I have for you an all too common tale of a (former) swimmer who regrets ever quitting the sport.
I am a college sophomore who has been feeling more unmotivated than I ever have in my entire life. Getting up and going to classes is even becoming a struggle and truth be told, I'm miserable. I swam competitively from age 7 through high school, and without sounding pretentious I a garnered a fair amount of success (frequented the top 10 list in my lsc, etc etc) I was always one of those kids with the insane "sports parents" who made me feel like swimming was my career (ie, i had actually been GROUNDED on multiple occasions for "not swimming my hardest" what?) and once I got into high school I started to hate swimming, and my performance and effort reflected that. By my junior year of high school I was so fed up with swimming I stopped swimming year round and just swam for my high school team, which I certainly don't regret at all. At the end of my sophomore year I cranked out a 21.6 scy 50..my last top effort swim of my career
Even though my parents were insane, I loved my teammates and I loved being in the water. Swimming was the only thing that really let me release my frustrations and helped keep me focused in life. Basically swimming helped me deal with life, something I'm sure most swimmers can relate to.
So back to my current situation: I have had quite a few life changes recently. Girlfriend of 2 years broke up with me, friends have been getting in trouble with law, and I myself had a few run-ins (close calls, really) with the law. I feel like all of these things are telling me to go back to the place that always helped me get through things and keep me out of trouble: the water. So I've decided to get back in the water...starting tomorrow morning. I'm going to be training with a masters team that trains in my college's pool, and I am hoping to eventually walk onto to my school's team next year. After 3 years of smoking and drinking....am I crazy? Is this possible? Will I ever get back to my peak swimming form? I'm really just hoping to hear from anyone who has attempted something like this, or knows someone who has.
Thanks guys
Parents
Former Member
I can definitely relate. I too swam as an age grouper, quit year-round swimming during my sophmore year in high school but continued with high school swimming until I graduated. I wasn't a college swimmer, but I did enroll in PE swimming and swam a bit on my own 1x week (for my sanity), and I kept that up fairly well for the past decade now.
I put off joining master's for a long while.....it actually took me 5 years of thinking about it before I finally took the plunge. I worried about lots of stuff during that time....the huge time committment (with a full time job), the 20 minute commute to and from the pool, being out of shape and generally sucking, etc. etc. But, when I finally took the plunge, something just clicked. It all felt normal, like I had somehow done all this before, lol. Its been 4 months now since then and I am loving it. Swimming 3-4 days a week. And the cool thing about Masters is that if you don't like it, you can stop. 7 days a week or 1 day a week....meets or no meets....It will be all about you. You can set your own rules and goals.
I haven't raced yet so I can't say if I actually suck or not.....I suspect I won't be nearly as fast as I was 15 years ago, but I'm going to give it a go. I know its possible to get a best time if I decide to put the work in....but that would be A LOT of work which I'm not ready for at this point for sure, lol. It doesn't sound like much time has gone by since you were in your 'prime', so I say that you most definitely could get best times if you make that your goal.
So do it dude! Try it out, see how you feel. What have you got to lose? :applaud:
Great job getting back into consistent routine of practice! That is my main goal right now. I want to get my biological 'clock' back in tune with doing practices several times a week; currently i'm working towards 6 practices a week. Funny thing is...I haven't really enjoyed swimming this much in....gosh since I was a pre-teen age grouper. Masters swimming is starting to seem so much cooler than I used to think. (sorry, had to say it, flame away :whiteflag:
I can definitely relate. I too swam as an age grouper, quit year-round swimming during my sophmore year in high school but continued with high school swimming until I graduated. I wasn't a college swimmer, but I did enroll in PE swimming and swam a bit on my own 1x week (for my sanity), and I kept that up fairly well for the past decade now.
I put off joining master's for a long while.....it actually took me 5 years of thinking about it before I finally took the plunge. I worried about lots of stuff during that time....the huge time committment (with a full time job), the 20 minute commute to and from the pool, being out of shape and generally sucking, etc. etc. But, when I finally took the plunge, something just clicked. It all felt normal, like I had somehow done all this before, lol. Its been 4 months now since then and I am loving it. Swimming 3-4 days a week. And the cool thing about Masters is that if you don't like it, you can stop. 7 days a week or 1 day a week....meets or no meets....It will be all about you. You can set your own rules and goals.
I haven't raced yet so I can't say if I actually suck or not.....I suspect I won't be nearly as fast as I was 15 years ago, but I'm going to give it a go. I know its possible to get a best time if I decide to put the work in....but that would be A LOT of work which I'm not ready for at this point for sure, lol. It doesn't sound like much time has gone by since you were in your 'prime', so I say that you most definitely could get best times if you make that your goal.
So do it dude! Try it out, see how you feel. What have you got to lose? :applaud:
Great job getting back into consistent routine of practice! That is my main goal right now. I want to get my biological 'clock' back in tune with doing practices several times a week; currently i'm working towards 6 practices a week. Funny thing is...I haven't really enjoyed swimming this much in....gosh since I was a pre-teen age grouper. Masters swimming is starting to seem so much cooler than I used to think. (sorry, had to say it, flame away :whiteflag:
