There is a person that I know who qualified for and will be competing at 2015 Spring Nationals next month (in 50 fly). This person did not swim as a child but came to swimming in their late 30s. Their first swim meet was at age 40.
Is anyone aware of others who came to swimming in middle age and have been able to qualify for Nats? We're having a fun discussion about how common this is. We believe that there might be in some distance freestyle events given the popularity of triathlons. But suspect its less likely in stroke events.
Anyone know of anyone? Thank you.
There is a person that I know who qualified for and will be competing at 2015 Spring Nationals next month (in 50 fly). This person did not swim as a child but came to swimming in their late 30s. Their first swim meet was at age 40.
Is anyone aware of others who came to swimming in middle age and have been able to qualify for Nats? We're having a fun discussion about how common this is. We believe that there might be in some distance freestyle events given the popularity of triathlons. But suspect its less likely in stroke events.
Anyone know of anyone? Thank you.
That's super impressive that your teammate was able to make qualifying times for the 50 fly coming to the sport very late! I think this is very uncommon from what I've heard from other masters swimmers.
Elaine's story is another super impressive one, having only swum in high school and then coming back to the sport so late in life and being able to make NQT's. And Elaine, if it turns out that breaststroke doesn't work out for the hip, I'm sure you can work on something else and have success! That's one of the things I find really exciting about swimming: that there are so many events and each one is different in terms of what training it takes to do well.
Sharing my story here, I had never swum competitively in my life until 2011 at the age of 34. I didn't know how to do any of the strokes other than freestyle, had never set foot on a block, couldn't do flip turns, etc.
As a triathlete in my mid-20s, I had learned how to swim fairly well in open water but a knee injury forced me to give them and running (my primary sport) up. A friend convinced me to do a USMS 5K open water swim in August of 2011. That was my first ever swim-only event. I trained a bit for it and I actually finished first in the 5K. After that I decided to join the local masters team and give swimming a dedicated try.
Since then I've learned to do flip turns, dive off the blocks and do all of the strokes (well -- I can do breaststroke, but not very well!). I've earned USMS long-distance All-American and long-distance All-Star honors the last 3 years (2012 through 2014), won the distance events in my age group at summer Nats in 2013 (400, 800 and 1500), got qualifying times for Spring Nats in three events this year (500, 1000, 1650), was close in a 4th (200 free) and have earned top 10 times the last 4 years, finally getting a top 10 time in a non-freestyle event in 2014 (400IM LCM). For reference, here's my Swimmer Info page.
The coolest part about it all for me is that every time I swim, I almost always set a new personal best. Knowing that I am continually improving and getting faster keeps me highly motivated during workouts. I wish we had a coach (I swim for a very small team in southern Oregon that cannot afford one), because I'm sure that would help speed up improvement, but I'm grateful for my teammates who have helped me out in this incredibly fun journey into the world of competitive swimming!
There is a person that I know who qualified for and will be competing at 2015 Spring Nationals next month (in 50 fly). This person did not swim as a child but came to swimming in their late 30s. Their first swim meet was at age 40.
Is anyone aware of others who came to swimming in middle age and have been able to qualify for Nats? We're having a fun discussion about how common this is. We believe that there might be in some distance freestyle events given the popularity of triathlons. But suspect its less likely in stroke events.
Anyone know of anyone? Thank you.
That's super impressive that your teammate was able to make qualifying times for the 50 fly coming to the sport very late! I think this is very uncommon from what I've heard from other masters swimmers.
Elaine's story is another super impressive one, having only swum in high school and then coming back to the sport so late in life and being able to make NQT's. And Elaine, if it turns out that breaststroke doesn't work out for the hip, I'm sure you can work on something else and have success! That's one of the things I find really exciting about swimming: that there are so many events and each one is different in terms of what training it takes to do well.
Sharing my story here, I had never swum competitively in my life until 2011 at the age of 34. I didn't know how to do any of the strokes other than freestyle, had never set foot on a block, couldn't do flip turns, etc.
As a triathlete in my mid-20s, I had learned how to swim fairly well in open water but a knee injury forced me to give them and running (my primary sport) up. A friend convinced me to do a USMS 5K open water swim in August of 2011. That was my first ever swim-only event. I trained a bit for it and I actually finished first in the 5K. After that I decided to join the local masters team and give swimming a dedicated try.
Since then I've learned to do flip turns, dive off the blocks and do all of the strokes (well -- I can do breaststroke, but not very well!). I've earned USMS long-distance All-American and long-distance All-Star honors the last 3 years (2012 through 2014), won the distance events in my age group at summer Nats in 2013 (400, 800 and 1500), got qualifying times for Spring Nats in three events this year (500, 1000, 1650), was close in a 4th (200 free) and have earned top 10 times the last 4 years, finally getting a top 10 time in a non-freestyle event in 2014 (400IM LCM). For reference, here's my Swimmer Info page.
The coolest part about it all for me is that every time I swim, I almost always set a new personal best. Knowing that I am continually improving and getting faster keeps me highly motivated during workouts. I wish we had a coach (I swim for a very small team in southern Oregon that cannot afford one), because I'm sure that would help speed up improvement, but I'm grateful for my teammates who have helped me out in this incredibly fun journey into the world of competitive swimming!
