So last weekend I went to a Grand Prix meet in Minneapolis.  This was my first competition since Nationals back in August so I really didn't know what to expect.  I ended up swimming pretty well considering how hard the training has been lately so that was good.  The best part of the weekend was watching my friend and teammate Chris Dejong complete a bet that Davis Tarwater and I created.  The bet was that if Davis and I bought Minnesota Vikings pajama pants, t-shirt, and windbreaker jacket, he would have to wear it all weekend (Thurs-Sun) in order to receive a steak dinner in Ann Arbor.  Chris delightfully excepted the challenge and it was off to the gift shop to purchase the items.

There is nothing like watching your buddy spend the whole weekend in purple pajama pants and windbreaker at all times (parade to the blocks, awards stand, dinner...etc).  Needless to say, he easily completed the bet and everyone got some good laughs over the course of the meet.  Note:  Chris Dejong is totally indifferent in his support of the Vikings.

This coming weekend is shaping up to be a good one.  First, I have the Michigan/ohio state football game to attend on Saturday.  For those of you that don't know, it's arguable one of the best rivalries in sports.  This year the game will determine the outright Big Ten champion.  Also, HBO just recently aired a great documentary on the history of the game that any sports fan can appreciate.  Second, I have the Golden Goggles award show to attend on Sunday in Beverly Hills.  That should also be a fun time and an opportunity to see everyone from the Worlds team again.  Hope everyone else is planning to have some fun this weekend too

-Peter

Hello from Ann Arbor.  It's been a while since I last wrote an entry so hopefully I will remember everything that's happened since my last update.  The biggest thing that happened was the Michigan Swimming Alumni Meet last weekend.  Michigan had its first alumni meet since 2000 on Saturday morning.  What made it exciting was that like myself, some of the alums are training for the 2008 Olympics and are in pretty good shape.  Others have kept in good shape and are naturally still fast.  Some, on the other hand, are not in very good shape at all.  Nevertheless, we all joined forces to swim against the current college team in a meet comprised of 50s, short relays, and the 100 free/IM.  I could tell the alums would be in trouble when most of them didn't show up until 20 minutes before the start of the meet.  Regardless, our opening relay motored to a win with Michigan 50 free record holder Brent Lang anchoring the squad with a 20.33.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that because the guy graduated in 1990!  I can only wonder how slow I will be 17 years from now.  In the end, the alumni team boasted wins in 6 out of the 9 events with a DQ that cost us the 50 breastroke.  We ended up losing the meet though due to lack of depth.  Although it was exciting, the best part was getting everyone together from the past and present to have some fun.  It was great to see former swimmers from decades earlier getting to meet guys on the current team.  I know everyone had a fun time and hopefully everyone can get together again when Big Tens are held in Ann Arbor in February. 

This weekend I'm going back to Rochester (my hometown) to attend the funeral of my great aunt that just passed earlier this week.  I wasn't extremely close with her but I know she was a very interesting lady.  She was very involved in many community projects and clubs, especially organizations that promote women in science.  It was very humbling to read her obituary because it listed many great, charitable things that I never knew she was active in because she never boasted about them.  She had been battling cancer for awhile and finally lost the fight.

For me, everything is going fairly well right now.  I'm training hard and looking forward to my first real meet in a few weeks in Minnesota.  It should be a pretty good meet to see where I am right now in my training.  Hope everyone is doing well and swimming fast!

-Peter

Hope everyone is doing well.  I've been pretty good myself.  Last weekend I went to the Michigan/Penn St football game and enjoyed every minute of the victory.  Some of my friends that graduated were in town and it was great to see everyone.  On Sunday, Davis, Erik, Erik's friend Mike, and I went golfing because it was such a nice day.  The first couple of shots were nothing to be proud of though.  I used to golf fairly often growing up but I hadn't played much this year so I was a bit rusty.  It took a few holes to get my swing back...Golf is one of those sports were if you don't play often it's hard to be good, but every once in awhile you hit a great shot that keeps you coming back for more.  No matter how bad I play, it's great just to be outside with friends having a good time.  Michigan is awesome this time of year and I have started to notice that fall is coming.  A few of the trees around my house have already started changing color and that means one thing to me...hunting season!

Pete

Well everything is pretty much back to normal for me these days.  Workouts are in full swing and I feel like I am getting into a solid routine.  Saturday I went to a wedding in Midland, Michigan which was nice.  I missed the Michigan football game but I didn't have a ticket this week anyways.  After writing about how excited I was for this season, I hope I didn't jinx them.  Even though the Wolverines are off to a rough start, they still have plenty opportunities to change the direction of the ship.  That's one of the obligations of being a sports fan-cheering for your team whether they are winning or losing.

Have a great week!

-Peter

Hope everyone is doing well.  It's getting to be that time of year in Ann Arbor where football fever is in the air.  Personally, I am extremely excited for the first game on Saturday.  Football Saturdays at Michigan are pretty much like holidays and I am really looking forward to seeing our team in action.  It's always fun to get together with friends and family to enjoy the game, especially this weekend since some of my friends that graduated will be in town.  Michigan is ranked pretty well in the pre-season polls so hopefully they will dominate. 

