Swimming for Fitness/Fun Not Competition

From my reading of the boards and the types of articles posted here the 75% who don't compete don't talk about their fitness goals or routines much. Maybe they're all in the pool. :bliss:

I love Anna Lea's stat. Keep in mind that these two "types" of swimmers can be one in the same: A competitor would be swimming for speed and perhaps a challenge of some sort. In order to do that, they need to be fit! The fitness world and competitive world should be better joined. From my reading of the boards and the types of articles posted here the 75% who don't compete don't talk about their fitness goals or routines much. Interesting observation. The conclusions I would draw from this? The competitors have a strong desire to: set goals; solicit peer feedback; obtain technical knowledge; try new things; and interact with others. All in the name of becoming a better (in terms of both technique AND speed) swimmer - and to help others to the same. A paradigm for ANY swimmer to consider, but most specifically a fitness swimmer: a race (meet or ow swim) should never be about the time or place you finish... its an opportunity to learn about yourself. Its a barometer against which you can measure progress towards a goal. That goal that may not always be about numbers on a stopwatch - but more often things like breathing patterns, body position, kick strength/cadence, stroke counts, turn quickness, high elbows, etc.

Although I usually swim a couple of meets a year, I primarily swim for fitness and fun rather than competition. I enjoy the daily challenges in practice much more than I do racing in meets. I think there are a lot of us out there who just really love that chlorine and endorphin fix...:bliss:

... how many of us are in it just for fun/fitness. Is Masters really about competition, or is there room for the fitness swimmer, too? For me, going to meets and competing *is* the fun, so to me, the title of the thread, "Swimming for Fitness/Fun Not Competition", implies an either/or distinction that isn't there for me. The competition is the fun. It's what keeps me motivated. When I compete I get to travel, visit different places, meet old and new friends, and enjoy a more active & interesting life. What's not fun about that? Ok, maybe spending money ... That said, different strokes for different folks, right? In my experience, even most people who swim with organized masters teams never enter a meet, or do so only rarely. I once swam with a 40-something ex-NCAA Division I guy who popped off a Top 10 time in a 400 IM in the middle of practice. Could he be bothered to go to a meet? Heck no. In the same practice there were all kinds of other non-competitive swimmers, of all speeds. They were all there for fun & fitness. Some people are motivated by GTD, or marathon open water swims, or just the ritual of swimming every day. It's all good. At the end, it's all about fun & fitness, wherever you find it.

+1 on Swimosaur's post! We both competed on the same team at World's and Nationals last month :banana:, and it was a blast! I feel exactly the same way as Swimosaur (even down to the :2cents: :censor:). It's $ well spent, though, because I (almost) always return from a meet feeling like :bliss:, even when I don't swim well.

I guess competition to me means putting pressure on myself to reach a certain standard. I used to train karate and our sensei insisted that we compete in the club's twice a year tournaments, and I hated it. Maybe I'm just not a competitive person, or I haven't found anything at which I'm good enough and secure in knowing I won't embarrass myself. Elaine K and Swimosaur, to you the competition is fun. But you're both light years ahead of me in ability.:blush:

I agree with all of the posts so far, and thanks to Jayhawk for posting those stats again! She's posted them before, and I don't think they've changed much since I've been on the USMS forums. While I really don't care for most meets (there are a few exceptions), I do like the whole open water experience. You go, swim, then you're done. I recently swam a 5k and spent less than half the time at the event venue than I do for most swim meets (and got in much more actual swimming :) ) Personally, I just don't like much of the waiting around that can happen at a large meet (unless you happen to be waiting with good company). If I had to take a guess, I'd guess that 10% of so of the swimmers on my team compete regularly, or at least 1 meet per year in each of SCY, LCM, and SCY. My team has some former college swimmers (I think one gal went to a US Olympic trials), and other swimmers who are just happy to get in the water and swim. Many on my team do an occasional meet (maybe one per year), especially if it is a, "team invite," type meet. Typically small and fun. I've seen some masters swimmers in their 80s go off blocks for the first time in their lives--quite a site to see--as well as others who broke USMS and/or world records, all in the same meet.

