In our winter YMCA league, there are about a dozen meets from September to April. Some of the swimmers come to these meets and more or less go through the motions--i.e., they swim almost as if the meet were a leisurely Sunday workout. For one friend of mine, it's almost as if he doesn't want to try too hard because if his time isn't as good as he thinks it should be, he's disappointed and de-inspired.
Other swimmers try their hardest in every event they enter, regardless if this nets them a personal record or not.
It's a difference of philosophy, I guess, but I am curious to see where others out there come down on this duality.
Someone mentioned on another thread somewhere that Popov planned to race the 50 a hundred times a season, and that these races were part of his conditioning strategy. This makes a lot of sense to me--it's hard to do a truly maximal sprint in practice, and even if you can do this, you don't have the same adrenalizing, etc. that meet conditions can induce. By attending lots of meets and sprinting all out there everytime, you get a form of practice that's virtually impossible to get anywhere else. Partly for this reason I guess I am a believer in trying your hardest in meets throughout the season. I also don't see the point in coming and swimming with less effort than you are capable of summoning.
But maybe I'm missing something. What do others out there think?
like you said, much of this depends on what your goals are.
Some follow the Popov approach - like you and I do.
For others, it is a socal outing to see friends and get out of the house. You could think of it as a more atheltic form of Bridge club or poker night.
The beauty of USMS is that there is room for all different philosiphies, objectives, and goals. The common thread is our love of swimming ~ just how we do it is up to each individual.
I fall in-line as a hybrid. I like to focus and improve, but my long term goal is to be swimming when I am 78. This means I need to have fun and not let the sport dictate my life. If I can do this and steadily improve, all the better for me.
Good thread!
Chris Beardsley
like you said, much of this depends on what your goals are.
Some follow the Popov approach - like you and I do.
For others, it is a socal outing to see friends and get out of the house. You could think of it as a more atheltic form of Bridge club or poker night.
The beauty of USMS is that there is room for all different philosiphies, objectives, and goals. The common thread is our love of swimming ~ just how we do it is up to each individual.
I fall in-line as a hybrid. I like to focus and improve, but my long term goal is to be swimming when I am 78. This means I need to have fun and not let the sport dictate my life. If I can do this and steadily improve, all the better for me.
Good thread!
Chris Beardsley
