The Offseason

Well, now that state is done and we closed with our annual swim banquet, it seems like all there is to do is wait around until mid-November and go through the routine again (one last time for us seniors).

Unless you're Steve Lillie, this can't be your mindset if you have any desires that our team to live up to its potential (which our coaches might have touched upon once or twice).

While I don't know how accurate the prediction of "one person in every event" at state is, I do know that we can pack much more than 1 relay and 1 individual event into the vans next year. If you were close to state, or alternate for state this year, don't rely on luck or anything else to get you there the next time. Do something about it.

Jack Ladd, Steven Grambow, Bill Wong, and I will begin training at Schroeder pretty soon. Yea, I know it's associated with Douggie's arch-enemy Dave and another anonymous person who would a make great advertisements for a certain female organ body-care hygiene product, but it's a blast. The sets still suck, but they keep you in great shape. I'll be the first one to say coming into this season I was ready to be one of the top swimmers. You might say "wow short, you're one hell of a cock for saying that" but it's true. After time trials Jack, Billy, Grambow, and I (and of course Steve Lillie, but that's a given) all had the fastest 50 freestyle times. We didn't kill everybody else, but we started out ahead. Granted I stayed at a 25-26 and a 57-58 mid the entire year (mainly because I lost a ton of strength in exchange for conditioning), but it's more than that.

Off-season training gets you comfortable with the pain and work before the season. That way you aren't dying the first couple weeks on sets that you will probably end up doing for tapers come January. This is nice because with the emotions of the new season, you don't have as much to deal with. Plus you have an enormous amount of confidence, and it's really nice to kick every1 else's @$$ in the 2000 T.T. because you have the endurance that they missed out on.

I encourage those of you who aren't training in the off-season, be it because you play a different sport, because you're a fat-@$$, or any other reason to consider it (if it's a financial issue, talk to Dave about it. He's really a great guy no matter what Coach says). You'd be doing all of your teammates one hell of a favor, and you'd be one step closer to making your dreams of being part of the state team come true. Is it a guarantee? No. Case and point, myself. But you're range of possibilities opens up dramatically if you do.

I hate to agree with Coach here, but, seniors, what kind of legacy do you want to leave? Do you want to be known as the swimmer who stepped it up, put in the extra effort to better his team, and tasted sweet success at the state meet or the swimmer who felt he didn't need to change anything and at the end of the season saw others achieve what he couldn't. All I can say is that if you put all your cards on the table (which includes training in the off-season), your regrets will be minimal. Trust me: regrets...suck. You don't want to be in the position of "I was this close." It's depressing beyond belief.

Hope you guys have a good rest of the school year, maybe see you at Mrs. Potter's in June when Wisconsin still decides it wants to snow.

Gotta go take an SAT,

Shorty