Summer Swim Scene

To many swimmers the Summer is an excellent time to take a break from swimming. The mental hiatus often outweighs the missed training. Some swimmers need this time off to avoid “burning out”, and they will often return in the Fall with a renewed excitement for swimming.

 

To other swimmers, the Summer is an excellent time to break barriers and focus completely on training. Its also an important time to train in long course 50 meter (Olympic Size) pool. In Maine there are no long course pools, yet the Summer Championship meet is held in St. John, New Brunswick in a long course pool. To prepare for a pool more than twice as long as the one they train in, coaches train their athletes with sets of 125s and 225s, opposed to 100s and 200s. Its the most effective way to prepare, but its not quite the same. There is a another way, but not in Maine.

 

As a swimmer who knows how beneficial the Summer season can be, I have decided that it is time to begin earning valuable experience in a long course pool. In order to qualify for Olympic Trials a cut time must be swum in a long course pool. The best way to achieve that goal is to spend some significant time training in one.

 

I have moved from Bangor for the summer to the closest long course pool – the Jenny Thompson pool in Dover, NH. There are significantly fewer meets in Maine during the summer, thus I have decided to use this blog to describe my Summer as I train in pursuit of the “Olympic Dream”.

 

With two years until the 2016 Olympic Trials in Omaha, training begins now.

Matthew England

About Matthew England

Matt is a former Bangor High School swimmer and currently swims for coach Susan Lizzotte at the University of Maine. He holds team records for the Bangor Hurricanes, Bangor High, and the University of Maine. He is an exercise science major for the class of 2016.