Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 16:42:35 GMT

What sucks about this thread so far is the amount of time we've all put into commenting, and the OP hasn't said ANYTHING in return. Hopefully it wasn't just a troll post. A keen observation.

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 16:33:10 GMT

Yes, but as someone else pointed out, the big problem is someone who's in the 8:00 ballpark for a 500 free is going to have to start out with very young kids on a USA Swimming team. Or low end high school kids... but yes, you are correct. I still think USAS is a better route for the goal. What sucks about this thread so far is the amount of time we've all put into commenting, and the OP hasn't said ANYTHING in return. Hopefully it wasn't just a troll post.

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:42:19 GMT

That's a lot to wish for up front! I would try a local Masters team & have more fun then try the college team next year. Given what I know about masters practices and the things the OP will need to do in one years time I do not recommend a masters team as a suitable training environment to pull this off. A high echelon USAS team or the college team itself is the only way I would attempt to drop almost 3 minutes off a 500 in one year. Nothing against masters teams, its just that most are trying to cater to people that are not college age and certainly not trying out for college teams. Many don't even practice daily and that is just not a good choice given the goals imo.

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

knelson — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:17:26 GMT

A high echelon USAS team or the college team itself is the only way I would attempt to drop almost 3 minutes off a 500 in one year. Yes, but as someone else pointed out, the big problem is someone who's in the 8:00 ballpark for a 500 free is going to have to start out with very young kids on a USA Swimming team.

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 09:58:05 GMT

The painful part for me: I couldn't tell which one of the "kids" he was. Actually that's not uncommon. Most people who meet me for the first time in a college setting think I'm in my early/mid twenties. Same thing for friends of mine who did the college thing early. You'd be surprised by how much people judge age on things like attitude and behavior.

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 08:08:00 GMT

"do trolls speak Esperanto?" Evidently.

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

That Guy — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 05:17:51 GMT

Evidently. :applaud:

