You knew this post was coming, didn’t you? Well, if not, then you must be new to the Swim Aid following!

Now that the major International meet of the year is over, we’re going through a bit of withdrawal already. Yes, the US Open is going on now, but the writing’s on the wall. We’re pretty much not going to have any swimming to follow until October-ish when NCAA season kicks into gear. That’s when we’ll be back to stanning for the Michigan Wolverines, I guess. Different year, same ol’, same ol’.

So, we’re already looking ahead to next summer’s Conoco Phillips Summer Nationals in Irvine, CA. Can anyone say “party”?! Well, we can!

The Swim Aids conquered the 2005 and 2006 Summer Nationals that were held in Irvine and had a blast doing so! Well, except for some unnecessary drama and having to drive on Cali roads (I thought I was going to die). We can’t wait to do it all over again and here’s why:

1. It’s an outdoor meet! Most of us reside in states where meets are contested indoors. So the chance to enjoy swimming outside — and the frolicking that goes along with it — is just wonderful. We don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s that we don’t inhale as much chlorine, but we just enjoy outdoor competitions. We’re more spirited and fun, if you can believe that. Actually, most of us lost our voices cheering during the Irvine ‘06 Nationals.

2. In-N-Out Burger. ‘Nuff said.

3. Hot tub parties! The Swim Aids, for some reason, are obsessed with hotel hot tubs and jacuzzi’s. If our hotel has one, you will find us in it every night. That’s not even an exaggeration.

4. Most of the Swim Aids, if not all, will actually be able to make this meet. Our quality time together has been severely limited in the last 1.5 years. We aim to change that as soon as possible!

5. Tailgate possibilities. We’d like to think we were some of the first people to tailgate at a swim meet. Don’t be surprised if we bring that back next summer. Gotta make sure we get clearance/permits/etc. It’d be fun! Our last (and first) tailgate was a success! We had a pretty nice guest list which included Sir Phelps briefly, Katie Hoff, Kaitlin Sandeno, and Davis Tarwater. Debbie Phelps also stopped by and brought us cookies and balloons; which we later fought over. If we end up pulling off an Irvine tailgate, you won’t want to miss it. Trust us!

6. Post meet after parties. There will be some, and if we don’t have one ourselves, we will be cruising for others. Last time out, we partied with the Florida Gators and the Lochtenator. We owed him some Heineken (and still do), so we were able to get him some after the meet. It was a good time until hotel security shut it down! *shakes fist*

So, clearly we’re already psyched about next year! Show of hands: Who’s in?

I know you guys are totally wondering WTF is going on around here. Am I right?

Well, I know I’ve got a lot of ’splainin to do because I’ve been to 2 meets in the past month, and I’ve hardly even mentioned it here.

So, you’re probably wondering where your “Tales From The Deck” posts and other gossip tidbits are, right? Well, this time around, I have failed you and I’m well aware of it. I do intend to post my thoughts on both Santa Clara and World Champ Trials. Just not now!

I’ve been so busy with trying to provide some degree of live coverage on Swim Stars Live, visit with old friends I only see once a year, and trying to get some sleep that there really just wasn’t enough time each day for gossip sessions! This was intensified in Indy because I was working by myself on the event coverage. It’s tough to be photographer, writer, and live Tweeter at the same time!

So, I’m working on a few posts for the blog. Highlights/lowlights, photo favorites, best races, and other thoughts are on the way.

So keep your panties on!

Kiwi and I were just chatting and it dawned on us that we haven’t seen each other since Trials! That is an eternity! Same goes for Carrie! And don’t even get me started on Erika, whom I haven’t seen since we rang in 2008 together! Some of the my other swim friends I last saw in Omaha as well and I miss them all! Twitter and Facebook are great, but I miss my homies!

Back when we first started getting into the sport (post-Athens bitches; we’ve been around a minute, huh?) we were all over the place. We were attending national meets nearly every other month and it was awesome! We were the fan fixtures in the stands learning more about the sport and meeting awesome swim parents at the same time. They simply could not believe we traveled to all of these meets without having a background in swimming ourselves!

Flash back to Summer Nationals in 2006. We spent our final night in Irvine, partying with the Florida Gator swimmers; the Lochtenator included. When some of them found out that we weren’t swimmers ourselves, they thought it was the coolest thing ever! It’s too bad hotel security shut that party down. It was jumpin’! Continue Reading »

As much as it pains me to say this, The Swim Aid is leaving Minnesota early.  Weather is starting to get bad here and in South Dakota, and their is talk of highways closing in South Dakota.  And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be stuck on a SD highway with nothing to see but corn!

