July 21st 2016
Mind Dump Day 2
500m ocean swim – Woke up early, at the Marriot Hotel by 7am. Briefed on the swim details… 100m sand run, 150m swim to buoy, 200m swim to the next buoy, 150m swim to shore, 100m sand sprint to finish. Bus ride to the event, athletes are all pretty tired due to a lack of sleep. We arrived, I think the total swim was less than 500m. Warmup, then I stood on the starting line for 15min to ensure I was in the front when the mad dash to the water began haha. Talked with Cole Sager, a former running back. I told him I would let him run out in front of me and I would follow! At the start someone behind him knocked him almost to the ground, so I quickly kind of tapped him up then continued to run. I was probably 8th into the water which was a relief. I was a competitive swimmer in my youth so I knew now that I would have some open water the event would go well.
To the first buoy I was just trying to catch my breath from the run. By the first buoy I was in 4th right behind Noah Ohlsen. We swam side by side for a while, nearly kissed as we breathed facing each other haha. Then I sped up to try and catch the two leaders. I never caught them, but separated myself from the others. Swimming into the shore I got caught up in two waves which pulled me back and allowed Rasmus to catch up. He later told me the last 150m he was swimming at 100%, a good strategy. We exited the water at the same time, but I could tell I would likely beat him on the run. Turned on the jets and tried to lift my knees high and fast and was hoping he couldn’t keep up. Edged him out for third in the event. No regrets, always wanted to win the swim event at the games, but it was not in the cards today. Khan and Jonne were fast.
Briefing at 2pm for the rest of the weekend.