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

That Guy — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:11:33 GMT

What sucks about this thread so far is the amount of time we've all put into commenting, and the OP hasn't said ANYTHING in return. Hopefully it wasn't just a troll post. I can help mitigate that risk! This is a perfect time to find out the answer to the age-old question, "do trolls speak Esperanto?" Enzimo El Vikipedio Saltu al: navigado, serĉo Enzimoj estas biologiaj katalizenzoj (katalizaj substancoj, naturaj kataliziloj) esencaj por la subtenado kaj sano de la korpo. Estas klare pruvite, ke specifaj malsanoj rezultas el la manko aŭ nesufiĉo de enzimoj en la korpo. Ĉi tiuj gravaj substancoj ebligas al vivaj ĉeloj funkcii kun mirinda efikeco. Ĝenerale, enzimo estas tre specialiĝinta proteino, kiu agas kiel biologia kataliza substanco. Aliflanke, ankaŭ pecetoj de specifaj nukleaj acidoj povas agi kiel enzimoj (ekz-e: snRNA-oj). Kiel tiaj, ili estas koncernataj en ĉiu aspekto de la vivo. Ili reguligas la esencajn reakciojn de digesto, sorbiĝo kaj utiligo de nutraĵoj, kaj ili reguligas la liberigon de energio en la korpo. Sen enzimoj ne povus okazi spirado, kreskado, muskola kuntiriĝo kaj aliaj fizikaj kaj mensaj procezoj. Historie oni uzadis alian terminon, "fermento", anstataŭ enzimo. En multaj lingvoj, nuntempe, enzimo jam forŝovas fermenton. Oni povus ankoraŭ uzi fermenton en la senco de ajna aĵo, kapabla elvoki fermentadon. Tiaokaze fermento estus pli ĝenerala termino ol enzimo kaj ampleksus enzimojn, gistojn, bakteriojn, ktp. En tiu ĉi libro nur enzimo estos uzata. Apartaj enzimoj necesas por katalizi preskaŭ ĉiun reakcion en la korpo. Sola ĉelo per si mem povas enhavi ĝis tri mil diversajn enzimojn. Ilia funkcio estas plirapidigi reakciojn, por ke la fiziologiaj bezonoj estu kontentigataj. Bona ekzemplo estas la bezono forigi karbonan dioksidon, kromprodukton de ĉela spirado, el la korpo. Antaŭ ol tio povas okazi, la karbona dioksido devas kombiniĝi kun akvo por formi karbonatan acidon. karbonata anhidrazoCO2 + H2O --------> H2CO3En foresto de la konvena enzimo, karbonata anhidrazo, la formiĝo de karbonata acido okazas multe tro malrapide por subtenadi la necesan interŝanĝon de karbona dioksido inter la sango kaj pulmoj. Sed en ĉeesto de karbonata anhidrazo, tiu viv-esenca reakcio iras rapide. Ĉiu molekulo de la enzimo povas katalizi la formiĝon de karbonata acido je la rapido de 36 milionoj da molekuloj minute. upload.wikimedia.org/.../220px-Activation.jpg bits.wikimedia.org/.../magnify-clip.png Ekzemplo de enzima reakcio: E=Energio; t=tempo; A kaj B = substratoj; AB = produkto; E1 = aktiviga energio sen enzimo; E2 = aktiviga energio kun enzimo (enzimoj plirapidigas reakciojn) Multaj el la korpe gravaj enzim-katalizitaj reakcioj similas al organika-kemiaj reakcioj: hidrolizo de esteroj, amidoj kaj acetaloj, hidratigo de duoblaj ligoj, oksidigo de alkoholoj, ktp. Tamen laboratoriaj kondiĉoj ne povas konkuri kun tio, kio okazas dum tiuj reakcioj en la korpo: enzimoj ebligas realigi tiujn reakciojn sub tre mildaj pH- kaj temperatur-kondiĉoj. Aldone, enzima katalizado en la korpo povas realigi milisekunde reakciojn, kiuj ordinare daŭras semajnojn aŭ eĉ monatojn sub laboratoriaj kondiĉoj. Plie, enzime katalizitaj reakcioj donas 100-%-an rikolton; t.e., nedezirataj kromproduktoj ne formiĝas. Tio ne validas por organikaj reakcioj realigataj en laboratorioj. Tiujn reakciojn preskaŭ ĉiam akompanas la formiĝo de unu aŭ pli da kromproduktoj, eĉ se katalizenzoj ĉeestas. Enhavo kaŝi] 1 Ĝeneralaj ecoj de enzimoj 2 Absoluta specifeco; grupa specifeco: 3 Kofaktoro - Koenzimo/Aktiviganto; Apoenzimo: 4 Proenzimo (zimogeno): 5 Vidu ankaŭ redakti] Ĝeneralaj ecoj de enzimoj upload.wikimedia.org/.../220px-Purine_Nucleoside_Phosphorylase.jpg bits.wikimedia.org/.../magnify-clip.png Enzimoj estas veraj katalizenzoj. Ili ne foruziĝas, aŭ nerevokeble ŝanĝiĝas, dum kemiaj reakcioj. Ili akcelas reakciojn kiuj alie tre malrapide okazus. Ĉar enzimoj estas proteinoj, ajnaj procezoj aŭ kondiĉoj kiuj difektas proteinon strukture ankaŭ difektas enzimojn kaj kaŭzas al ili la perdon de kataliza aktiveco. Tiel, kiam enzimoj estas tro varmigitaj, traktitaj per bazoj aŭ acidoj, aŭ elmetitaj al aliaj denaturenzoj, ili perdas sian katalizan aktivecon. Interesa eco de enzimoj estas ties specifeco. redakti] Absoluta specifeco; grupa specifeco: Enzimoj povas katalizi reakciojn nur de unusola substanco (absoluta specifeco), aŭ de tre parencaj substancoj, en kiuj unusola tipo de funkcia grupo estas koncernata (grupa specifeco). Ekzemple, la hidrolizo de ureo estas la sola reakcio kiun katalizas la enzimo ureazo. Simile, la lipazoj hidrolizas lipidojn, proteazoj disigas proteinojn, kaj fosfatazoj hidrolizas fosfatajn esterojn. O // ureazoNH2-C-NH2 + H2O ----> CO2 + 2NH3La molekula maso de enzimoj etendiĝas de ĉ. 12.000 ĝis pli ol 1.000.000 amu. En kelkaj kazoj, la enzimo plene konsistas el polipeptidoj aŭ proteinoj. redakti] Kofaktoro - Koenzimo/Aktiviganto; Apoenzimo: Enzimoj tamen povas konsisti el proteina parto kaj el iu alia komponanto, nomata kofaktoro. Kiam la kofaktoro estas organika substanco, ĝi nomiĝas koenzimo. Se la kofaktoro estas neorganika jono (kutime metala jono), ĝi nomiĝas aktiviganto. La proteina parto de tiuj kombin-tipaj enzimoj nomiĝas apoenzimo. Tiel, la kombiniĝo de apoenzimo kun kofaktoro estigas aktivan enzimon (holoenzimon). apoenzimo + kofaktoro (koenzimo/aktiviganto) = aktiva enzimo Kelkaj vitaminoj funkcias kiel koenzimoj. Ekzemple, nikotinamido en NAD (nikotinamida adenina dunukleotido) kaj riboflavino en FAD (flavina adenina dunukleotido). Tipaj aktivigantoj estas tiaj metal-jonoj kiel Mg2+, Mn2+, Zn2+, kaj Fe2+. Ankoraŭ aliaj aktivigantoj estas implicitaj en la agado de saliva amelazo, kiu bezonas la kloridan jonon por hidrolizi amelozon, kaj en la agado de renino, kiu bezonas kalcian jonon por kazeigi (koaguli) lakton. Por malebligi al ili sur-agi (kaj detrui) la glandojn aŭ histojn mem kiuj produktas ilin, kelkaj enzimoj generiĝas unue en malaktiva formo. redakti] Proenzimo (zimogeno): La neaktivaj formoj de enzimoj nomiĝas proenzimoj aŭ zimogenoj. Tiuj neaktivaj formoj devas esti aktivigitaj de aliaj substancoj antaŭ ol ili povas agi kiel enzimoj. Ekzemple, la proenzimo pepsinogeno sekreciiĝas en la stomakon, kie hidrogenaj jonoj de stomaka suko katalize hidrolizas ĝin en pepsinon, kiu estas la aktiva enzimo. La pepsino siavice katalizas la ŝanĝon de plua pepsinogeno en pepsinon. H+ pepsinogeno + H2O --> pepsino + polipeptido pepsino pepsinogeno + H2O ---> pepsino + polipeptidoredakti] Vidu ankaŭ enzim-nomenklaturo; enzim-efik-mekanismoj; enzim-aktivec-influantaj-faktoroj; enzim-inhibenzoj; izoenzimoj/izozimoj; difektitaj-enzimoj/enzim-afekcioj; tranĉ-enzimoj. Kategorio Enzimo en la Vikimedia Komunejo (Multrimedaj datumoj) upload.wikimedia.org/.../1000HA.png Elŝutita el "">eo.wikipedia.org/.../index.php Kategorioj: Enzimoj Biokemio |

