I don't know the date here, 2007

Hey team, I am writing you at about 5am Japan time (I have been up for about 2 hours). With all this free time on my hand, what better to do than update the site? Now if you'll recall, I promised that I would update the site before I left. Well, I HAD updated the site on my computer...but didn't have a chance to upload it all up on the server til now. Does that count as a broken promise? I'm going to give myself the benefit of the doubt.

The good news for the three of you that check this site regularly is that I have a ridiculous amount of time on my hands right now. The coaches have been less-than-enthusiastic about the prospect of us going into Tokyo (damn) so we're confined to the industrial complex of Chiba (across the harbor and about an hour away). Still been doing some sight-seeing but not nearly as much as I would like. So my loss is your gain: no TV (all channels in Japanes) + minimal touristy stuff (although I'm working on it)=more time on the laptop.

Therefore: new pictures are finally up from Nationals. And I will be updating everything else in the next little while. It's 5 am here right now and I've been up for two hours (went to be at 9:30 though) but think I might try and catch a little more shut eye before I get up in two hours. Jet lag does exist ladies and gentleman. Don't be fooled like I was. Talk to you soon!

August 13, 2007 "What the &%*% is Going On?"

Ever since I got back from Nationals it has been such a weird time. First off, I still can't believe I am actually going to Japan in two days (yikes) but I did just get my HUGE box of stuff from USA Swimming and it was, well, special to see those warmups with "USA" on the back. Obviously every kid dreams of making the Olympic Te...wait, winning a gold at the Olympics. I still have that dream, but somewhere along the way I decided that I absolutely "had" to represent the U.S. at an international competition first.

Quick background on my family: we have been pretty big on military service. Grandpa, Dad, Uncle and Aunt were all Marines. My grandma was a Navy nurse and my brother served our country in Iraq while in the Army. I remember there was a lot of pressure on me to do ROTC in college and I ended up deciding that I could not achieve what I wanted in the pool while doing that. So, I think that's where a lot of the desire to represent my country came from.. Don't get me wrong, me swimming is in no way equal to fighting in a war and I'm not sayinig that. But, there is something very, very cool about representing your country against others in sport. Well, I think. I will tell you when I get back...

I've been waiting for the videos from Nationals to be released before I update the multimedia on here, but will see what I can do before I leave for Japan. I am in desperate need of at least updating the pictures. So, my promise to you, there will be something new up before I leave on Thursday. So I will talk with you soon.

August 9, 2007 "Busy as a Bee, and What it's Like to be 8th in the World...and 5th in Your Country"

I don't know about other people out there, but I have a way of putting off things until my big meet is over...to the point where I just don't deal with things I need to. I am reaping what I've sown in that department at the moment and am completely over my head. I am still working a fair amount as finals are this week at UT. On top of that I have not completely moved into my new digs (though better than I would have thought). All in all just a very large, unsettled feeling.

So, you've just swam a time that would have won the Olympic Games in 2004. This time is now, unfortunately, just 8th in the world. Okay, not bad. But how about within your own country? 5th? Wow. So is my current predicament. This is a large reason that the United States continues to dominate: international competitions are almost like taking a step down. That is to say, the competition is so fierce within our country that the pressure is actually less once outside of it. It's a beautiful thing really. I know, I know it really stinks for me as not a lot of companies want to throw out mucho dinero (ou beaucoup d'argent for you frenchies out there) for a guy that is an underdog for the Olympic Team. But, what's life without challenges? I hope that some corporations/organizations will see what beyond the numbers, but that's outside of my control. All I want is to be able to pursue my dream, not make millions of dollars. Maybe someone likes the idea of supporting that.

I just picked up a Japanese for Dummies and should be fluent by next Thursday, when I leave for Japan. No, of course not we have already established I am not smart. What I do love is being able to communicate (to some degree) with people from vastly different backgrounds than me. I know that people appreciate and respect it when someone goes out of their way to learn about their culture (this is why out-of-staters are not always welcomed by Montanans, it's when they don't respect what we have and try to change it to look like their home: shopping malls, mansions, etc. that people react poorly to it). I would say this all stems from the belief that every culture has its unique and beautiful aspects, and we can always learn from others.

