190lbs

Remember when I was down and out? Remember when I had no desire to be at the pool? This seems like a distant memory to me now. Its unbelievable how fleeting some emotions can be. It’s like I was a rubber-band that was stretched to its max and about to snap. I felt like I was on the brink of coming completely apart. The amazing thing is that every bit of tension that gets released makes my spine seem to grow taller, my lungs feel like they breathe deeper and my mind actually feel like it becomes more confident and ready than it was just and day earlier.

I was talking to someone earlier today about the importance of finding ways to constantly gauge our progress. By finding ways to compare ourselves to what we were like yesterday, last month or last year we can gain confidence and momentum from seeing progress. Monday I benched more in the weight-room than I ever have. I weigh about 190lbs right now and benched 220lbs twice. I popped up from the bench, yelled and flexed all my muscles…I was so jacked up!!! This is my max ever. I was so excited about it because I am getting so much stronger! Getting stronger is going to be essential to my continued improvement in the pool.

I’m currently about seven pounds heavier than I was at the Olympics. In Omaha and Beijing I raced at around 183 or 184. I was without question one of the smallest if not the smallest guy at either event that was at the top level. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Now I weigh a consistent 190. I think I have put considerable muscle on since Beijing. In truth I really don’t know what this means or how this will affect my racing ability. The way I look at it is that I can always lose the weight. For now I’m continuing to get stronger and still swimming pretty fast. Eddie seems to think the added weight will help me maintain my momentum off the start and turns as well as break through waves. Eddie has always guided me to success so I will trust him on this one too!