October 21, 2007 "1918"

I am sitting here watching the post-game celebration of the Boston Red Sox and life is good. I just love how these guys refuse to give up. Admittedly, I had my doubts after we were down 3-1, but always believed they had it in them. I think the lesson learned is to just take it one out at a time, one game at a time. This translates into all sports and everyday life. Special props to my favorites: Youkilis, Manny, Papelbon and Pedroia.

October 14, 2007 "My Emotional Journey...through a Set"

I know we like to keep this blog as far away from swimming as possible, but sometimes I just can't avoid it. It is, after all, what I am dedicating my life to at the moment. Ouch.

Anyway, this last week was really taxing on me. We just got our clocks cleaned by Eddie (our coach), but the worst part has been the weight room. For some reason weights drain me much more than any swimming set and this is made even worse by the fact that I am trying harder than ever to get stronger everytime I go in there. This week in particular has killed a lot of us on the team.

Skip to this last Friday: hardest day yet in the weight room and I go back into the locker room 15 minutes into workout to find Ian Crocker putting on a fastskin. He smiles and holds his finger up to his mouth, "Sssshhhh, don't tell anyone." He tells Eddie that if he goes under 20.0 seconds in a fifty free with no warm up the college guys will get out. Final time (without touching the water first): 19.7. Amazing. All the other post-grads got to do something after that. Brendan Hansen was the other impressive one: 53.3 100 breast. That would final at the NCAA Championships. Unbelievable. I was 48.0 in a 100 back, which was great for me but nothing compared to them.

Okay, that aside, the point of this post is what we did Saturday morning. I can't remember the last time I was this tired at workout but had managed to put together a good practice. Then with 26 minutes and 30 seconds left in practice assistant coach Kris Kubik came up and says "In a minute and a half you're going to do 25 X 100's. There will be 25 minutes left in workout, so you can probably figure out what they're on." It's not as important for the non-swimming crowd out there that you understand the interval but just that I had never made more than 5X100's in a row on 1:00. I went into it thinking that if I could make 6 I would be happy. Then I made 6, then 7, then 8 and I started thinking that if I could go halfway to 12 that would be amazing. I get to 15 and realize that I have to try and make it. I reached mental and physical exhaustion at 18 but there was no turning back and ended up pushing through to 25. Many people have done more impressive things than what I did in that set, but for me it was an absolute breakthrough.

What happened next is what shocked me. I got out of the pool, received a couple high fives from some of the guys and coaches but then just sat there in partial shock. I wanted to shout out in pride, but instead felt like I was going to cry. I am not sure why, and would be open to suggestions from you psyche majors out there but my guess is that I had just reached absolute physical and emotional exhaustion. It took me about ten minutes to collect myself and get to the shower.

It's really funny how training can affect me. I will remember that set the rest of my life with a huge amount of internal pride. What other people think about that doesn't really matter, because that set, and this whole journey for that matter, is deeply personal. I overcame all my fears and self expectations when I made that and that is one of the truly unique and beautiful rewarding aspects of this sport sometimes.

Thanks for listening to my attempt at being poetic.

October 10, 2007 "The Fragility of it All and Viewing Life through the Lens of Van Halen"

Okay, first off just wanted to point out a realization I had in the weight room today. No, that is not an attempt to win over ladies i.e. Tommy Boy's "Do you know where the weight room is?" I am both skinny and a pansy, don't worry. Anyway, in the weight room today I was putting a plate back on the rack when all of a sudden a 15kg plate came crashing down, followed by a 10kg plate. With my cat-like speed and reflexes I managed to narrowly evade certain broken toe...but just barely. Turns out one of the guys on the team had left the weight hanging by a thread and it crashed down with the slightest bump.

This got me thinking, however, and I find it the perfect example of how out of control any life is, but especially an athlete's. This is because athletes try to control so many variables: training, eating, sleeping, socializing, recovery, staying healthy, etc. But really, in the end, it's always going to be something stupid like a guy leaving a weight hanging for your big toe that will injure you. While I have broken bones doing stuff my coaches wouldn't have liked: snowboarding and rollerblading (it was still cool at the time, don't worry). I have also done the same swimming and just going about my day. I really think that's what can be so terrifying at times. My agent, Bobby Brewer, was a favorite going into the 2000 Olympic Trials. At the hotel he cut his foot on the bed and had to get stitches the night before his race. Are you serious? That is terrifying.

It reminds me of a quote Ian Crocker said, we were talking about accepting the fact that life is a black hole that you just throw yourself into, and he said "yeah, but why do you have to do it in a little speedo in front of thousands of people?" A good point, and right on the money. Is it ridiculous that my 19 year career in the sport is going to come down to how I perform on one day, and for only a minute or two out of that day? Completely. In fact, so much so that I truly can't think about that. The only comfort I can take in my situation is to stay in the moment. Day to day. I guess that's why I have to work outside of swimming (even if I didn't have to). When you get to caught up in this process I honestly think it's easy to psyche yourself out.

