2016 LCM Nationals – One year out 1


Fit to Swim

2016 LCM Nationals – One year out.

By Coach Aubree Gustafson

Hey all you OMS athletes!  We are officially one year away from hosting and competing in the 2016 USMS Long Course Meter National Championships held at Mt Hood Aquatic Center, August 17th-21st, 2016.  It’s never too early to start thinking about where you want to be, both physically and mentally, when it comes to a big competition.  That time is now!  Below are some ideas to help you get started early.

Sign up for the Gil Young Memorial LCM Meet to be held Friday, August 21st, through Sunday, August 23rd , 2015, at Mt Hood Aquatic Center!  There is nothing better than swimming in the same pool Nationals will be held in and getting a sense of where you are in your swim training.  Online entries are due by midnight August 12th, and if you are sending an entry by mail, it must be post-marked by Friday, August 8th, so you have plenty of time to register.  Try a new event, or maybe this will be your first meet or your first meet in a long time.  Regardless, not everyone gets the opportunity to check out the National pool way in advance of the big meet.  If the thought of swimming in any kind of “meet” is intimidating, just remember, everyone is there for the same reasons; to challenge ourselves, have fun doing it, and meet others who like to do the same thing.  Take advantage and sign-up today!

After you swim a few events and achieve times in your swims that tell you where you are at now, it’s time to start setting some S.M.A.R.T. goals about where you would like to be a year from now.  S.M.A.R.T. goals should be Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.  A timely goal has a finish line, and your finish line is August 17th-21st, 2016.  The rest is up to you!

To help you with your goals, go to USMS.org, under the “Events and Results” tab, click on “National Championships” under “Pool”.  Under the header “National/International Championships Results & Info”, there is a link to “National Qualifying Times FAQ” which goes over information relating to how qualifying times are decided upon and how many events can be swum by an individual without qualifying (http://www.usms.org/comp/nationals.php); currently a USMS registered athlete can swim up to 3 individual events at Nationals without meeting the qualifying times for their age group.  This means that everyone is welcome to swim at the meet regardless of whether you are a big time competitive swimmer or a fitness swimmer; this meet is for you!  Slightly further down on the same page, under the header “2015 USMS & International Championships”, there is a link to the current “Qualifying Times” for Nationals this summer in Geneva, Ohio.  It’s worth a look to see what events you may be close to qualifying for, or currently qualify for, when looking forward to next year’s National Championships.

This is just the beginning.  I’ll come back to this over the course of the next year to check in with you all on our way to Summer Nationals 2016.  See you at Gil!


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