Man, I'm starting to sound like Gary Busey here. Ooooh, that makes me want to watch Point Break.

August 6, 2007 "The View From Cloud Nine"

Every swimmer or athlete knows that one moment where everything comes together and you have that performance that leaves you so happy that it's as if you have reached nirvana. I had that this weekend and it was the first time for a long time. Don't get me wrong, I have been very pleased with some of my performances recently, but the 100 back was special this weekend.

I always see a time I am going to go before I even swim my race. For this race (I can tell you now) the time was 53.92. So when I looked up and saw 53.82 I went, uh, pretty nuts. I was the age group swimmer who started cheering and pumping his fist, I don't deny it but only ask people to forgive me if I went over the top, as I hope I didn't. All I remember is looking up, seeing my time, throwing my cap and goggles off and then looking towards my family and Longhorn teammates with the biggest smile I could muster. In short: I have never been more excited about second place.

But let's take a step back and review the weekend: I went in ranked 16th in the world and 4th fastest in the U.S. in the 200 back. I left the 8th fastest in the world and (go figure) the 5th fastest American (1:57.43) man this country is good. The 100 back, I was 20th in the world and 8th in the country, and am now 8th in the world and 5th in the country. I know I say it all the time, but although this was a big step forward I still have a ton of work left to do.

Firstly, my season is not over as I have qualified for the Japan International Grand Prix in Chiba, Japan. I leave in two weeks and absolutely cannot wait. My dream has always been to represent the United States so this will (literally) be a dream come true. I am going to go buy some introductory language CD's, as this is a perfect time to practice my love of studying languages. The goal phrases to say will include: "How much does that cost", "Can I check the samurai sword I just bought", "Are you eating that", and the necessary understanding of the Japanese equivalents of "Take your mark" and "Go." Simplicity is the key ladies and gentleman.

To go back to the meet though, I will say that I am extremely pleased with the results. Certainly not enough so that I feel comfortable hanging up the suit, but enough that I can stand back and enjoy the moment. The best part of it all is that the four most important poeple in the world to me: my mom, dad, brother and sister were all there to share it with me. Family truly is the most important part of my life and so it was only fitting that they see what I could accomplish with their love and support.

On the subject of family though, I also want to say thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you to my Longhorn family. Without them taking me in and putting up with me this would never have been possible. Thank you all, and I am so, so proud to be a part of the Texas tradition.

Okay, gotta go to practice in the morning and then still mentoring during the day so no rest for the weary. Will have photos, videos and more updates up soon! Thank you to all who wished me good luck over the course of the weekend.

July 27, 2007 "Even More Empty Promises"

I would say that this website and my room are a direct metaphor for my life right now: a mess. No, things are well here in Austin and I am absolutely elated to be so close to going to Indianapolis for Nationals. Unfortunately this will get cut short as I still have more unpacking to do before practice in the morning but just wanted to let you all know that I am alive and well.

I am all moved in with my good friend Ian Crocker and enjoying the fine life. He is truly one of the most remarkable people I have ever met, and am already reaping the benefits of his: cooking, musical ability (one of the best guitar players I know), car knowledge, and general wisdom. This is going to be a productive house.

Still it's always hard to say goodbye (to yesterday, if you ask Boyz II Men) and I am really going to miss my first Austin roommate Wade, who will be leaving for China when I am at Nationals. I guess it's always easier to say goodbye when you know how exciting the things that await each person after the goodbye.

Okay, more updates to come but need some rest. Talk to you all soon (notice that's two words, not "y'all." I am proudly keeping my roots in tact despite the immense pressure to conform).

July 18, 2007 "More Empty Promises"

Well, maybe not empty, but I would like to slap a Cromwell guarantee on some more site improvements coming up. Currently, I am in the middle of moving houses and that is at the top of my priority list (behind swimming and work of course).