We’re really bummed we can’t stay for the whole meet, we still had some serious chatting to do!  So if you were getting up the nerve to approach us yesterday – sorry!  Should have been faster!  Oh, and remember – don’t be a finals ho, yo!

Because it took me so long to make up my mind if I wanted to go to this meet (I know – what was I thinking?!), I was unable to get deck passes, but it’s okay, because we had some good seats in the stands!

After spending some serious dough at Mall of America and getting through the hell known as Minnesota road construction (seriously, who puts detours IN DETUORS?!?!), we arrived to the meet, just 10 minutes late.  But we still got to see our favorites swim!  We even got in a brief chat with The Lochtenator!  We just reminded him to say the word and we’ll get some Heineken to his house ASAP!

We were supposed to get a snowstorm today, but it never came!  Hopefully it won’t mess up our plans for tomorrow!

Oh, and word to the wise: no grown man in his sane mind would risk jail time to be with a 13-year old.  So doing the “bend and snap” bit is probably not encouraged.  Don’t embarrass yourself anymore.  Kay?  Thanks!

And you thought no Swim Aids would take on the wind and snow in Minnesota for this Grand Prix!  Ha!  It’s like Spring Break weather here for me!  If you don’t believe me, you should think about taking a trip to Brookings, SD!  Brr!

So anyways, this is by far the smallest Swim Aid turnout for a meet – JUST ME!  However, my friend Amanda is with me to keep me company.  We couldn’t make prelims or finals today due to a test in my last class today, but two days of swimming should suffice!  After all, who knows when my next meet will be!

I guess the big news here is that tomorrow is supposed to bring a touch of a blizzard.  That’s nothing for me, but I hope some swimmers brought their coats! I’ll be inside all of the time anyways – hotel, Mall of America, pool.  Awesome, no?

Well, I guess that’s all for this update.  Short and sweet.

Usually, in the fall of an Olympic year, things slow to a stand still. A lot of swimmers take breaks and try to capitalize on the all-to-small window of opportunity that Olympic athletes score following their return from competition. And while we look forward to that, we know we’re going to miss swimming.

We had an exceptionally long drought in the aftermath of last summer’s nationals. That wasn’t the plan, but that’s how things panned out.

So where are we going to get our fix? Your guess is as good as mine!

I’ll probably go spend some quality time with the Ohio State pool that I love so much. Michigan is coming to me this season for a 2-day tri-meet with Penn St. I’m definitely hitting that up. As for more National meets, I’ve been eyeballing the Minnesota Grand Prix and Short Course Nationals. If I can get up to Minny, I can reunite with Carrie and go to the Mall of America. Win-win, right?

But with trips like that, I’ll need to budget like a mad woman, as I have already penciled in that trip to Rome for Worlds. If I have to give up a few domestic meets in order to make it to Rome, then so be it. After all, it’s ROME!! Holla atcha girl!

If I stick around Ohio this fall, then I will absolutely make the trip to Long Beach for the grand prix in January. Kiwi will have relocated to SoCal, not to mention I have family out that way. I’ve been wanting to get to that meet for a couple of years now, so I think it’s about time.

According to the Quad Plan, Austin (TX) is getting a grand prix in March, pre-NCAAs. If all else fails, you may see a group at that meet because 6th St. is beckoning all of us.

Now, if for some reason, we figure out that Rome is an impossibility, we will definitely attend the CP Summer Nationals. IUPUI is hosting in Indy again, and we already have a hotel room. (If you’re thinking about going, we suggest you book yours now, too. You can always cancel later!) We wanted to stay at University Place last year, but couldn’t get a room and the people doing reservations were incompetent. So we ended up staying at the Omni and driving to and from sessions. We’ll be hoofin’ it that 1 block distance this time around.

So, Indy is our backup plan. I’m pretty sure that if we go to Rome, we won’t be able to swing Indy just weeks before that trip. This is the time when I miss Spring Nationals. Having selection meets just a couple of weeks before a major international competition makes it virtually impossible for us to attend both. Were Spring Champs still around, we could go to both. *shakes fist*

So that’s where we’re at with our trip planning. Nothing I’ve mentioned is set in stone, so don’t be surprised if you see a Swim Aid at a meet near you!