Forget Paris

Forget Paris. That's what I had to tell myself after this day. But, Paris is there and always will be. Maybe someday I'll get to go back (I went there once before for a diving meet when I was younger). Until then, I'll continue to cheer for Mark via live results from the Open EDF (Paris Open). It was last week. Mark raced and raced well. Mark went a 1:01.1 in the 100m breaststroke. This is his fastest swim all year and, as far as I know, the fastest that any American has gone this year {feel free to correct me if I am wrong}.

That's me... bottom row, second from the left. See, I told you I'd been there before!

Last year at the Paris open Mark swam out of his mind {1:00.7} unshaved and untapered. We were thrilled. Mark then swam well at the end of the summer {1:00.2}, however we expected a bigger drop and while we weren't disappointed, we still wondered if he could have been faster. I call this the SEC effect.

You see, in college we swim and dive at our conference meet {we went to Auburn and therefore competed at the Southeastern Conference, hence "SEC"} and then swim and dive roughly a month later at the NCAA championships. Some people rest, taper, and hope to peak at SECs and some people train through SECs and focus on NCAAs. I was the queen of performing out of my mind in February at the conference meet and then missing the mark when it really counted. Rookie mistake. It wasn't until my senior year in college that I figured it out. I still performed well at SECs--I think I placed in the top three in each of my three events (1m, 3m, and 10m), but I was not, by any means, en fuego. I was good... not great. But I was thrilled. You see, good not great means that you've still got great in you. That, my friends, is the SEC effect. That is what I told Mark via over-zealous texts between Auburn, Alabama and Paris, France.

"Great swim, honey. And I know you've got something even better to show 'em later this summer"

He, too, acknowledged the potential of the summer by replying, "Good swim, but not as smooth as I'd like to be." I translate this to, yep, I was fast, but I can be faster. You're right, my darling everyday Olympian, you've got great in you, but now is not the time. Give it a month and then let it rip!