Swimming Challenge Day 1 - Favourite event to swim

Definitely the 50m Breaststroke. Short and Sharp. Not too fast but not too slow either. Just right. But….50m freestyle is fun fun fun. But I just love basically any 50m and 100m event in a short course pool!

-Adrian

For relays, I loove the 200 medley relay. I think it’s so much more exciting than the free relays. Individually, I like 50 free and 100 back. I’m getting much more used to the 500 free, so I like doing that if I’m not in a particularly “fast” mood.
~ Meg

Definitely the 50 free! It’s the easiest one to swim but the hardest one to drop seconds on. 100 back, 100 free, and 200 free (long course) are also a favorite of mine. 

-Arpeni

The 50 & 100 yd butterfly has become my favorite thing to swim. Though I haven’t been able to swim it in competition yet, I really look forward to it this year. The only event that I don’t like swimming is 100 free and anything breast. 

~Ang 

I love the 50 breast and 100 IM, which we have in summer league, but not in high school. In high school the 100 breast and the 100 free are my favorites, even though I’m not that good at free in general. 

-Alex

I would have to say the 50 free and the 500 free. I know totally different right. The thing is I just started the 500 this year because of high school and I surprisingly like it, and I’m pretty good at it. I also like the occasional back too.

-Mary

Day 2 - Favourite Stroke

My favourite stroke is Breaststroke for sure. I don’t know why, I was just naturally good at Breaststroke. If you think about it, it’s faster than my other strokes if you count it in my age group standards. My Breaststroke got me 20th overall at Metro All Junior championships (top 10 in every event and age group (14/U) at every district meet go to Metro all junior semi’s). I’m proud of a 39.94 in 50m breaststroke for a long course time. I look forward to short course season!
-Adrian

My favorite stroke is Backstroke. I love how when I’m swimming I see what’s going on. It’s my second fastest stroke. 

-Arpeni

My favorite is probably backstroke. It just comes easier to me, not to mention it’s easier to breathe! Haha. Plus I think it’s one of the easiest to make improvements on.
~ Meg

Breaststroke, easily. I’m really only average at the other strokes; breaststroke has been my thing since I started swimming. I like how there is always more technique to learn, as I have gotten older I’ve completely had to relearn most of my technique, but that keeps it fun! 

-Alex

Fly! Hahah. Really, I like all strokes. But I feel as though fly and back are my fastest things to swim. In fact, when I first started swimming, all my coach entered my in was back. She would enter me in every freestyle swimming event, then tell the judges that I would be swimming back. Sooo, yeah. :)

~Ang

Day 3 - Least Favourite Event

My least favourite event is anything Backstroke. I seriously am so bad (and slow) at it that it isn’t funny. Despite how much I have improved I still am horrible at this stroke.

-Adrian

100 Freestyle. I hate it. Hatehatehatehatehatehatehate it. I’ve had such horrible experiences swimming it in competition, it literally almost gives me panic attacks to even think about swimming it.

~Ang

Anything with over a 50 fly. Especially the 100 fly. I am so terrible at fly, I look like a drowning 6 year old by the time I get to a 75. I do not plan on ever, ever, swimming it in a race.

-Alex

Anything with breaststroke. 50 breast, 100 breast… its torturous. Yet at club meets I always sign up for a 100 breast. Oh and the 400 freestyle relay. That’s the worst relay.. ever

-Arpeni

It depends on the distance. Of the two strokes I like the least, I’d choose the 50 fly over the 50 breast, but the 100 breast over the 100 fly. I don’t mind IMs as much though. That’s different…
~ Meg

Freaking breaststroke man, anything that has to do with breaststroke . I hate breaststoke, everything about it. If it wasn’t for my sucky breaststroke my IM would be really good. Its just stupid and slow. UGHH I dislike it so much.               

~Mary

Ugh. I hate back AND breast, but I don’t know which one’s worse. I’m gonna go with breast because at least in backstroke, you can breathe!

~Mel

Day 5- Do you swim on a team?

I swim on my high school team with Mary and Alex Dec-May, and a summer rec league June-Aug with Mary. Alex is in the same league. She special. But her team is POOPY.
~Meg

Yep, I swim on a summer team called FAST dolphins and I swim for my high school team as well. My team is perfect and Megan and Mary’s team is LAME.
~Alex 

I swim with Megan and Alex for the high school team. Just Megan for summer league and Alex’s team is POOPY except for her of course. she’s just jealous because our pool has grass and hers doesn’t.  ~Mary                                                   

Yeah, I swim for a club team called Maribyrnong Mantas, a Squad team called Georgine’s MAC squad (Georgine is the name of our principal/head coach and MAC is the abbreviation of our swim centre’s name) and I swim for my schools team as well, Maribyrnong Secondary College or Maribyrnong Sports Academy.
- Adrian

I swim on a summer league from May- til about August. Then I have winter swim league, but it’s just a practice, from January until March.

~Ang

I swim on a club team and my high school swim team. Club is year round so high school team gets in the way from February to mid May. 

-Arpeni

I swim for Blue Waves year round. 

~Mel

Day 6 - Who’s your favorite professional swimmer?

Kosuke Kitajima, Park Tae Hwan. Gotta love dominant asian swimmers. Kosuke former WR holder in all Breast events and Tae Hwan, 400m freestyle 2008 Olympic/ 2007 World Champion. Plus both of them had top times in 2010.

-Adrian

Annamay Pierse. Not only is she Canadian, (best country ever!) she’s a breaststroke world record holder!

-Alex

Aaron Peirsol. Long live the king of backstroke
~ Meg

Katie Hoff. Woop woop.

Natalie Coughlin and Michael Phelps. 

-Arpeni

Katie Kinnear (she’s not that well-known, but she’s going to the 2012 olympic trials, and she’s in the top 100 age group list. 

~Mel

Day 7 - What’s your best time?

My best time for 50m Long Course breaststroke is a 39.94. 50m long course freestyle is a 32.34 (yes, my freestyle is slow, set February). Best 100m Long course breaststroke is a 1:33.10. SC PB’s are yet to be broken.

-Adrian

50 free-29.6, 100 back-1:19, 100 free: 1:02, 100 IM-1:15, 100 breast-1:13, 50 breast 34.40. My breast is faster than my back.

-Alex

I’m lazy. Click.
~ Meg

doing a 33.66 for the freestyle part of the 200 medley relay

-arpeni

500 free: 5: 54

400 im: 5:32

100 fly: 1:08

~Mel

Day 8 - Have you ever or do you know anyone who has broken any records?

A lot of swimmers from my club/squad have broken records. Most of them Meet records and district records but also quite a few state records. 2 of them also got swimmers of the meet for 8 gold medals (each of them) at States. I will break some year level records soon :P

-Adrian

Yes! I broke the 50 yard breaststroke 13-14 girls league record of 35.14 last year when I swam a 34.40. I have a team record for that and the 100 IM. A few other friends of mine have team records, including Stephanie and Paige.

-Alex

I haven’t broken any records YET (hehe) but a lot of kids from my swim team have broken  district/state records.

~Ang

I haven’t. I know her ^ (Alex), and my friend Stephanie broke the rec league 11-12 girls record for 50 free. I think it was a low 29.
~ Meg

i havent broken any records yet ;p but in february during championships at least 10 of my teammates broke records. an 8 year old broke the 25 free record!

-arpeni

I currently hold 4 records (800 free, 1000 free, 400 IM, 200 fly) but a bunch of my teammates have broken  a lot of records.

~Mel

Day 9 - Backstroke or Freestyle?

The answer is obvious. Freestyle!

-Adrian

If it’s a 50, I’d choose freestyle. For a 100 or more, I’d rather do backstroke.
~ Meg

Freestyle, backstroke is icky!

-Alex

Freestyle and Backstroke are my two favorite strokes. So it’s a hard decision

-Arpeni

If its more than a 100 then definitely free, go distance! But if it’s sprint or like in the 200 medly relay then it would have to be back.

~Mary

Freestyle all the way!

~Mel

Day 10 - Butterfly or Breaststroke

Breaststroke for sure! Not for the obvious reasons. But swimming breaststroke makes me feel fast because it’s the only stroke I am relatively fast at for my age standard.