Taper is a beautiful thing, but it can also be a serious mind &$*#. Mais pardonnez mon francais. No, I always forget how hard it is to be patient when you are letting all of your muscles recover from the months of punishment you have inflicted upon them in training. It's a necessary process, but for a control-freak such as myself it's purgatory. Not to say I don't like taper though...only when I am doing pace and feel terrible. Without taper this entry does not happen, as I would be too tired/busy to do it.

I just found out that my family will be coming to Nationals and I am more than ecstatic about it. I love seeing my family any chance I get, as Montana is not exactly a place where swimming competitions regularly occurr for me these days, and neither is it a transportation hub. But that's what makes it great. My sister hasn't seen me swim at a meet like this since 2004 Trials so I better not blow it :)

Hope that you are all well out there in the corners of cyberspace and please let me know if you have any questions/comments.

July 15, 2007

Was a little disappointed with this weekend's swims. I swam the 200 back exactly like how I need to, but absolutely died at the end. I was out in 57.6, which is the fastest I've ever taken it out by about a second, and got my second fifty under 30 seconds for the first time. Then I went 30.9 and then 32.0 (ouch) on the last two 50s. I really thought that I could go a best time, but that's a liberty not normally afforded swimmers in-season. The positive take-away from all this is that I was worried because I was going best times in-season, something I don't normally do. As such, I was a little worried that I might be a little too rested. After that 200 back though, I am positive this is not the case and think that after two more weeks of rest that I will have a great Nationals, hoping for big things.

Other than that, things are well here in Austin. Sorry to not get more pictures up yet, just don't have many from meets lately. That will definitely change after Nationals though, as the Cromwell family should help me out in that department. Might put up some from the Archives of college soon though. But that is also going to be put on the backburner as I have to move out of my place this week. I'd talk about how much I hate moving, but I might run out of memory on my computer in the process. Let's just say that there are other things I enjoy more.

I have also been working a lot more at the Academic Center, which I consider very rewarding. This gain in hours coincides nicely with swimming since I will be practicing less in the buildup to Nationals. Hope that all is well with you out there and thanks for reading!

July 13, 2007 "Me in a Nutshell"

My sister has often referred to me as an absent minded professor. I fought it for a while, but it's in my genes and I can only hope to fight a losing battle the rest of my life with absent mindedness. Example: today. Showed up to the pool at 8am ready to warm up for the meet. I checked last night and decided that I was swimming the 50 free. Did I have evidence for this? Not really. After stretching I decided to look at my heat...only to find out I wasn't entered. After asking if I could deck enter and being rejected, I decided to resign myself to spectator status for the day. Which isn't that bad when you swim for such an incredible team as I do, but still not great.

Good news is that I'm on for the 200 back and 50 back tomorrow (I think).

July 12, 2007

Okay, I should be in bed right now but just wanted to put up the link to the results for this weekend's Senior Circuit Championships here in Austin. I'm actually not positive about what I'm swimming, but I think it's the 50 free tomorrow, the 50 and 200 back on Saturday and then the 100 back on Sunday, although I think I might scratch that. We'll see. Okay Click Here for Live Results

Thanks to all for their submissions on the breakfast/lunch debate. I still feel sound in my argument.

July 10, 2007 "What it's Like Peeing in a Cup in Front of Another Man, Debut of Video Section and Other Life Stories"

Before delving into the stories, just wanted to let everyone know that I finally got a video section up! It's just short of being truly professional, but that is also a theme running through not only the site, but also my swimming career (cue the drum roll). Regardless, I have a few up now and hope to have a ton more soon. Just Click Here to get there or go to the "Videos" section above, yes you probably had already figured that out on your own. But moving on...

