked to swim a few token races at a nearby meet in preparation for the following week’s main event.  I was told that swimming the week before a big meet was often commonplace.  Three swims, no taper, no shave, wear your technical suit, and scratch the finals if you make it.  The coach picked the three events and on that Saturday, we showed up a half an hour before warm ups, as usual.  Choosing three events would not be too difficult as there were only four to choose from, and the 400 IM was a little too hard on the body.  So, the 200 free, my daughter’s least favorite event would be chosen as event number one.

Every swimmer has a few events that they only swim once, maybe twice a season.  For my daughter, it’s the 200 free.  She wasn’t awful at it, but her specialty was back and fly, which in turn also meant that she would usually swim the IM’s as well.  On occasion, she’d swim the 50 and 100 free for time, but rarely the 200 free.  So, out of 40 swimmers, she was seeded about 20^th, but even if she made it in the top 16, it wouldn’t matter, because she was supposed to scratch finals.  The pressure was off.

Then, a few days before the meet she informed me that her coach wanted her to swim the 200 freestyle doing the backstroke to prepare for her major events at Junior Nationals.  I was confused, and asked if she was allowed to do that?  Sure, she replied.  It’s freestyle, so you can basically do what you want.  At first, I was a little nervous for her.  Would people know that this was planned, and not just think she’s swimming the wrong stroke?  Does she need to tell the other swimmers?  I’d hate for her to be a distraction.  If it’s a DQ, can she still swim her other two events?  I had questions.

But as the swimmers prepared for the race, I was as calm as could be.  With no pressure to make finals, and the excitement of turning your least favorite event into a fun exercise for you and the fans, this was awesome.  When people would ask why she was doing the backstroke, I could tell them that it was her coach’s idea, and that she was preparing for Junior Nationals.  Pass the blame, and brag about my kid in one quick sentence.

So, off they went.  My daughter dove off the blocks with the seven other girls, flipped onto her back, and backstroked the 200 free in a 2:04.  Her time ended up being a new personal best for the 200 free, even though she didn’t actually swim freestyle. We laughed afterward about her new best time, and I asked in all seriousness, “If you can swim a 2:04 like that on your back, without a taper, what could you actually swim the 200 free in if you swam it right, and really went for it?”  She looked at me, smiled, and replied, “About a 2:04, I suck at the 200 free.”