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Maya DiRado’s emotions after the 200 individual medley final at the FINA world championships were positive and negative, a natural occurrence after posting a lifetime best but just missing out on earning a medal.
“it’s kind of tough turning around and seeing the scoreboard because on one hand, a goal was to medal individually at this meet. But I also had a goal of breaking 2:09, so I got the one that I could control, and that’s all you can do at that point,” she said.
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With the field featuring athletes with varying strengths and weaknesses, DiRado said she liked having an aggressive butterflyer such as Siobhan-Marie O’Connor in the lane next to her to give her a push in the first 50 meters. She said her breaststroke split of 37.67 was much faster than expected, but she noted that while it’s great to use the competitors’ weaknesses, she wants to stay in her own mind.
The result was a lifetime best 2:08.99, which was fueled by a lot of nervous energy before the race.
“I was really nervous for that,” she said. “Up on the blocks, I was trying to get deep breaths in, and just calm down a little bit. I think that’s good for me to be nervous. I generally handle it well and it helps me focus and have a good swim.”