I guess competition to me means putting pressure on myself to reach a certain standard. I used to train karate and our sensei insisted that we compete in the club's twice a year tournaments, and I hated it. Maybe I'm just not a competitive person, or I haven't found anything at which I'm good enough and secure in knowing I won't embarrass myself. Elaine K and Swimosaur, to you the competition is fun. But you're both light years ahead of me in ability.:blush: Ability is irrelevant if your goal is to go to meets and just have fun. There are some people on our team (Swimosaur is my witness on this!) who are horrible swimmers; however, they show up at all the meets to just enjoy the experience and have fun with their friends. There is no reason to put pressure on yourself to reach a certain standard. Heck, I am lousy at 200 butterfly; it's my worst event! I have been "racing" it at all the meets I have competed in over the past couple of years, though, because I have set personal goals to improve in that event. I don't care that I come in last place, because I am not trying to beat anybody else. I'm just trying to improve. On the 13th, I will be competing in my first Ironman Pentathlon. In a short one-day meet, I will be "racing" 400 IM AND 200 of each stroke. 200 fly is my last event, and my goal is to just complete it legally. My time will probably be 30 seconds slower than usual; but, I don't care what it is. I just want the satisfaction of knowing I can successfully complete this self challenge. Denise, I'm not trying to talk you into or out of competing at meets; but, I hope you will consider it some time. You saw what Nationals was like when you met me there on Sunday. It was a BLAST for those of us who participated in the experience! You don't have to be a great swimmer to participate in a meet-- even Nationals! I didn't make qualifying times this year, so I just swam three events, including 200 fly and 400 IM. I had so much fun at that meet, and I am VERY glad I participated. Perhaps you can try a small local meet in your area or a Senior Games meet which usually draws swimmers at a lower level of ability (compared to USMS meets). Just see if you can go with the goal of meeting other swimmers and just having fun. Don't put any pressure on yourself! Edit: Denise, if this makes you feel any better, I just figured out where I ranked in my age group for my various events in long course. These were my worst: 200 fly- 97%, 100 fly- 93%, 400 IM- 91%. :blush:

sftom, I think that's because a lot of the USMS folks are good swimmers, even if the don't post great times at the meets. Most of the swimmers I've met have been at it for a long time, and started when they were kids, whereas I started as an adult. They're pretty fearless, I'm not. To give USMS credit, from what I'm seeing in replies to this post, pretty much everybody is in competition with themselves. What I don't see are articles in the magazine or online geared toward the fitness swimmer. I'd like some articles on nutrition advice, some easy drills to build up stamina, alternative exercises that improve stamina in the pool, and so forth. Maybe there have been but I haven't seen them since I've been a member. ElaineK, I saw you do the butterfly and you may not be the fastest, but you are excellent. You have impressive strength and skill. I will be rooting for you on October 13th. You go, girl. Trying a local meet isn't a bad idea. But I have to get to the point where I'm not gasping for breath at the end of each lap. I still don't like to share a lane with a bunch of other people. I'm still not accustomed to being tossed around and slammed into the ropes or have someone whack me with with their backstroke. I'm going to go to a master's swim near me. The coach said I can have my own lane. I didn't mean for this thread to sound like I'm down on competition, because I'm not. I really enjoyed meeting ElaineK and Swimosaur at the Nationals. Watching the event was truly inspiring, and I could tell that everyone was having a great time. I was just hoping some of the non-competitors would weigh in here with their workouts, how often they swim, whether they set any goals, and whether they have been able to lose weight and keep it off.

I'm a very slow swimmer, but I still enjoy meets when I can get to them--also open water swims, which if you find those where swimmers have a wide range of ability, you don't have to worry too much about whether you're fast enough. I finish typically at the back of the pack in these races, but I still enjoy them as a way to connect with other swimmers, test myself, and get a chance to swim in places that normally might not be open for swimming. I'm a runner who added swimming to my routine b/c it gave me another avenue to explore and also allows me to work out harder and recover sooner--and see life from a different perspective! :)