Andrew Rutz's blog

Short Course Nationals, 2008

Well, it's over. One and a half years of planning and practice... and it's over. The 2008 USMS Short Course National Championships held at the University of Texas' Swim Center are now in the history books. (short course is a swimming term that means the pool is setup to be 25 yards in length (as opposed to a 50 meter pool, eg).

I injured myself a month before the meet, so I wasn't able to swim, but I was able to "see my name in lights":

I was head of the Registration committee, and I also worked as Head Timer on Saturday. There were 1865 USMS (Masters) swimmers from all around the country. There were all kinds of swimmers ... all the way from Olympians (eg, Josh Davis and Shaun Jordan) to "normal people" whose story might even make you cry.

I had entered the 100 yard breastroke, 100 IM, and 200 IM. The only digital record of my being there is this video of my heat in the 100 IM from floswimming.org. I use the term "video" loosely, as you will not SEE me in the video... you will only be able to hear the announcer say my name. By the way, for all you swimmers and swim-fans out there, floswimming.org is an amazing website that hosts the coolest swimming videos.

I can honestly say that I was bummed when the meet ended. I had so much fun being in that atmosphere.. and contributing to what many said was a wonderful meet. Thank you, Whitney, for helping me improve as a swimmer. 'Sorry that I could not get in that water and show my stuff :-)

Posted at 08:35PM May 10, 2008 by Andrew Rutz in Swim  |  Comments[0]