This past weekend I went up north sailing in Traverse City with my family.  It was definitely a good time.  We had some bad weather on Friday but the rest of the weekend was great.  Northern Michigan is beautiful this time of year and I definitely love being outdoors on the perfect blue lake.  If you ever get a chance to vacation on Lake Michigan you should definitely go.  It's one of my favorite places to be.  Even though Michigan can have some dreary weather, it makes it that much better when the weather is nice.  I hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer

Later,

Pete

What's up everyone?

Since Nationals I have been fairly busy.  I got back from Indy and started training again....nothing too hard though.  I also went back to Chicago last weekend to visit my old roommate and some friends.  There was a huge air show going on and loud planes were flying over the city all weekend.  Overall it was a fun time and a nice break.  Last Monday I went down to Detroit to visit my brother too.  He is a medical student at Wayne State and just moved into a new apartment so I went down there to hang out.  Tonight I get to go to the Tiger's game with my brother Alex and my club coach from back home.  I am a big Tiger's fan and they haven't been playing too hot recently.  Hopefully the activation of Joel Zumaya will change things around.  It will be fun to see my coach too since I don't get to see him much anymore even though we keep in good contact.  Anyways, hope everyone is doing well.  Hopefully another update will come soon. 

-Pete

I was asked to write another entry leading up to Nationals about my mindset going into the meet.  Since there are only six more days to prepare for the meet there isn't much I can do physically besides get sleep, eat well, and stay hydrated to change the fate of my races.  However, the mental game is very important during this period.  I think the best way to keep a positive mindset is to stay confident.  Since I know that I have done all the required training to swim fast, it's just a matter of reminding myself that the hard stuff is behind me.  Looking back at altitude training camp, months of continued hard training at Michigan, and numerous racing opportunities, I can confidently say that I am prepared well to meet my goals.  If I show up in Indy next week without confidence then I've already set myself up for a poor performance.  Now I just have to go out there and race, have fun, and let my preparation do the rest.  Remember to always stay confident before your big meets!

Best Wishes,
Peter

Hope everyone is doing well.  I haven't been up to much lately besides training.  However, I was able to take a trip to Chicago this past weekend and had the opportunity to train with the Chicago Wolfpack Aquatic Club.  I went to Chicago to visit some friends and was lucky enough to know one of the coaches at CWAC because he swam at Michigan.  It always nice to be able to visit other clubs and experience something different.  Overall, I had a good time and enjoyed seeing some people I haven't seen in awhile.  The plan now is to continue training for nationals and hopefully swim fast there.  After nationals I am looking forward to relaxing for a few days before getting back into heavy training.  My family is also going on a vacation in Northern Michigan which is something that should be fun too.  It's always important to do some fun things outside the pool every once in awhile, as long as it doesn't affect training.  For now, nationals is the main focus and until then, swim fast.

-Pete

Just got settled into our hotel today after traveling from Barcelona.  So far the Mare Nostrum series has been a really great experience.   Beginning in Canet, France, we got off to a great start.  Staying in a nice hotel right on the beach was more like a vacation than a swim meet.  Personally, my favorite part was enjoying the fresh seafood and local cuisine that Canet has to offer.  I swam really well at the meet too which made my experience even better.  Although there was no warm-down pool, the USA swimmers here managed to produce some fast swims.  It's always nice to practice in a new location too. 

From there we traveled to Barcelona which was a completely different experience.  Canet is more of a laid-back beach town while Barcelona is definitely a hustling and busy city.  The great part about Barcelona is being able to see hundreds of years of European history in the form of architecture.  Davis Tarwater and I saw "La Familia Sagrada" Cathedral which has been a working progress for over a hundred years and counting.  The size was amazing and detail was extremely intricate making it look like something out of storybook.  I also had the wonderful opportunity to use my Spanish that I learned back in high school, which I'm sure didn't impress any of the locals....The swimming in Barcelona went really well too so hopefully I can keep it up in Monaco.  Until then, take it easy....

Pete

Welcome to my first blog!  I've been debating what to write about so I decided to tell everyone about a fishing trip that has nothing to do with swimming.  Just recently I had the opportunity to go walleye fishing on Lake Erie with some friends.  One of my classmates, Andrew Albright, who swam at Michigan, organized the trip with his dad and invited me, my teammate Davis Tarwater, Davis's dad, and my older brother Christian.  It was definitely a good time.

We set out from Ann Arbor at 4:30am for Port Clinton, Ohio which is about an hour and half drive.  Andrew's dad had chartered a boat to take us 10 miles out on the lake to the walleye hotspot.  By about 7am we were out on the lake and catching the walleyes.  It was kind of slow biting at first but as the day went on we were reeling them in pretty nicely.  Everyone once in awhile someone would catch a tiny perch that provided some comedy for the rest of us.  At about 1pm we had caught about 30 walleye over 15 inches and a few decent size perch too.  Side note: I was happy that it warmed up as the day went on since I made the mistake of wearing shorts when the temperature on the lake was at least 10 degrees colder than the temperature on land….

By the time we arrived back in Ann Arbor, it was time for Davis and I to head to practice while Andrew and Christian had the wonderful pleasure of cleaning all the fish.  The next night we all got together for a cook-out at my place where we fried a bunch of the walleye.  It was one of the greatest meals I've had in awhile!

It was definitely a fun trip and I would recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to go.  Tomorrow I leave for a series of competitions in Europe called Mare Nostrum.  I am really looking forward to it and hopefully I can write another update about the trip soon.  Later!

-Pete