The 2012 United States Masters Swimming Spring National Championships in April will be the first major, National swimming event to be hosted at the massive new 78,000 square foot Greensboro Aquatic Center in North Carolina.
Though there’s some excitement surrounding getting the first crack at this big new facility that looks to become a major player in national hosting battles, the meet just got a brand new headline:
That’s right. Lance Armstrong has caught the bug, and after swimming his first meet in roughly 25 years a few weeks ago in Austin, Lance plans to swim at Masters Spring Short Course Nationals in April.
Armstrong, who was a very accomplished swimmer through his mid teens, swam his way to a 5:08.11 in the 500 yard free at the Longhorn Aquatics New Year’s classic on January 21st. Since retiring from his cycling career, Armstrong has jumped head-first into triathlons, which in turn has led him back to swimming. Armstrong has been training regularly in the pool in the neighborhood of 5,000 yards a workout.
Whereas last time, the 40-year old Armstrong was overmatched by his much (much) younger opponents, at Masters Nationals he would be one of the top seeds in the 500 free. He currently ranks 4th in that age group in the 500 free in the 2011-2012 season. Among those ahead of Armstrong in the rankings include fellow Austin-ite Steven Unruh.
