Provincials were really tough this year. For the fourth year in a row I was in the events that were the most competitive and was unable to come out on top in any of my events.
My day started off with a win in the medley relay. I swam the butterfly leg and splitted a 27.59 50 fly, which is a best time for me! What a way to start off the day. I was so excited, but I knew I had to go cool down for my individual 50 fly.
I was feeling ready for the 50 fly, I did what I always do. I was well warmed up, had enough fuel in the tank to perform and was coming off a high from my previous event. And I had my Ipod in with Eminem blasting! I had a very bad start but I didn't let that scare me because I'm better on the second half. Well it turned out I wasn't good enough on the second half today, I thought for sure I out touched Wyatt but it turns out that he grew his fingernails out a little longer than mine, .02 longer to be exact.
Now I had a gold medal and a silver. Not too bad. I was extremely angry that I had been out touched for the gold medal especially considering I only swam a 28.06 compared to my earlier swim but this meant I had to redeem myself in the 400. I thought to myself go out easy and build the legs (I knew I still had the 100 fly and was saving myself a bit for it) so that's what I did. Some other people decided that they were going to go out fast and well their plan worked. 0.11 this time for fourth place and I didn't feel like I worked hard enough. I really thought I could beat these guys as long as I was around 4:35. Well I went a 4:35.05, so props to them! They kicked my ass and worked hard to do it. I felt like I didn't push myself to the limit which was a huge disappointment, but I didn't know when to use my legs. It's always a gamble and I lost today. I tried to go out controlled and it didn't work. I didn't have the smartest race, which meant I didn't have the fastest race.
For someone else though, this gamble of going out fast worked. I want to personally congratulate Charles for going out and leading the 400 right from the start. He put it all on the line and it payed off. Now he has a NBIAA gold medal and he went a pretty damn fast time. Charles, you have a promising triathlon career ahead of you!
Finally, the 100 fly. This used to be my best event, until I became a triathlete but I still always tried my best. I haven't been training fly at all, so this felt more like a 200 fly. Instead of my typical balls to the wall approach I tried to go out relaxed. Some people say I looked great, I didn't feel it. I thought I could beat Wyatt this time and I couldn't. So a huge shout out to him.
Luckily we walked away with the Senior boys banner and I had a gold and two silvers. Swimming banners are in our blood at Saint John High, thank god I was able to captain us to another win. I did not see many other NB Juniors race, so just because I singled Charles out does not mean you guys didn't impress me. You made it to provincials, which is an accomplishment in itself. I cannot wait for us to show the rest of Canada that New Brunswick is stepping it up in the national rankings and that we are capable of becoming world class triathletes some day!