On a not completely unrelated note, I realized that Van Halen can sum up the adolescent experience of America. Let's get one thing straight: Van Halen sucks. Wow, it is a huge relief to say that. They are, unequivocally, the most overrated band in the history of bands, or overrating. Think about it, do you ever sit down and put on a Van Halen CD and just listen to it all the way through? No, because you don't actually like them. You say you do, but most of the time when anything other than "Hot for Teacher" (and then, only sometimes) comes on you change the radio station. But, you have to say that you like them because to do otherwise is sacrilege in American culture (unless you hate rock on principle, then the 80 and early 90s just didn't happen as far as you're concerned).

So, at the reservations of my good friend Dan, I urge you all to take a step outside the box and think about what you actually like and what you say you do out of pressure. This applies to Van Halen and a myriad of other topics, and the converse is also true: do you secretly watch Love Actually everytime you're home and have ESPN on recall in case one of your buddies comes into the room? Live in fear no longer, accept your choices and live with them. If you like Van Halen, more power to you. But don't do it because you have never thought about it.

Cromwell for President.

October 5, 2007 "I'M SPONSORED!!!!!!"

Hey gang, sorry to keep you all in the dark for the last while but things have been moving forward in terms of my professional career and I couldn't talk about them til it was all sealed up. So, let's review:

I signed with Premier Management Group (as you can probably tell from the updates to the rest of the site) and am very, very happy that I did. Bobby Brewer is a fantastic agent and in the little bit of time that we have been together has done more for me than I ever could have imagined. This leads into the second major bit of news....

I just signed with TYR!!!!! I can't tell you how excited I am to join Team TYR for a variety of reasons. First, I came to swim in their equipment in college and have to say that they have, unequivocally, the best goggles on the market. Absolutely love the socket rockets. Plus, their suits were fast and have only gotten better. Second, having trained with my good friend Eric Shanteau (a TYR athlete) for the last year, I was absolutely blown away by the treatment he received. They treat their athletes very well and want their success not just for business reasons, but seem to rise above that and care for them on a personal level too. I have already experienced this in my signing process. Third, I love the fact that they're trying to break the swim monopoly out there by a certain company that I will not name. TYR's products are equal to and often better than anyone's and their customer service is unparalleled. In short: this is exciting, and we both hope for a big year from me and the mutual success that brings.

My first chance to test out the TYR equipment will come in Italy, as I have committed to do a three day Grand Prix Meet in Viareggio,
Genova and Travagliato during Thanksgiving. My Grandpa came from Lucca, Italy which is actually pretty close to all three destinations. My whole family has met all of our relatives over there except for my dad and myself. What's better, is that it looks like my dad and brother will be able to come watch too. Exciting right?

Training is going very well right now, and I made a decision this week to start treating myself like a world class athlete again. For you swimmers out there, I can't tell you how big of a difference this makes. What do I mean? The little things: eating healthy, drinking enough fluids, and doing everything you can to recover after workout. I believe my success this summer was mostly a result of how hard I worked (both on my technique and fitness) but what put me over the edge was my focus on recovering. So, I have resumed stretching everyday after practice and taking in enough protein to let my muscles recover. Also, I am a big fan of ice baths. We actually have a vibration machine here that I believe accomplishes the same end, so I have been using that but as most of you probably don't I would recommend at least the ice bath. Gil Stovall, third fastest 200 flyer in the country, and I were both talking about the benefits of ice in Japan. He also had a phenomenal year. I'm not saying that there is one key to success, but I do firmly believe that if every season you can retain what you improved upon, and then do a half dozen things better than last time you will continue to improve. It's that attitude that's gotten me this far.

On an unrelated note, I was thinking about the Top 5 Romantic Comedies of All Time (sorry, have been taking a break from my countdowns on Timed Finals so need to get this out of my system). Here's how I put them:

5. (Tie) Any one of the following Hugh Grant Movies: Nine Months, About a Boy, Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral

and

Terms of Endearment

4. Love Actually (so I have a lot of Hugh Grant movies on here, at least I'm being honest).

3. Sleepless in Seattle. Absolute Classic.

2. As Good as it Gets. This takes Second only because I don't consider it a true romantic comedy. It won Oscars...so that makes it ineligible really, but it's one of my favorites so I'll put it up here. This also goes for Jerry Maguire, which I do not consider a romantic comedy either.

1. When Harry Met Sally. Trivia Question: What is the first DVD I ever bought? Answer: Dave you are a little girl. Yep, this was the one and I am only moderately embarassed about it (okay more than that).

I await your razing.

