As a counterpoint to my personal data, though, it should be noted that, on average I swim about 25% of the weekly volume now versus what I did when I was a teenager and in college. I'm pretty sure that, if I could raise my training to 75% of where I used to be, with some smarter addition of strength work and race pace, my distance times could be closer (on a percentage basis) to my best than my shorter distance times. I just don't have the time to do that ... but I imagine Janet's making that kind of time in her quest.
Of course you'd have to take greater care with your yardage as well, right? The key is the "smarter" part. I'm sure your 40-something body is not going to be as resilient as your 20-something body was. I think one of the things that makes it possible for Dara to tackle this problem is that she can afford to devote essentially her entire professional life to the effort, including all the ancillary stuff: diet, dry land, stretching, etc, etc, etc. I suspect Janet probably has similar freedom to make the attempt. (Diana Nyad as well with her recent Cuba-to-Florida attempt.)
Just chipping in my $0.02 from the peanut gallery.
As a counterpoint to my personal data, though, it should be noted that, on average I swim about 25% of the weekly volume now versus what I did when I was a teenager and in college. I'm pretty sure that, if I could raise my training to 75% of where I used to be, with some smarter addition of strength work and race pace, my distance times could be closer (on a percentage basis) to my best than my shorter distance times. I just don't have the time to do that ... but I imagine Janet's making that kind of time in her quest.
Of course you'd have to take greater care with your yardage as well, right? The key is the "smarter" part. I'm sure your 40-something body is not going to be as resilient as your 20-something body was. I think one of the things that makes it possible for Dara to tackle this problem is that she can afford to devote essentially her entire professional life to the effort, including all the ancillary stuff: diet, dry land, stretching, etc, etc, etc. I suspect Janet probably has similar freedom to make the attempt. (Diana Nyad as well with her recent Cuba-to-Florida attempt.)
Just chipping in my $0.02 from the peanut gallery.
