As www.islandstats.com reported Bermuda’s Olympic hopeful Lisa Blackburn traveled to Mayagüez, Puerto Rico for the Mayagüez International Swimming Open.
Blackburn reflected on her performances on her website https://lisablackburn2016.wordpress.com/.
On their Blackburn wrote, “It was a very good experience and I learned a lot about myself and my capabilities. I somewhat surprised myself with my swims in the 100 Freestyle and 100 Breaststroke.
I swam to a new best time in the 100 Freestyle going 58.95! I can’t even remember the last time I went under a minute for this event and I actually did it twice this weekend, having swum a 59.47 in the preliminaries and then again dipping user 59 seconds during finals. I guess the surprise was more so that I ended up on the podium, earning Bronze. It was a lot of fun to race this event and I am really pleased with my progress
On Sunday, I raced the 50 Freestyle and the 100 Breaststroke. Finals were interesting in that they started 30 minutes earlier than advertised and most teams were not informed of this change in start time, me included. Seeing as the first event was the 50 Freestyle and that I only got out of the warmup pool 4 minutes before the start of finals, I somehow managed to swim a decent time, but definitely not what I was aiming for. It was challenging to get into my very tight racing suit in 90 degree heat and in about 7 minutes phew!!! Unfortunately, I placed 4th and missed the podium by only 0.03 seconds. I guess moments like these only make us stronger and more prepared for next time…
After doing a short warm down, changing suits and regrouping, the 100 Breaststroke was up next. Part of me was annoyed about what happened before the 50, and another part was able to refocus and relax before the 100 Breaststroke final. I swam my race tactically very well, hitting my stroke counts perfectly and splitting both of my 50’s with 3 seconds of each other (goal is always under a 4 second drop off). My time of 1:13.19 was a season best time and the fastest I have swum in about 15 months!
The best part about this weekend was that I got to represent my island home and reach the podium twice. It’s always special to represent Bermuda and I take a lot of pride in being able to so. I’d like to send a special shout out to the Bermuda Olympic Association for their continued support on my Olympic journey. It would not be possible for me to attend these competitions without their support, so thank you!
I am also really encouraged by my results. Anything is possible, regardless of age.”
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