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:45:12 GMT

Not just daily, but doubles on most days. Plan on 9-10 pool workouts per week. I still think the best way to gear up is every other day. If the swim team averages 12K yards a day, I say keep increasing yardage every other day until you are up around 15K. Then a month or two more of every other day to work on intensity, then start in on every day. BTW, I suspect overtraining is rampant in swimming. Perhaps Michael Phelps could have said, "Tyler Clary works harder than I do. If I worked harder, I wouldn't be able to swim as fast as I do, though."

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

orca1946 — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 10:31:51 GMT

That's a lot to wish for up front! I would try a local Masters team & have more fun then try the college team next year.

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 10:01:46 GMT

Here is the low down guys. I am a Sophomore at a pretty average division 1 university. I am a member of the cross country and indoor/outdoor track teams so i have been competitively racing for almost 6 years. I have never swam on a team before but... I want to! I feel as if I've gone mad. I want to try in college!! Next year, not this year, I need to get my base up i know that. off of 2 swims a week (500yards) i swim 500 yards free in 7:48 as of yesterday (you dont need to tell me how slow that is I already know). I am not afraid of hard work, swimming 2+ hours a day I can do that. I want to try! can anyone tell me what I need to do to see if i can get to around 5 flat in the 500 yard free? or a fast 1000 time it doesn't matter, just good enough to walk on the team. the weird thing is, i think I am a better swimmer than I am a runner. the pool just seems to click for me. can anyone help me out? I am willing to swim every day from now till next swim season to make this dream a reality! ...ps i'm a guy if that matters Go for it. But you need to train with a team. Talk to the coach at your school and ask if there is room for you to participate in parts of their workouts without getting in the way. If not, find a nearby USMS or US Swimming club to join. Then next year, you may be ale to walk-on your college team. At many universities, if you can survive the workouts, you're on the team. Regarding your goal 500, I started swimming at age 14. 8 months later, I did a 5:41 500. One year later was 5:11.

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

That Guy — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 06:34:54 GMT

ale ... college I see what you did there.

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 05:04:31 GMT

I'll be almost 19 when I graduate. I was 32 when I got my undergraduate degree. In Honors Calc III, there was a 14 year old in the class. The painful part for me: I couldn't tell which one of the "kids" he was.

