Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively
Former Member
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
Former Member
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
