Short and Long Term Swim Goals

Former Member
Former Member
I just wanted to post my short and long term swim goals, in addition to how I intend on acheiving them. I'm not sure if we have a thread for this already. Regardless, here are mine. Feel free to post yours. Short Term Goal: I've been keeping a regular swim schedule, swimming 4-6 days per week. I average about 3500 yards per session, 2500 on the low end, 4000 on the high end. I think it is reasonable and the distance is primarily based on what I have time for. I feel like I have been in the groove of things for the past 4 months (comfort in water, energy, endurance, etc). That said, I'm beginning to find I'm losing passion with my swimming, I'm becoming bored, and I'm not pushing myself to excel. I'm "dead in the water" so to speak... I've plateaued. Its not to say I don't enjoy it though, I do. So my goal is to push myself to focus more on critiquing my stroke, increasing my endurance, and increasing my speed- basically make better use of the time I'm swimming and make some form of improvement. To do this, I must innately push myself to work harder, but I also want to find some new regular swim partners and maybe join a team to have some social stimulation and competition. Over the past few months my swim buddies have been disappearing to other activities or places. I feel this has made swimming monotonous and has removed incentives to routinely focus on improvements. Long Term Goal: My long term goal is seriously start competing again and beat my high school record of 23.1 in the 50 Free (for starters). The sad truth is I feel like I will never be as good as I was in high school (4 years ago). I know it's ridiculous since I'm only 21 years old, but I don't think I will ever have the structure in my life or possess the same will power bolstered by my friends and amazing teammates. I cannot see myself swimming 6k, 8k, 9, even 10,000 yards daily again. At the time, I thought 23.1 was decent considering my size (5'10"-5'11 depending on my back situation) and the pain from the back injury I received in 2007. In the big picture, 23.1 isn't great, but it was quite good in my tiny HS division. To beat 23.1 and get into the 22.x's I will have to join a team and start competing again. I definitely believe I can do it, but I have a lot of work ahead of me. I haven't timed myself since then, but I imagine my 50 right now would be 26-27, if I'm lucky. I was so devoted to swimming and pushing myself back then, I feel like I will never have that passion back, and that passion is what made me a better than average swimmer. Joining a team will be another obstacle- finding one, time, commitment, fitting in, etc. There are always those people who join the team late and never quite integrate into the team quite the same way. That would be very disappointing for me. But that's part of the challenge I guess. Once I beat 23.1, I can focus on besting my other event times. 23.1 is the one I need to focus on first though.
  • I expect that that is a very achievable goal. I swam in college and was faster for 50s and 100s BR in my 30s(the focus in college was on the 200.)You certainly don't need to go 10000 yds/day to sprint,in fact that can be counterproductive.check out High Intensity Training - by Leslie Livingston - U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums .
  • I agree with Fresnoid. It sounds like you need a coach on deck. If you have plateaued, you need to change your workouts. Quality over quantity.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Train with a team and be certain the coach knows your goal. You're young enough to join a USS team, so don't limit your choices to Masters programs.
  • If you did it before, you can definately do it again at 21, even 41. You probably know much more now than 4 years ago, just have to find the right place.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Hello, I am new to USM swimming and this amazing forum, TONS of good stuff here. I am 26 years old and just now trying to return to the sport of swimming after a nasty 6 year hiatus. I am not new to competitive swimming, I swam competitively since age 5 through 2 years of college. I recently was hired as a lifeguard at the city's only 50M pool where the local club (and masters) teams train. I figure I am in a very good position to 'get my mojo back' and maybe even compete again. For the past month, I have been taking advantage of the summer season LCM setup by swimming 2-4 mornings a week. This is pretty much the only athletic thing I have done in 6 years, so it has been quite a painful, eye opening experience. I feel SO incredibly uncoordinated in the water its frustrating. Its like I have almost completely lost my feel for the water. I understand I cannot expect to just jump back in the water and be my old self, but I didn't think I could have fallen this far in 6 years. It's like i'm re-learning everything. The coach I have been working with tells me I need to forget about ALL of my old times and simply focus on the new. Start from scratch. This has been harder than I thought. It's almost impossible to just 'forget' all of my old times that I had worked my whole life for. In no way do I expect to be swimming close to these times anytime soon, but it would be great to know I could maybe reach them again one day or possibly even improve on a few. Being a little older and wiser than my 20yr old self, I have identified a few major things (swimming related) that I wish I could go back and do differently. Things I know I could do now, if I could just get back into the swing of things. I never imagined I would be returning to swimming when I dropped out at 20, but it seems like the right thing for me now. I have been blessed to be in the situation I am in now...I basically live at the pool already! There is no excuse for me not to be sucsessful again, I just have to get in and do it. I need to make a list of short and long term goals, but suddenly entering the sport again I feel a bit overwhelmed of where and how to start over and build things from scratch. These are my first thought basic goals I guess, but I would like to expand them Short term goal: To be healthy and consistent, allowing my body and mind to adjust to the lifestyle necessary to be a successful competitive swimmer. To swim in at least 2 meets in 2013, AND To get my feel of the water back!! Medium term goal: To achieve at least 3 personal best times before i'm 30. (probably not going to happen after that) and maybe maybe maybe qualify for a major US national meet. (I think it' possible if I could only find my stroke again) Long term goal: To stay active and consistent as possible in the sport of swimming. How many other sports have a 100-104 age group?!!!