-Adrian

I’d rather do 8x100’s breaststroke than butterfly. Breaststroke isnt my favorite, i hate it but when it comes to butterfly id rather do that

-arpeni

Butterfly. No doubt in my mind what so ever. I hate breaststroke and when I do it it’s not that pretty. So it would be butterfly all the way.

~Mary

Butterfly. I hate breaststroke.

~Angie

Butterfly if it’s a short distance and it’s just chill, not sprint-y. Breaststroke for long sets, since it’s easier to be lazy with it. But I like the fly in the medley relay.
~ Meg

Breaststroke is my best stroke by far. Actually, my 100 breast is faster than my 100 back, fly or IM :P. My fly is pretty much a terrible mess anyway, I can’t figure out how to keep going. Breaststroke makes more sense.

-Alex

Are you kidding? Butterfly for sure. It’s actually one of my best strokes, whereas my breaststroke…

~Mel

Day 11 - Have you ever taken score at a swim meet?

Nope. Never been time-keeper or anything. The only thing I’ve ever done at a swim meet is have fun and swim my best.  

-Adrian

Nope. I’m just barely trusted enough to swim… :P

~Angie

Umm…what? No. We have computers to do that.
~ Meg

No, If I’m not swimming I’m hanging with my friends. And also like Meg said we have computors for that.

~Mary

No way, I’m too busy swimming/talking/wandering around aimlessly waiting for my events

-Alex

noo they wouldnt trust me to do that

-arpeni

No way! I can barely count laps..how am I supposed to keep score if I can’t do that?

~Mel

Day 12 - What do you usually swim in a meet?

On the high school team, I swam a lot of things. As a sprinter, I swam the 100 IM and 100 back, and 200 and 400 free relays. As distance, I swam the 200 IM or 500 free and 100 back, and also two relays. On the summer team, I swim pretty much every individual event, depending on what team we’re up against. And the 200 medley and 200 free relays.

~ Meg

I swim the 100 breast and the 100 free in high school. I used to do the 100 back, but it was literally 3 minutes before the breast and it messed up my breast times. I swim the 200 medley and 400 free relays at high school. In summer league I swim the 50 breast 100 IM, 200 medley relay and 200 free relay., I used to do 50 free as well but I simply can not drop time in that event.

-Alex

At School Carnivals (school trials) I swim all the events - The relays (4x50), all the 50s of all the strokes, the 200 I.M and Freestyle. I usually only get selected for spots on the 4x50 medley and 4x50 freestyle relays + either 50 or 100 breast though. When I race at meets with my club, being a sprinter, I usually or always swim the 50m and 100m breaststroke as well as the 50m freestyle. Though in the past I’ve done 200m breaststroke, 100m I’M (which I might contest again this SC season with my improved backstroke) and 50m Butterfly.

-Adrian

I usually always swim the 50yd free, back and breast in individual events. I usually swim the breast portion of the Medley Relay and the 3rd length of the Free Relay.

~Ang

In high school swimming I’m strictly a distance swimmer doing the 500 and 200 free with the occasional 100 back. I Also swam in the 200 medley relay doing back and either in the 200 or 400 free relay. Summer league It changes year to year. I always swim the 50 free and then depending on the meet I would swim back, fly or IM. Free and back is what I usually swim, never breaststroke. Then the 200 free and 200 medley relay in which I mostly swim back.

~ Mary

in high school swimming i did the freestyle leg in the 200 IM, a 50 back or 50 breast, 100 free, 100 IM, 200 free, 200 free relay, and the 400 freestyle relay. in club, i swim the 200 free, 100 back, 100 free, 100 breast, 50 free and the 200 IM. 

-arpeni

It’s weird, because I haven’t TOTALLY figured out if I’m a distance swimmer or a sprinter, because I’ve been trying to qualify in my sprinting events, which are a little closer to qualifying then my distance ones. But, I tend to win more distance events. 

