Journey to Olympic Trials: California Dreamin’

Commentary by Jeff Commings, SwimmingWorld.TV associate producer

PHOENIX, Arizona, January 3. HAPPY New Year, everyone! For me, I don't consider the turn of the calendar to be a symbolic pressing of the reset button. It's really just a chance to look back and remember fondly the great moments of the past 12 months … and wince at the things you're glad are behind you.

I will always remember July 9, 2011, when I swam a 1:04.42 in the 100 long course breast to qualify to swim in my third Olympic Trials. I didn't get the swim on video, but just about every second of it is in my head, and I go to those memories often.

I said goodbye to 2011 very well, with a nice trip to Los Angeles, and a couple of workouts with the UCLA Masters team on Saturday and Monday. The team is coached by two-time Olympian Erika Stebbins (nee Hansen), and she has a lot of energy that she gives to her swimmers. Not a lot of Masters coaches do that regularly, but she does. Erika was a few years ahead of me at the University of Texas, and I remember her grinding out the yards in the distance lane. It paid off, since she is remembered as beating Janet Evans at the 1992 Olympic Trials in the 400 IM.

I liked the UCLA Masters team, and on my next trip to L.A., I might visit them again, though I wasn't too pleased with all the butterfly we did in Monday's workout. I planned to be there for the entire Saturday workout, but our GPS played a cruel trick on us, taking us to Beverly Hills instead of the UCLA campus. We arrived 45 minutes late for workout Saturday, and had no choice but to dive right into the final set of 2800 yards with very little rest.

You can read about the workouts I did in L.A. on my blog. Unlike most Masters swimmers around the country, I did not ring in the New Year with the typical 100×100 set that many are bragging about on Facebook. Sets like that are boring.

I spent New Year's Day at Six Flags Magic Mountain, which is probably the best Six Flags park in the country. The only downside was that I did so much walking that my legs are still sore two days later. But if that's the only punishment for a day's worth of thrills, so be it! I couldn't think of a better place to be on the first day of the new year. If possible, I might make it an annual tradition.

I'm swimming in the Austin Grand Prix in less than two weeks. I'm not only excited to be going back to my alma mater for a meet, but to see Austin again! I'm seeded 29th in the 100 breast, which is five spots away from a second swim! It's hard to know how everyone will swim at the meet. Obviously, a few people will be shaved in an attempt to make their Trials cuts, while others will be in hard training. I'm going to rest a little bit, but have no expectations on getting close to my seed of 1:04.42. We'll see how it shakes out…

Jeff Commings will compete at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, and will be the third-oldest male in history to do so. He is the author of "Odd Man Out: An Autobiography," and holds a few Masters world and national records.

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