Nationals, part Deux!

So the weekend after the USMS short course yards national championships was the 1 mi open water national championships in Huntersville, NC. As in the pool mile at nationals, I won my age group and got second overall out of the ladies. Now, there's nothing like a four day swim meet to remind me why open water swimming rocks so much more! Let's take a look.

	Pool swimming	Open water swimming
Duration	Nationals lasted four long, grueling days	Nationals lasted twenty minutes and change
Hydration	Important to balance water and electrolytes to avoid dehydration	Can have beer within minutes of finishing
Physical contact	Swimmers must stay in their own lanes or they get disqualified	While drowning people is frowned upon, kicking and elbows are common. It combines 2 favorite things – swimming and whooping folks
Bouts with the arch nemesis	Has a chance against Medendorp in very few pool events	Stands a much better chance of making Mark her bitch

So, while pool racing is tolerable now and again, it is open water swimming that totally rocks. Excited for this summer!