Swimming in the Wind: More than Just Ripples in Mesa

2018 tyr pro swim series mesa
Photo Courtesy: Brooke Wright

Editorial content for the 2018 TYR Pro Swim Series Mesa is sponsored by SwimOutlet.com. Visit SwimOutlet.com for more information on our sponsor. For full Swimming World coverage, check out our event coverage page.

By David Rieder.

At the end of the night at any swim meet, the crowd departs followed by the swimmers and coaches. The pool gets quiet, and the water flattens out like glass. Even if there are a few facility workers, officials or media members lingering, the scene is relatively peaceful.

Usually—but not Thursday night at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Mesa. Beginning just after prelims, a harsh wind blew west to east, or from the turn end towards the start end. Swimmers arrived in Arizona to 90-degree weather on Wednesday, but by the time the sun went down Thursday, the wind had everyone shivering, wet or dry.

All day, the wind kicked up enough dust to coat everything from bleachers to swimmers’ caps while they were standing behind the blocks. The dust obscured the Superstition Mountains, typically easily visible behind the starting end of the pool.

It was strong enough that, in track, any record set in the direction of the wind would have been considered assisted and thus not valid. Swimming, of course, has no such rules—and nowadays, few major meets are outdoors. And none of the Thursday or Friday races were 50-meter events, so those competing had to deal with as much resistance as they received assistance.

Watching from afar, you might have seen the flags rippling in the wind, swimmers bundled up in parkas behind the blocks or even a few waves in the water. What was less obvious was how much the conditions affected the swimmers.

Hali Flickinger, for instance, finished fourth in the 200 free in a solid time of 2:00.75. But check out these splits: 29.41, 30.43, 31.16, 29.75. As you might guess based on those numbers, Flickinger was battling the wind on the first and third laps and swimming assisted on the second and fourth.

When she finished the race, Flickinger turned to Allison Schmitt and screamed, “Did you feel that on the way down?!”

Most of Flickinger’s fellow U.S. national team members had similar comments about the wind. Tim Phillips called the situation “really, really interesting,” explaining that in his 100 fly victory, he had to expend extra energy on the first lap, leaving him too fatigued to take advantage of the assistance from the wind on the way back.

breeja-larson-2018-200breast-apss-mesa

Breeja Larson — Photo Courtesy: Brooke Wright

Micah Sumrall and Breeja Larson both explained how they tried to compensate for the weather. Sumrall tried to stay low to the water while fighting the wind and coming up high on the way back to take advantage of the boost, while Larson just tried to stay underwater as long as she could.

“It was actually really fun,” Larson said, before adding, “It’s really intimidating standing at the end of the block and seeing an ocean coming at you.”

When Josh Prenot came into the media tent for an interview, while the C and D-finals were still ongoing, he pointed out waves breaking over the touchpads on the star end of the pool about 50 feet away. No, the conditions were not perfect, and the times played that out.

For instance, Prenot’s Cal teammates Ryan Murphy and Jacob Pebley swam much slower in their 200 back than they had at the previous Pro Swim Series stop in Atlanta. Murphy went from a 1:55.46 in Atlanta to a 1:56.46, while Pebley dropped from a 1:55.85 to 1:58.30.

Of course, in the grand scheme of things, what does that even mean? The professionals want to swim well at their in-season meets for prize money purposes, but the main aims are swimming at their best by the end of the season. A little experience in difficult outdoor conditions can’t hurt, especially since U.S. Nationals this summer in Irvine, Calif., will be held in an outdoor pool.

“We all had to deal with it, so you can’t really use it as an excuse,” Pebley said, before pointing out that on the third 50 of his 200 back, he felt “like you’re going through sludge. It’s good to practice in not-so-good conditions. Nationals, if it’s like this or even a little better, at least it’ll feel normal.”

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