My name is Miriama and I am 33 years old, living in UK. As a kid and during my teenage years I was competitive swimmer in Slovakia. Since then I have stopped swimming, but I miss it so much.
Recently I have joined masters swimming club, .....I have been training with them for over two months and I love it, .....I can feel that I am getting stronger and faster each week ( I swim 5 times per week), as my son is back in school now I have time to go to gym (2 times a week) as well as have my swimming sessions.
My question is
- Is it possible with the right training to swim faster now (33 years old) then when I was 17 y.o.?????? My personal best are -
100m freestyle - 1:03
200m freestyle - 2:14
400m freestyle - 4:42
800m freestyle - 9:42 Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot in advance,
Hi Miriama, its great to hear that you are back into swimming and loving it! There are a lot of factors that will determine how fast your times can be. With the proper approach to swimming - and the right amount of training - it is certainly possible to come close to your lifetime bests. Even if you don't achieve this specific goal, however, sometimes the journey is more important. You can take pride in being a competitive swimmer again and staying fit and healthy while enjoying the sport at the same time!
I wrote an article on finding the motivation to train and how to approach your training as a comeback swimmer. Here is the link- hope it might be helpful for you! www.swimspire.com/.../
Good luck and keep in touch!
Julia Galan
www.swimspire.com
Thank you so much ! Yes, indeed, you are right - the journey is much more important ....... since I am back in the water I am more positive person, happy and of course fitter and healthier as well. My overall attitude about swimming is so different from when I was 17, I feel like I have got a second chance to do what I love :-) I am first in the water and last one out and even if the session is hard I am still smiling and asking for more. I have my first meet on Saturday (21/09) - I will swim 200m freestyle, I can not wait to see my time. PS : Anyway I have started my little training blog ( as you have also suggested - 3. Keep track of your progress. ) slovakia1980.blogspot.co.uk/ ;-)
When I was in my mid-30s, I swam a lifetime personal best 100 free (no speed suit). That's not my best event, mind you, but still I swam it enough as a kid that I was very happy with my accomplishment. In my "true" events (100/200 breaststroke) I was about as fast in my 30's as I was at 17. My lifetime personal bests came at 18 and I have yet to match those times as an adult (I got pretty close in the 100 but I was wearing a now-banned speed suit at the time). I just turned 40, and just got back in the pool after a few years out so time will tell whether I can still go as fast as I did 3-4 years ago!
Like you Miriama I pretty much stopped swimming at 19 as life moved on, and only occasionally got back in a pool for a few months over the ensuing years. But at 62 I decided I was getting old too fast and began to swim 4 to 5 times per week mostly solo. I think that I won't reach my 19 yr. old best times, so I've set "interim" goals for along the way and have really enjoyed the journey getting back into shape, swimming in some meets and a little triathloning too. I've always liked the 200 free and it was really fun to swim it again for the first time in over about 40 years. You are going to like that feeling of a triumph over aging!
At 33 you are at a great point in time to get faster. From what I've read you should be able to build and retain muscle mass up into your early 70s, although it gets somewhat harder after the mid 50s. Life may or may not permit you to reach your old times, but enjoying the journey is really the goal IMHO. Eating, training and resting right, will promote endurance in life too, extending well beyond the pool.
Good luck and enjoy.
My question is
- Is it possible with the right training to swim faster now (33 years old) then when I was 17 y.o.??????
Yes. I am 40 (break untill 2009) and I am swimming faster than when I was 16-17. Unfortunatelly only 50 and 100 events :applaud:. 200m still not :)
Yes. I am 40 (break untill 2009) and I am swimming faster than when I was 16-17. Unfortunatelly only 50 and 100 events :applaud:. 200m still not :)
Wow that is great, well done !!! - so there is a hope for me ;-) I will do my best and enjoy the journey. Are you from Slovakia? which town if I can ask .... I was thinking to do some meets in Slovakia as well ;-)
Thank you everybody and Well done! I don't know if is only me, but when I swim I feel like I am young again (okay I am not old - feel much younger ;-) I should say .... it feels like I can do anything ... all the stress/problems/worries are gone, yes of course I would love to beat my personal best, but if I can just keep feeling like this and enjoy swimming as much as I do at the moment - then I am already a winner. Have a great day everybody :)
Wow that is great, well done !!! - so there is a hope for me ;-) I will do my best and enjoy the journey. Are you from Slovakia? which town if I can ask .... I was thinking to do some meets in Slovakia as well ;-)
check out our web page www.swimmasters.eu with results, records, calendar etc ;)
Just let you know ......... On Saturday I have swam my first race after 15 years and wow it was great. I did my personal best for 50m breaststroke - 0:39, 57 and also did quite well on 200m freestyle - 2:27, -- (where my 1st 100m was 1:08) ... very pleased , can not wait to do more training ;-) ...
