My Top 10 List

After the end of each swim season (SCY, LCM, SCM) USMS releases the Top 10 Times for each age group for every event. I personally consider my Top 10 Individual Listings a pride of honor. So I get upset from time to time when I hear or read things like this (from USMS Forum):

- if you are desperate, 1500 and 200 Fly are always calling.

- do a 200 fly or 800 or 1500. You might have a better shot in those events.

While it is true less people will swim the 200 fly or the 1500 freestyle compared to swimming the 50 freestyle it should be no less of an honor. It's not like you just show up a USMS swim meet, jump in the pool, swim 60 laps and automatically make the Top 10 list. In fact I didn't make the Top 10 list the first year I started to swim distance events. Then in 2006 I received Top 10 times for my 1500 Freestyle and my 200 Butterfly. Both of those times I achieved at the 2006 Chicago Gay Games which I trained my ass off for. Then came 2007 a year that I didn't swim the 1500 freestyle and I actually missed the list in butterfly even though my time did improve. I was on the preliminary list for the butterfly but got bumped. As it stands now I'm on the 2008 LCM Top 10 Preliminary list for the 200 Butterfly and the 1500 Freestyle. I spent a lot of time in the pool this summer working on my swimming.

In some ways I think that is may even be easier to make the Top 10 List in sprint events as swimmers have more opportunities to swim these events at meets. While swimming the 1500 is usually limited to longer bigger meets. I usually only get to swim it once or twice per year. Talk about making a tough event even tougher when you don't get the chance to swim it that often.

Making comments about having a better shot at swimming the 1500 freestyle really is not fair to those who spent countless hours working on pacing to swim this event. Us distance swimmers spend just as much time swimming and working on our events as the sprinters. My previous 1500 SCM Freestyle time was 18:52 until earlier this year when I did an 18:26. I then spent countless workouts swimming sets designed for me to learn to find my pace and set it. At SPMA SCM Regionals all that pool time helped me do a time of 18:02.14.

As for 2008 SCM Top 10 times I compared my times this weekend to last years list and I have a very good chance of having 4 Top 10 times in the 200 fly, 200 back, 400 free and the 1500 free. I'll know in March for the SCM Season and sometime this month for the LCM Season.