September 23, 2007 "Random Musings"

Hey all. Just thought I'd throw another update on here even though there's not a ton to report. We're starting doubles this week and I am none too excited about that, but at least it will further aid in my actually getting set on a schedule. That's definitely one of the hardest things for me to do, the first couple of weeks of the season.

Training has already been difficult as we have been putting in some pretty good work already. I have actually been pretty pleased, on a whole, with how training has been going too as the fact I didn't take much time off after Japan is paying off. While mentally I probably could have used a bit more time off, this is the end of my career and I need to make the most of it. Just glad that I have the opportunity to be here in Texas with such other phenomenal athletes. I truly am blessed.

Have officially started my LSAT studying and I must say that it has been relatively unsuccessful as of this point. Again, just like swimming, the hardest part is just getting into the routine. I am feeling better and better about the decision to go through with it and just need to give it a full commitment. We shall see what the upcoming weeks hold. Hope all is well with you and I will check in again soon.

September 18, 2007 "A Microcosm of my Life"

When I looked at this site today I realized that it perfectly represents my life at the moment: complete disarray. So, I am sure I have lost many people as a result of this but I apologize and should be back and going from here on out. Hardest part for me with the beginning of the season is just getting into a routine, and I am still in the process of this.

What's happened? Busy times for certain. I had count 'em, six friends in town this weekend for the Austin City Limits Music Festival and it was an irrationally fun time. For those of you that don't know, ACL is a huge three day music festival here in Austin that brings in some great bands. Highlights for me this year were: The Killers, The Arcade Fire, Wilco, Joss Stone and Spoon. It was fun seeing Bob Dylan but I viewed it more as a "something you have to do" more than anything else. I am a big fan of his, so I only read so much into what I am seeing today. Despite his live performances suffering a bit, I really did like his latest album. On top of the music, it was just incredibly comforting to be around my friends from college again, it's tough when you only get to see people so important to you occasionally. But, I can certainly say that we made the most out of it.

Swimming is starting to hammer me a bit, but I am glad now that I did not take too much time off after Japan as I never really got out of shape in terms of swimming. Dryland and weights have really been where I am hurting the most. I have been doing the knock kneed grimacing walk as a result of squats for about two weeks now. Looking forward to that ending. More to come, but just wanted to let you all know how appreciative I am of all the support and that I really think this year has the potential to be special.

September 9, 2007 "Back in the Saddle"

First off, if you want to hear me flop an interview, check me out on Deckpass this Week. It's a fun swimming "talk show." Believe it, they do exist.

Okay, well, I am finally back in Austin, Texas and ready to go to work. Things went on hold there for a while when I was in Japan and Montana, but thank you for your patience as I am excited about jumping back into the busy life I knew before these last few weeks. Okay where to begin?

Japan: I was pretty disappointed with how the meet went, though by the last day I had a better attitude and was just trying to take as much away from the meet as possible. Swimming-wise my backstrokes were terrible but I managed to patch together a really good split on the 4X100 free relay (49.4) and though I only had 20 minutes of rest before the 4X200 free relay, I still split 1:50.4 which isn't bad. My biggest take-aways though were being named Captain of the USA contingent and representing my country. Next time I hope to win though!

Montana: As I said below, it was paradise. Truly a place that is special to me and is really the only place I call "home." Everywhere else is just a place where I have lived, not to say I didn't love Boston or now Austin, they have both treated me well. For better or worse, I will always miss this great state whenever I am not there.

Alright, now for the task at hand. I updated the contact (work in progress)/videos (will soon have some from Japan too) and hope to get new pictures up here soon as well. On top of training starting to pick up already it's been nuts at work with the Academic Year starting. Last year "I" (yes, selfishly I give myself credit) led the Texas Men's Swimming Team to their greatest GPA in history, so I have high expectations to live up to this year (Eddie claims he only lets me swim here because of the academic help I give).

One "Seinfeldism" I wanted to throw out there was that I was riding in the car with a couple of friends yesterday when I started to wonder about seat belts. Why did it take so long for them to put shoulder strap belts in the back seat? My friend pointed out to me that with the old designs of cars it made it difficult initially...but that only explains so much. Man, that is boring. Sorry.

September 4, 2007 Missoula, Montana

Hey guys, just wanted to shout you an update as my vacation is now winding down. It's been a crazy turnaround from Japan to here and have certainly had some lasting memories in between. I have been all over Montana visiting relatives on the Eastern part of the state and had almost forgotten how beautiful and vast this place is. It will be hard to leave, yet I know that what I want to accomplish cannot be done here. I also leave a broken man as this vacation has been incredibly active and draining. In short: it's time to get back to work.

I am, selfishly, not going to waste my time here updating the site too much as I am going to try and soak up my last day here. But, a ton of new stuff to come here and am really excited about it all. Will keep you all updated and thanks for visiting!

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