So yesterday I had my first out of competition drug test, and I must admit that my heart still (and always will) races when my name is called for a test. It's like being called into the principal's office: for all you know you are going in there to receive an extra recess the rest of your middle school career, but that doesn't stop you from thinking about every little thing you've done in your life that could lead to you being called in there. I wrote an article about Kicker Vencill a while ago, and I must say that it made me even more paranoid. Good god it's scary what can make you test positive, and in Kicker's case it was a MULTIVITAMIN! He had taken it from a company that was giving him contaminated pills, and missed the Olympics because of it. Just terrifying: here are the two posts I put up about him:

Kicker Interview and Kicker Sound Byte

But yes, on top of your mind racing...you are also peeing in front of another person. Steve, the one who tested me here in Austin, is the absolute class of the field and makes the whole thing as comfortable as possible. If any of you are looking forward to a career in drug testing, I would highly suggest the turning on of the faucet. Sometimes it's the small things in life right? But even with the highest degree of comfortability possible (without it getting weird) I had just gone to the bathroom before the initial test so I found myself with half-full specimen. I had to go drink water, get back into the pool, and finally, thirty minutes later, was able to complete the deed. One down, one-hundred to go.

In all sincerity though, I will gladly take any test given to me and I am amazed at the thoroughness of the United States Anti-Doping Association (USADA), World Anti-Doping Association (WADA), USA Swimming, United States Olympic Committee (USOC), and FINA (International Swimming Federation) and their absolute commitment to keeping our sport clean. There is no way to cheat the system by not being tested: I have to fill out where I will be everyday of the year and what I will be doing (I only have a two hour window from when I am supposed to be somewhere and when they will count it as a missed test). If I miss a test, that's one strike. Three strikes in a 12 month period=positive test. Think about how hard it is to know where you will be tomorrow at a given time, let alone three months from now.

This weekend should be fun too, as it is the Senior Circuit Championships here in Austin. This meet is pretty fun as it pretty much ends up being an intra-squad meet with all of the Longhorn guys. Sounds lame, but there are some great grudge matches, I have been on the winning and losing end of both, and I can guarantee I don't want to be on the ugly side again. Bragging rights are an important thing around here.

They don't have an online results section up yet, but I will put up the link as soon as there is one.

Wish me luck!

 

July 8, 2007...an hour after the last post.

Hey, so I've been dinking around with the photo section and it's a lot better. It's still not perfect, so if you have a slow connection speed there might still be a little trouble, but it should be a lot easier/faster to browse around in there. More updates soon to come, please read the post below though as it's the real one for the day.

July 8, 2007

First off, I need your help in settling a HUGE DEBATE that raged for at least 20 minutes of practice on Saturday. I'd like to take an informal poll of you people out there, to see who prefers Lunch or Breakfast. In the interest of proper polling techniques I shouldn't try to sway you...but this is my site so I don't really care.

Let me outline my basic arguments for why Lunch is better:

1. Breakfast has too much sweet, and not enough salty. I love a good waffle as much as the next guy. I first place a layer of whipped cream covering the entire waffle, between 1cm and 10cm tall, and then add enough syrup to make sure that every square has an equal proportion before topping it off with strawberries and raspberries. But what's the only thing missing there? No salty to balance the sweet. Sure breakfast has hashbrowns, but who wouldn't take some fries (steak, stringy, curly, etc.) over that? Additionally, the best sweet food in existence is warm pie a la mode, which can be eaten at breakfast (along with Pizza), but that doesn't mean it's a breakfast item.

2. Every breakfast item is a ripoff of a previously invented lunch item. Before the waffle came the waffle fry, before the bagel and cream cheese came the bagel sandwich, the pancake was preceded by the tortilla, the omelette by grilled sandwich, french toast by gingerbread, and the list goes on. Any breakfast item has its equivalent in the lunch menu, and it is consistently superior.

3. Any meal where pizza is frowned upon is not for me. Yes there are breakfast pizzas, and yes I do love the leftover pizza slice on a Sunday morning. But, that is breaking a social norm. You can't (literally, they won't let you) order a pizza at breakfast at 9am at your local diner. I really think that this is my strongest point.

Okay, please email me with your complaints/disagreemneents and I will gladly refute them in my next entry.

But moving on...

So I had thought that swimming would start to back down a little bit this week, and so was taken aback when our workload continued. I feel like I can always handle the work, physically, it's just a matter of being mentally prepared for it...and this week I wasn't, so my attitude was worse than I would've liked. That aside, training still went pretty darn well (though not quite as consistent as I have been). Sometimes it's just hard coming off of a meet and getting right back into the swing of things when you don't have a chance to recharge your batteries over the weekend.