UPDATE (2012): My events are- 500 free, 100 fly (SCY) and 800 free, 200 fly, and 400 IM (LCM)

~Mel

Day 13 - What’s your favourite event to cheer on

Watching/cheering the sprints for all the strokes is quite exciting. The 200m freestyle is one hectic event, not too short, but not too long either. But the most exciting events would have to be the relays for sure. I’m sure a lot of you would agree with me on this one.

-Adrian

the relays for sure! it’s always the most exciting event. high school season i would always be at the other end cheering for everybody. the 50 free and 100 back are also my favorites

-arpeni

the relays, IMs or long free :)

~Angie

Love cheering for the boys’ relays in summer league (200 medley and 200 free). Our guys are always really close, and they make a good team. We usually win those events, and most of them are close races, like .5-1 second lead.
~ Meg
P.S. When Mary cheers for the IM, and I see her on breaststroke leaning over the edge of the deck, yelling her head off, I have to close my eyes a little to not see her. And then, after my turn, I can still hear her underwater while doing my pull down.

My favorite for sure would be the relays. The mens 200 free & Medley for summer league is the best to cheer for. There something different in the summer, maybe it’s the weather or something but that is the best. I started to cheer for them because of my brother (I always cheer loudly for him) and it just stuck whether he was in it or not. It also feels great when they win by a little and the other team is disappointed and you just feel like your team is unstoppable. IMs are are also my favorite because in fly and breast they can see you and hear you the best, as Meg and alex can attest I can be very loud.

~Mary

(Mary cheers really loudly and is kinda scary :P) I like cheering for relays and breaststroke, relays because it changes and is less boring than watching one person swim tons of laps, and breaststroke because it is my thing and I like tostalk follow other people’s times for comparison. 

-Alex

I think the 100 free, 200 IM are fun to watch, but not nearly as fun as the relays!

~Mel

Day 14 - What color is your swimsuit?

Oh jeez, Alex is gonna love this question. Okay, well my suits are all boring. I have 2 practice suits, one blue and one black. I have a navy blue race suit. Then I have 2 2-piece practice suits, one that’s green and white and one that’s red and white. And I have a summer league suit that is green-and-black checkered and looks really stupid but really cool at the same time.
~ Meg

:DD Yay! I like swim suits! I have a navy blue one like Megan’s and the same style in red, 2 practice suits a rainbow/black reversible one (the other side is the solid rainbow pattern and I have a matching cap)  and a yellow and black one Now picture these with neon pink tights for drag the last 2 weeks before champs. Pretty lovely :P I have my Fastskin in blue for big meets. And I just got permission to order this sparkly one for my birthday!

-Alex

LOL well I have the same navy blue has Alex and Meg for High School. A green and black practice suit that was a meet suit. A suit in purple, pink, and blue in a design like this suit but a different color; I love this suit. Then another black and green suit.

~Mary

oh my… I have a practice suit that looks like this, an old team suit-turned practice suit that looks like this (black/red), a new team suit that looks like this (green) and I just ordered this practice suit.

~Angie

i love swimsuits! i have 2 of this in black and blue. i ordered this in the colors black, both blues, and red. i have this in blue it was my high school swim team suit and i use it as a practice suit for club. and then fore meets i wear this its my baby

-arpeni

I have two Speedo Endurance Briefs for training, one in black, the other in green. My racing suit on the otherhand is from a brand called Yingfa. It’s not a popular brand, but their racing suits hella sweet in quality and design. And this would be the one I have. It’s black with white stitching and 2 blue stripes or linings I guess? The Apolo 9402-7 on the male racing costume list. Check out more on the Yingfa Australia website. http://www.yingfa.com.au/Default.asp 

-Adrian

Jeez, I have so many. I have three training suits, one which I never use (blue, tie-dye-like). Another one is a yellow, blue, and green Uglies suit. The last one is this purpley, kind of shiny, and bits of green on the sides. My meet suit (we don’t have any club-organzied meets during the summer, but we do USA ones) for the fall, is blue, has white stripes on the sides, and has the team logo on the front. I’d post the links, but I can’t find them online.

~Mel

Day 15 - What’s your favorite thing about swimming?

