The Mississippi Senior Olympics 2021 Swim Meet

The 2021 edition of the Mississippi Senior Olympics swim meet was held Saturday May 22 in Biloxi. Because of COVID, the 2020 games, much to my chagrin, were cancelled. The way things usually work, every even year is a qualifying year for the national games which are held biennially on odd years. Because of the cancellations across the country, the original announcement was that those who qualified in 2018 would be eligible for the national games to be held in 2021. This irritated me because I had a good meet in 2019 and it also meant that I would have to wait two more years to get a shot at qualifying. Then the plan changed. The nationals were pushed back a year and 2021 became a qualifying year. Now I was back in the game.

The Biloxi Natatorium

So Penny and I loaded up and headed south Friday morning. Inwardly I was far from confident. But you know what I say about confidence, right? It's overrated. With the Geezer Run as this year's DFM fundraiser, I concentrated on it for the past few months. I swam, but there is only so much time and so much energy and I knew that if Geezer were to have any chance of success, I had to prioritize my running. So that is what I did. And the Geezer itself took five days, five days in which I did not swim a single stroke. That meant that I was not as swim fit as I have been in the past. Not only that, but I was signed up for two extra events: the 50 and 100 backstroke. I had never swum the backstroke competitively, and I am not quick at it at all. The reason I signed up for six events is they would not let me sign up for seven. Before this year, four was the limit. So I hopped at the opportunity to have more races.

We stopped by the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi office on our way down to the Coast to drop off some more funds we had collected. Then we went to some of Penny's stores so she could do some shopping. She had a good time, and when she had done her stores we headed back south.

Getting ready to warm up before the meet

We made it to Biloxi, found our motel, checked in, then went looking for a place to eat. We chose Snappers, which is on the beach, and it was a good pick. For an appetizer, we had fried green tomatoes, and I wanted to jump up on top of the table and scream and shout. They were that good, crazy good. Drive five hours to the coast to eat them. No joke. Penny ordered crab legs, which is one of her favorites. I chose fried oysters. My oysters were as big as large boiled eggs and there were so many of them that I barely got them all down. If you have ever dined with me, you know that I can put away some food. Penny spent a good thirty minutes eating her crab legs after I finished. I didn't mind. I always like watching her eat them because she enjoys them so much. It makes me happy to see her feast in pleasure.

The next morning, we did the continental breakfast thing and then headed to the Biloxi Natatorium. Check in time was 8:30 and we got there a little early. While we waiting on them to open the doors, we saw Vickie Jee in the parking lot. I know her from the Twin Rivers pool and had told her about the event. I had not bumped into her in a while so it was nice to see that she decided to come down and swim.

The meet was much bigger this year with more participants, more fanfare, and more bells and whistle. The scoreboard was operational as was electronic timing. At check in, we were given a nice bag that I will use in the future to carry my swimming supplies to the pool. I overheard more than one swimmer wonder out loud how they could make a profit on the meet. The entry fee is only $20 and the T-shirt, goody bag, medals, and lunch totaled way more than triple $20.

My longsuffering wife, Penny

The meet started on time and in nothing flat I was on deck awaiting my first swim, the 200 free. This is one of my good events and when I saw someone I met at the last meet, John Eades, John asked my what my expectations were. "I came here to kick butt and eat candy bars," I told him, "and I'm all out of candy bars." He thought that was funny, and I was proud of my whit until I saw the guy who lined up to my left. Two years ago, my wife told me that the other men's bodies there did not look like mine. "They must only swim," she said referring to the fact that I also lift weights. But she did not see this man. He was thin but muscular and lean. Instantly I was frightened. I know you are not supposed to judge a cover by its book, but he looked like a college swimmer, and that intimidated me. I have some real competition here, I thought.

Swimming one of my four freestyle races

In no time, my scared heart was lined up on the deck ready to start. I did not go off the blocks because I do not trust my goggles to stay on from that height. The gun sounded and we were off. Buff dude was on my left. He went off the blocks and it took me one length to catch him, but after that, I passed him and added distance with each lap. I won and felt much better when that race was under my belt.

Next up for me was the 100 backstroke. This was a first for me, swimming this in a competition. I have no starting blocks back home to practice on and with this one they make you start in the water using the blocks. Anyway, the start went OK, but at the first turn, I counted my strokes under the flags, four strokes just like at Twin Rivers. I turned over and took the legal one freestyle stroke you are allowed, then the wall was too far away. On the other wall, it was too far away again. I barely touched the wall with my left foot narrowly missing a disqualification. All three turns were bad, and I never knew where anybody was. When the race was over, I climbed out and asked the official on deck if I won. "You were second," he told me.

Back in the stands, Penny told me that I was leading until the last turn. "He passed you on the last turn," she informed me, "and beat you by a foot." Wow. This is why real swimmers always call it a practice instead of a workout. I needed more practice on my backstroke turns. Attention to details. Why has it taken me so long to learn this?

My third event was the 50 freestyle. I am not a sprinter, and after seeing how much of an advantage that going off the blocks adds, I knew I had no chance in the 50 without the blocks. The 50 is too short to spot somebody two seconds or more. If my goggles come off, I reasoned, I only have one turn to make. So that is what I did. I swam hard, but buff dude was in the race and he finished. Later, however, when they announced the winners, my name was called for the gold in my age group. That meant buff dude was in a younger age group. They do that sometimes, have more than one group in a heat. So now I was two for three.

The 50 backstroke event gave me a rematch with the guy who beat me in the 100 back. Buff dude wasn't in this one so it was me and the other geezer. There were more people in the heat, but he was my competition. As I jumped into the pool and grabbed the starting block, I was telling myself, just one good turn, just one. That is all you have in the 50. The gun went off and I swam as hard as I could. The turn was better, but not great. At the finish, just like before, I had no clue who had won. I looked at the scoreboard. My name was in lane four. Beside my name was the number 1. A huge smile broke across my face. I looked over at my nemesis. He was not smiling. He did not look happy at all. 

Buff Dude was in the 100 free with me. But now I knew I did not have to beat him to win my group. And if the other geezers could not beat me in the 50, there was little chance they would in the 100 because the longer the swim the stronger I am. This time, however, I dove off the deck instead of the blocks because I did lose my goggles diving off the blocks in the 50. With three turns in the 100, it was not worth the two seconds. Buff Dude went off the blocks, but I still almost caught him in the first 25. After that, though, he pulled ahead by a few feet and I could not close. Still I beat the other old men in my bracket for my fourth gold to go with my one silver.

Next up and the last event of the day was the 500 free. There were so many swimmers this year, that in my heat, we had two women, one older man, and four men in my age group, seven swimmers in all. I went off the deck again and it took me 25 yards to catch the guy on my left who went off the blocks. I pulled ahead of him right after the first flip. From there on, I kept pulling away and lapped a guy two lanes over. I won pretty easily for my fifth gold.

It was a nice meet and a nice trip. Penny had a swell time and told me that over and over. We did have a relaxing drive, some nice shopping, a super meal, and I had a good swim meet. Penny told me she was proud of me. That always melts me on the inside and makes me tear up. Once more, I learned that confidence really is overrated. I did not expect to have success in the backstroke, but I got one gold and one silver in two races. Audacity. I had the audacity to try. Oh, and attention to details. That's important. I learned that also. 

I am now qualified for nationals in six events. Will we go? We have not yet decided. Nationals will be in Fort Lauderdale in May of 2022. If we do, I will not swim six races but two at the most.

Thank you, Jesus, for a wonderful weekend.

 

Me with my medals