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 14:06:28 GMT

If the OP is truly destined to swim it will come around in due time. Having read about Couroboros's journey and where his times ended up for the 100 free, his results speak volumes about determination and hard work.

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

sickfish — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 01:26:57 GMT

all your aerobic base just waiting to be converted from those several years of cross country I don't like to be a naysayer, but nay! Your aerobic base is simply not going to translate directly from cross-country running to a 500-yard swim. If you really want to swim faster: 1. get a coach, or at least a training partner who can give you pointers. efficiency is your biggest obstacle, and fixing your technique on your own is unlikely. 2. do like Jazz says: stop running and start lifting. your upper body has no idea what it's in for. your running muscles are useless in the pool. and your ability to run fast for fifteen* minutes straight is not relevant in a five-minute race. I don't want to say it's impossible for you to drop that much time in a year - but it won't be easy. In fact, it will be really, really hard. Also, if you just want to make the team, why limit your attempt to the 500 or 1000? Maybe you can throw down a really good 50 or 100 - a lot of people are surprised at what they can do once they let go of the "save energy" mentality and give it all they've got. Or you could set your sights on something longer like the 1650 - that would probably be the easiest transition from your XC background. (* i have no idea what distances or times cross-country runners do nowadays... but i'm sure it takes longer than five minutes.)

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 15:45:34 GMT

Hi, xcrunswimmer. I started swimming for fitness and for competition when I was twenty years old (almost four years ago), so that roughly fits your status as a sophomore in college. I competed for a community college swim team during the winter months. In my first 500 yard freestyle race, just 3 months into my competitive experience, I clocked in at 7:59. I remember being really happy I got it under 8 minutes. In another couple of weeks, I managed to bring that time down to 7:29 for another race. After finishing that first season, I trained with a USAS team for several months in time for my second and last season with the swim team. In my first race of the season, I clocked in at 6:35. By the end of the season, when I nabbed the last spot in the consolation final of the 500, I got that time down to 6:08.85. That was a year and four months that I had been swimming when I made that time. In another year and four months, for a USAS meet in July of last year, I made my current PB of 5:32. That came after 2.5 years of swimming. I wish I could provide a more recent 500 time, but unfortunately, I contracted pneumonia right dead-smack at the same time that I was tapering and had my season-ending meet. I should note that I am not a 500 specialist. I swim everything, basically, just because I want to and I think it's fun. Who knows what you can do by specializing on the 500, focusing in on just that event like a laser, with all your aerobic base just waiting to be converted from those several years of cross country. When I started swimming, I had not been in a sport for 6.5 years and I was also overweight, so that probably extended the amount of time it took me to get to 5:32. Good luck. :)

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 15:30:55 GMT

You were a junior in college and still under 18? Wow! Haha thanks. I'm 17 now, so I'll be almost 19 when I graduate. Started college a little early, so that's why there's the awkward age gap.

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Karl_S — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 12:55:02 GMT

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 12:20:13 GMT

you use your considerable energy, enthusiasm, and apparent surplus of spare time, to devote yourself instead to your studies, graduate at the top of your class, enroll in an excellent post-graduate program, and join us here, some years hence, in the considerably less pressure-packed world of Masters Swimming. Alright so I'm a junior in college now, and I just started swimming with a local club team since my school doesn't have a team and I'm under 18 so I can't do the Masters thing for another year or two. I'm the type of person who started out in college by focusing almost entirely on my work, and it definitely payed off in terms of grades and career opportunities. But one thing that resulted was a feeling of burnout and suffocation from my studies. I swam a little as a very young child, but we had some family stuff and I basically didn't do any serious swimming for 10-12 years. I returned to it as a way to work out stress, and I rediscovered my love for it. Then my voracious appetite for competition kicked in so I joined this team which is easily ONE OF THE BEST CHOICES I'VE MADE IN YEARS! I've improved tremendously and I've only been swimming with them for three weeks. Anyway my point in telling this whole long story is that if you think you're going to benefit from doing something then DON'T WAIT UNTIL COLLEGE IS OVER!! I lived my life this way for years and it just made me depressed. Seize the day and all. If you're serious about swimming then start by taking lessons to improve your technique and commit to swimming at least 6x a week. Then see if there's a more casual intramural team at your school or a USA swimming club team that can take you on. Swimming well takes an incredible amount of time and dedication and you really have to want it to get there.