Well that’s a very hard question with what could be a very long answer. To sum it all up though in one word…everything. I love everything about the sport. The hard training sessions, the satisfaction of a good race or practice, the ups and downs of a meet or practice, basically everything that comes with this sport is the one reason why I will never (or at least hope to) never really ‘step away’ from the sport. It’s changed my life too much for me to even think of ever doing so and I just love it more than any thing, even on days that I’m feeling off with my strokes or just down in general I’ll go. Go for the love of the sport. Swimming is more or less and escape for me. I’d be having a bad day for whatever reason it may be, and as soon as my face enters the water, my worries have literally been washed away.

-Adrian

this is a very hard question. swimming is my everything. i live for it. everything about it is amazing. the feeling of accomplishment when you do a hard set or you drop time in your favorite event its motivation for me to keep pushing myself. when your coach tells you your doing better and improving, or when you beat your own personal record. it’s amazing. i could go to practice in the worst mood ever but the minute my body is in the water i forget all about it. it relaxes me. swimming is the hardest sport. when i drop time i know that i put all i had into it and i did the best that i could and that i tried during practice. swimming is my life. i could never imagine my life without it. it’s all i think about. i put swimming before everything else

-arpeni

I think my favorite thing about swimming is how much it makes you push yourself. In a good way. Since it’s individual, it all depends on you to improve. You have to want it, and you have to be willing to put in the work during practices. And achieving one of your goals makes you feel like you’re on top of the freaking world. Swimming is like a stress reliever. No matter how crappy my day is, as soon as I get in the water and start swimming I forget about most other things. Even if it’s just doing a a couple 100s during PE, it still feels good. And in swimming, you become really close to a few people, and they’re like your swimming family. Everyone is supportive of everyone else on the team during races, because there is a kind of family dynamic around the pool, even if you don’t like some people outside the pool. As much as I complain about practices and gross hair and some of the people in my lane, I don’t know what I’d do without swimming.
~ Meg

What’s not to like? Swimming has made me a stronger person- mentally and physically. I love stepping on the block, and feeling the excitement of a meet. I love the beginning, middle, and end of a race. I was born to be in the water. So, for me, this is challenging because I can’t pick just one. But, my “favorite” (I don’t really have a favorite because I have so many) is the feeling you get when you drop time, and you know you deserve it because you’ve been swimming 6 days a week for 2 hours for a long time(:

~Mel

Swimming means so much to me. Its so individual, I definitely put so much more effort in in swimming than I do for my soccer games. Its just not the same, swimming you depend on yourself, which can be difficult, because when things go badly there is nobody else to share the blame. But at the same time, swimming gives you the mentality that anything is possible, and you don’t have to rely on others to do things right. Anyone who wants to can drop times, maybe even set records someday. It isn’t luck of what team you end up on or how good your opponents are when you win, like soccer sometimes is. You can be swimming for the worst team in the league, against a team that beats your team every time, but you can still turn it around and come out on top. Swimming is all on what you can do, no matter what everyone else is doing. 

-Alex

My favorite thing about swimming is how it can be utterly peaceful, how I can be at peace. I love Swimming, it’s one of my outlets. I can just swim and think about the technique or a song going though my head. I don’t think about school or home or anything that’s stressing me out. During Swimming I can just let go, let anger out during sprints and fly, where only a few can really tell. Let go of tears and just focus on what I’m doing at the moment. But not only is swimming an outlet but it also pushes you to do things you didn’t think you could do. At the end of the day the best feeling is realizing that you survived the toughest practice and the toughest sets you have ever had. Then the next day comes and it’s even tougher. Those feelings of accomplishment when you improve yourself and beat the other person by milliseconds. When you finish so hard after a race that you are so exhausted that your legs are shaking but you are grinning anyway, that’s why I swim. It also brings you closer to people. Those long days at a meet hanging out, looking back I don’t regret joining up; my life would be totally different.

~Mary

Swimming is my everything. It’s everything I hate and everything I love. It’s a reason for me to push myself. A reason to try things I’ve never tried before. Swimming is my outlet. It’s where I let out all of my anger and sadness and everything. It doesn’t matter what my day’s like, whenever I dive into that pool, nothing matters. It’s just me, the water, and the black line at the bottom of the lane. It’s my inspiration and I’ll never quit the sport.

~Angie