In terms of what else is going on, had a great weekend seeing off one of my good friends (another David) who will be attending Dental School at Penn next year (we forgive him for not going to Harvard, don't worry). Also grabbed a ton of sun yesterday in order to prove my theory that no tan swimmer has ever swam slow. Seriously, if I want to swim fast by Nationals I'm going to have to really step up my time out underneath the yellow orb.

You will also be very happy to hear that I recovered my suit from Delta Airlines. I have never been so upset about losing something before. This has served to reinforce my commitment to not having nice things, as I am entirely too irresponsible to have them. Special thank you to "Daniel O." in baggage claim who was a light in the storm.

This post is getting a little long so I'll continue on with another one a little later. Best of luck to all of you and thanks for reading!

P.S. Am working on making this site a little cooler: videos, better picture format, etc. so be patient! Am busy right now but work should be tapering off soon.

 

July 3, 2007.

I guess this last weekend is what we call a "breakout" in the swimming world. I have to say, I am pretty pleased with how it all turned out as I can't complain about going best times in-season.

For those of you that aren't that into swimming, basically how it works is that you train really hard all season and then you back off at the end "the taper" where you let your muscles (and mind) recover in hopes that all the hard work will pay off once you feel fresh. I was still doing 10,000 meters/day before I left and to me that is still quite a lot. I did back off in the weight room though and that certainly made a difference. But basically what this means is that I am very excited for Nationals in Indianapolis in a month.

The highlight of the weekend for me was definitely my 200 free, where I went over a second faster than my best time (1:52.0 to 1:50.8 over the weekend). It's unfortunate that it looks like I won't be able to swim that at Nationals or Olympic Trials for that matter, but I guess it's just one of those unfortunate things. I'm not the only one that struggles to be able to compete in all of his/her best events as a result of how the events fall during the competition. The 200 free has always been my third best event I felt, but could never really compete in it in college either.

Also, the 100 back was a great step forward, as I beat my time from Spring Nationals by two-tenths and joined the 54 second club (54.93). I have started to feel more comfortable with that event lately and think it showed at the meet. It was an absolute blast racing in that final as I was seeded next to Peter Marshall (3XNCAA Champion in the event) and Michael Phelps on the other side. I couldn't really see Phelps but I guess I was winning until 15 meters to go when he snaked me. Still, a best time at this time of year and I cannot complain at all. I am just so anxious to rest and see what I can do in a few weeks.

For my teammates, Michael Klueh's mile (15:08) was absolutely ridiculous. That time is so fast, and he definitely has the ability to go under 15 minutes in that (which only 3 Americans have ever done).

On other fronts, it was just a really fun time in Santa Clara. It's one of those meets that felt like a huge, blown-up version of something like I grew up with in Montana. Again, we certainly didn't have people breaking World Records back home, but the meet had the same sort of fun, tight-knit sense about it. Most of the time I looked around I saw people with smiles on their faces and just enjoying the chance to spend some time with their teammates. Pretty cool, and I must say that I had the same experience, as it was an absolute blast hanging out with my Longhorn teammates as well as my gracious hosts, the Lynches.

Lastly, and I'll try and keep this quick, very much enjoying Dave Eggers' new book: What is the What. If you haven't read him, please do as he is my absolute favorite author out there right now. Special thanks to Billy for turning me on to him in the first place, and Mark for loaning me the book. If you are up for it, start out with his first book A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, as that is autobiographical, then read my absolute favorite You Shall Know Our Velocity, which stands as one of my favorite all-times, then this latest. Yeah, it's a lot of homework but it's summertime right? Oh, and inspired by that book, I have added the "Quote of the Week" as I like looking up little bits of wisdom.

Oh, sorry, one more thing. I didn't take that many pictures over the weekend but will try and see if I can dig up enough to make a Santa Clara section worthwhile.

Archives: May/June 2007, July/August 2007, September/October 2007, November/December 2007, January/February 2008, March/April 2008