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

ande — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 11:20:56 GMT

You are a Sophomore at a division 1 university. you are on the cross country and indoor/outdoor track teams you never swam on a team before but you want to you have gone mad. off 2 swims a week (500yards) you swam 500 yards free in 7:48 (which is 46.80 per 50) you're not afraid to work hard willing to swim 2+ hours a day you want to try! you asked: can anyone tell me what I need to do to see if i can get to around 5 flat in the 500 yard free? just good enough to walk on the team. 1) get your times for 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 400 & 500 free swim a very fast 50, 100, 200, & 500 for time once or twice a week. 2) train on your own (which is difficult) or with a masters team or a USA Swimming team 7 days a week, Improve your swimming technique, conditioning and speed. swim at least 5,000 to 10,000 per day but not straight and slow, break it up with sets. You gotta get to where you can hold way faster intervals and swim way faster times 3) Don't even bother the coach at this point, there's no point till your times are much faster. Improving from 7:48 to 5:00 in a year would be massive and honestly very difficult improbable if not impossible. Who's to say what you are capable of? 4) Read and apply ideas from Swim Faster Faster 5) improve your Kick do Help my kick is Horrible Runners tend to have stiff ankles and try to over kick 6) read Ask Ande 7) I wrote some good ideas for improving your 500 in Last 150 of my 500 falls off that swimmer made some excellent improvements 8) Lift weights and get stronger 9) get one on one help with technique stroke, turns, & streamlines make videos of you swimming above and underwater POV put them on youtube study videos of great swimmers 10) race in meets get your 50 splits for your 500 11) Beware of burn out 12) Have fun If you train hard far fast and often, it might happen if you don't, it won't. (after reading everyone elses replies) you're highly likely to be way better off in life if you redirected your time enthusiasm and energy away from swimming towards your studies to lay down an awesome foundation to thrive in your chosen career. Most division 1 swimmers started swimming when they were 6 to 10 years of age then with good genetics, talent, hard work, and great coaching they worked their way to becoming one of the best swimmers in the country and at worst maybe top 5%. Occasionally a Div 1 will accept a swimmer with potential, but 7:48 is far from their minimum standards. When I was in college I was a walk on, our team had walk on try outs, swimmers had a 1 or 2 week window to prove themselves and if they didn't measure up they were cut. What about running? Beware of things that are new and different, they are shiny and can draw your attention. We're afraid you'll bust your butt for 1, 2 or a few years only to wind up at the end of a dead end street. quix·ot·ic (kwk-stk) adj. 1. Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality.

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 10:20:14 GMT

Forget about the haters, if you're motivated and willing to work at it go for it! The worst thing that might happen is that you don't drop as much time as you like but I guarantee you'll improve and be a better swimmer. Like some have already said, if you can find a club, a coach, or just some ex-swimmers to train with and help you with your technique this would be the best way to start. Most novice swimmers improve immensely just by becoming more efficient with their stroke, turns, learning to streamline, and kicking off the walls. As an athlete, you're probably already aware that you don't need to train by just swimming a bunch of long distance but do a lot of interval training. In order to achieve your goal, you not only need to develop technique but also work on your speed and you can do this through shorter distances and higher intensity swims. Good luck to you!

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

knelson — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 09:57:06 GMT

Alright so I'm a junior in college now, and I just started swimming with a local club team since my school doesn't have a team and I'm under 18 You were a junior in college and still under 18? Wow!

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 08:38:08 GMT

Me either. The odds may be long, but I think it's cool he's giving it a shot. So if you've used up a few years of elligibility in ncaa on one sport, can you still go 4 more in another? I was unsure of this part...

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

Former Member — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 07:12:38 GMT

If you can drop your 500 fr time from 7:48 to anything close to 5:00 in one year, I would expect a lot of coaches would like to have you on their team, even if you wouldn't be scoring points. Not a top D1 school, but that kind of time drop shows a level work ethic and athleticism that can make a valuable addition to a team. Is it possible??? It sure would be fun (and a lot of very hard work) to try. I did nearly this as a freshman in HS. 7:46 my freshman year when i knew nothing and couldn't do a flip turn. Then 5:43 about 14 months later. I think this was more representative of normal development of a 14 year old than it was impressive training and technique though, plus I am a sprinter. Certainly is in the realm of doable but definitely the exception rather than the norm. Like I said... OP will need to be like Rudy for a year to even have a shot at times like 5 flat... I don't really agree with the thought of "forget about swimming for now and just go to school."

RE: Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

__steve__ — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 06:08:18 GMT

Would the regret of not persuing outweigh the time spent trying and not achieving your goal? You would know before long if it's really worth the shot for you. Good luck