Carl swimming 2000 m in the Resevoir Lake
Arrival at the finishing stairs
Carl fatigued drinking tea
10. July, 2004
After swimming over 100 km in Training this season, I decided to participate in an amateur long distance contest near Dresden. This swim meet is called the Stauseespektakel and is held at the resevoir lake in Cossebaude, where I go swimming once a week. I signed up for the 2000 m and the 1000 m distances and trained a bit for these races in practice. I was representing my frisbee team, Drehst'n Deckel, because I had to sign up as a part of a sports club. As a part of my practice in the indoor pool on Freiberger Straße, I swam a 2000 m in 32 minutes and a 1000 m in 15 minutes. I was very proud of those times and hoped to swim similar times in the lake after a small taper, carbo loading, and a bit of rest.
Well I got to the lake on Saturday afternoon and it was very windy and cold. The weather was typical for April, even though it is already July! The course was a 500 m rectangle with bouyes marking the corners. Anyway, the waves were high and it was difficult for me to get warm. When my 2000 m race came around, I got ready and waited on the stairs into the lake in the cold wind. About 30 men and woman were swimming with me, and it was a very hectic start with so many swimmers. I got into the water late and started near the end of the field. After the first 300 m the field finally started to thin out and I could swim my own tempo. I started to pass people and draft when I could. The waves made it very difficult in the cold water and the course marking was very hard to see from in the water. After 1000 m I was in 13th place overall and was feeling great, even though the wind and waves had picked up and it had started to rain. I picked up my tempo for the 3rd 500 and was still passing people and swimming strong. With 300 meters to go I finally got weak. I set a goal to pass one more person who was about 20 meters ahead of me, but my fore arms felt like lead. I had gone out too fast! Anyway, I swam steady the rest of the way. I didn't pass anybody else, except for 3 people that I lapped, but at least I remained unpassed after the first 300 meters. I came in to the finishing stairs as the rain stopped and felt like vomitting! I was, however, very happy and satisfied with my self. I had swam a 34:26, which was good considering the weather conditions. That was good for 10th Place overall and 6th Place in my age group (men 20-29 yeas old).
Well I was given a warm tea with lots of sugar from the nice old ladies who responsible for that and dried off in the cold wind. I was feeling horrible! My forearms were dead and I also had pain and cramps in my triceps, shoulders and lats. I was considering not swimming my next race, the 1000 m with only 90 minutes rest before. I got a nice massage from my cheer leader, Jenny, and that helped alot. I decided to go for it, even though I wasn't planning on swimming very fast. The 1000 m race started better for me. I was swimming against 28 other swimmers, many of who hadn't swam the 2000 m 2 hours before. I had learned from the mass start before and swam on the outside to avoid the crowd. I swam very slow in the first 500 meters and was feeling good after the first round. At the begining of the 2nd round, I decided to give it all I had and started passing people. I arrived with a decent pace and at the end of my energy. I swam 17:16, which was more than half of the time I needed for the 2000m. That was good for 3rd place in my age group (men 25-29 years old), but I don't know what place I finished overall. Considering the conditions and my fatigue from the 2000 m race, I was satisfied with the results.
After the 1000 m race the rest of my Drehst'n Deckel fan club (Kati and Carsten) arrived. Due to my lone participation, Drehst'n Deckel finished 16th from 19th clubs, even though we were the least represented club at the meet. We celebrated with a bottle of sekt and went back in the lake to warm down. We through a disc around for a while, enjoyed the closing cerimonies and rode the bikes back to Radebeul for a large dinner to replenish my energy reserves! It was a fun day and I am looking forward to participating in more such ameteur events
| Distance | Group | Time | Placing |
| 2000 m | men open | 34:26 | 10th of 18 |
| 2000 m | men 20-29 | 34:26 | 6th of ?? |
| 1000 m | men 25-29 | 17:16 | 3rd of 4 |
| Drehst'n Deckel: 16th of 19 | |||
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Carl swimming 2000 m in the Resevoir Lake |
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Arrival at the finishing stairs |
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Carl fatigued drinking tea |
