I'm 64, and although I learned to swim as a kid, I mainly did it for lap swimming, and not competitively until I was in my 50s, when I decided to join a masters' swim group forming at my Y. I seem to have plateaued in terms of times and I was never hugely fast (best ever 50 free was 51 seconds; best ever 100 free was 1:56 I think (scy in both cases). But when I first joined masters' I would never have considered an ocean swim (then did one), never would have considered a 5+ mile swim (did one 4x), never would contemplate signing up for an 8 mile swim (signed up this year for one in Sept.). I swam this year in the Hudson River for the first time ever--and against the current, which was brutal.
And while I still would like to be faster, I'm grateful for the opportunities for competing in the pool and open water. I have no illusions about breaking world records, even in my age group--I'm looking more for personal goals now... improve on a performance in a particular race... this year, I did my fastest 5 miler ever.
So my thought: it depends on what your goal is in competing. It should be challenging enough to be interesting, but not so far out of reach as to be frustrating. And you can't define your worth by your swimming times. I've finished last any number of times but have still been pleased w/ my performance b/c I know I gave it my best. If a time isn't what I'd hoped for, I figure there are more races and events to aim for, and I'm grateful I'm healthy enough to enter them.
I don't know what the future will hold for me in swimming, but I prefer to appreciate the present.
Good luck w/ your competing!
In my opinion, this is what master's swimming is all about! :applaud:
I'm 64, and although I learned to swim as a kid, I mainly did it for lap swimming, and not competitively until I was in my 50s, when I decided to join a masters' swim group forming at my Y. I seem to have plateaued in terms of times and I was never hugely fast (best ever 50 free was 51 seconds; best ever 100 free was 1:56 I think (scy in both cases). But when I first joined masters' I would never have considered an ocean swim (then did one), never would have considered a 5+ mile swim (did one 4x), never would contemplate signing up for an 8 mile swim (signed up this year for one in Sept.). I swam this year in the Hudson River for the first time ever--and against the current, which was brutal.
And while I still would like to be faster, I'm grateful for the opportunities for competing in the pool and open water. I have no illusions about breaking world records, even in my age group--I'm looking more for personal goals now... improve on a performance in a particular race... this year, I did my fastest 5 miler ever.
So my thought: it depends on what your goal is in competing. It should be challenging enough to be interesting, but not so far out of reach as to be frustrating. And you can't define your worth by your swimming times. I've finished last any number of times but have still been pleased w/ my performance b/c I know I gave it my best. If a time isn't what I'd hoped for, I figure there are more races and events to aim for, and I'm grateful I'm healthy enough to enter them.
I don't know what the future will hold for me in swimming, but I prefer to appreciate the present.
Good luck w/ your competing!
In my opinion, this is what master's swimming is all about! :applaud:
