A Day in the Life: Dennis Baker, Day 5

PORTLAND, Oregon, February 3. IN his final entry in the "A Day in the Life" series on SwimmingWorldMagazine.com, Dennis Baker takes time out to thank some of the people instrumental to his Masters swimming career as well as writes about the 2008 Masters Long Course Nationals to be held at Mt. Hood Community College in Portland.

We would like to thank Dennis for a great series this week, and wish him the best of luck as he continues to work towards his goals. Also, we thank him for shedding some light on the world of Masters swimming as our first Masters swimmer participant in the series.

Friday, February 2, 2007, Day 5
Fridays are pretty relaxed in the mornings unless I have to make up a practice from earlier days in the week or coach. This week that was not the case, so I slept in late. Got some house cleaning done, which had been neglected and did some work on the 2008 Masters LC Nationals of which I am co-meet director.

The meet is at Mt. Hood Community College and it is going to be a great event. The pool is being renovated as we speak. They are raising the deck to make the pool deeper and there will be a removable dome. The dome can be put up and taken down in two days. The weather is awesome in Portland in August, not too hot and not too humid. We will have some great swimming and great socials Oregon style.

My co-meet director and great friend Brandon Drawz is the Assistant Athletic Director and Aquatics Director for the college. He has great vision and through his leadership all of Oregon, the Pacific Northwest and USA Swimming will benefit from this facilities make over. Brandon has been an inspiration and helped me a lot with my second life in swimming. He has coached many national team members and Olympians.

One more person I would like to thank is Don Wagner. He coached me in the later part of my time in Tucson at the U of Arizona. He has coached some of the best in the world including Janet Evans. He still is producing great swimmers at the Mt. Lebanon Swim Club in Pennsylvania. Don was the one who really got me going. He was visiting me in Portland just after I moved back from Arizona six years ago. We went and did a practice together with the young kids at DD. Everyone, including Don, kicked my butt badly. I was so tired after a 4000-meter practice. We had a long talk after that and he said I should go for it. That advice changed my life. Thank you my friend.

Now back to some swimming. Fridays are sprint days for everyone at DD.

I practiced with the kids in the afternoon at DD. 25-meter pool.

800 build
5 rounds of:
50 Zulu free drill on the 1:10
50 full catch up steady on the :55
50 full catch up 12 beat kick very strong on the :55 (this is a leg burner and heart rate elevator.)

8×200's on the 3:30
150 free rest :10 sec 50 stroke
The 150s were at a designated pace that Burt Stratton the DD coach gave to us. It wasn't fast, but just enough to get you ready to sprint. My goal time for the 150's was 1:46. The 50's were fly and descending in groups of four.

# 1 was 400 race pace down to # 4 all out sprint. Twice through that. I went 32's down to 29 both times through. This was a tough set and my arms were heavy from the pulling the day before.

Easy 100

8×75's kick on the 1:30
Descend 1-4 to fast, 4 without a board, 4 with a board
#4 was 57 and #6 was 53. Legs are getting better. This is something I have neglected a little the last couple of years. I think it is a big key for me.

8×100's free on the 1:35
Half underwater fast each length then easy free to wall.

easy 700
5350 for the day.

6:30 p.m. – Coached a combination practice of the beginning two squads at DD. Fridays are great for the kids because they get free time at the end of practice. A lot of people ask me why I coach the little ones. I think it is the most important job on any swim club. If the club wants to survive and thrive, you must pay attention to the feeder program. I also love to work with the younger ones. They test my patience all the time, but also crack me up everyday. I also love to work with the beginner Masters. I know I am where I belong when I see a novice Masters swimmer learn how to swim and find their inner-athlete. Some of them lose huge amounts of weight, others just are a lot happier on a daily basis. These are the swimmers that give me inspiration in swimming and in life. 7:30 p.m. done.

No Masters practice tonight and no drylands.

Tomorrow I will go about 11,000 in two practices with a short dryland session. No swimming on Sunday. I will coach Masters on Saturday and Sunday.

It has been a great week. I think I'm on my way to achieving my short term goals for this year. I will focus on USA Senior Sectionals in early March. I have pretty much decided not to go to USA Nationals in late March. I want to crank it up for Masters Nationals in May at Federal Way, Washington.

Long Course season is just around the corner and I hope this will be the year I can get that Olympic Trial cut in the 200m fly. It has been a long struggle with sickness and a few injuries over the last few years. It seems that my body has adjusted and I am feeling stronger.

Thanks again to Jason and Swimming World Magazine for this opportunity to share some of my life with you all. Wishing you all the best in your swimming adventures.

See you at the pool,
Dennis

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