[I started 12 years ago at age 54. I have competed in over 100 usms meets. I'm not going to win the nationals but my best times this year would have placed in the top 10 in 4 events at last weeks LCM nationals . Go for it.
The short answer to this question is "absolutely, you can!". But the key to successfully accomplishing this goal is in your approach to swimming.
You're headed in the right direction by asking the good folks on the USMS forum for advice, and as you can see there are already plenty of encouraging answers and personal stories that will hopefully serve to give you confidence to start the journey.
The next step will be to decide whether you want to start out on your own or with a coach/team. If you start out on your own, you'll need to arm yourself with as much swimming knowledge as possible and then you will need to know how to apply that knowledge to your own specific needs as a swimmer. This is where things can get tricky - and why it is actually best to work with a coach from the start. You'll find plenty of self-help videos, apps, books telling you that you can go it alone. But since there are so many options, each giving different advice, it can get confusing. It can also be frustrating trying to apply the principles that you are taught in these self-help guides without being able to see yourself in the water.
This is why it is best to work with a coach, either through private lessons or by joining a team. Here, too, you won't always encounter smooth sailing. You only have to consult the recent thread about a "new masters swim coach" to see that there are differing coaching philosophies which are either embraced or rejected, depending upon the swimmer and his/her goals. You'll have to determine whether the coach you work with is right for you and your needs.
Avoiding injuries in this process is also key. There is nothing more frustrating than starting out too far and too fast on your swimming venture and winding up with a swimming-induced injury that could hold you back for months. You'll need to focus first and foremost on developing a technical base to your swimming before you work on increasing your yardage and intensity. This might be a good article for you to take a look at: swimswam.com/5-keys-to-finding-the-motivation-to-train/
The best part about swimming is that anything is possible. I've enjoyed working with triathletes who started out not knowing how to swim and are now completing Olympic or sprint distance triathletes with 1/2 mile or 1 mile swims. One of my favorite experiences was to work with a 29-year-old who initially could not make it past more than two lengths of the pool and see her, over the course of 2-3 years, competing in multiple events at a variety of different levels of meets. She has now even become a coach to age group teams.
There is definitely hope for competitive swimming at any age, as long as you approach the process slowly, steadily and wisely. Good luck!
Of course! I learned how to swim as a kid but was never on a swim team. At 30 I started lap swimming to get back in shape. I finally got up the nerve to compete and swam my first meet last year at the age of 38.
YES!!!!! I believe people who train with a master's team and compete tend to stick with swimming longer, quite possibly for a lifetime.
Most people I've talked to who have quit swimming complain that it is boring. I believe doing interval workouts with a group, setting goals by competing in meets and open water swims, and practicing all the strokes help to keep it interesting and exciting for a lifetime.
Racing is a blast. Of course it's fun to beat people, but the best accomplishment is to improve your personal best times regardless of if you're first or last in the race. When you reach the age that renders you unlikely to get faster simply start setting age group or decade personal bests. I'm at that age now and I'm looking forward to some good swims.
Good luck and enjoy the adventure!!
I took beginning swimming in graduate school, when I was 27-years-old, and now, at 44, compete in open water races. 10 miles, 15 miles, and more.
Not only can it be done, but sometimes, we are waaaaayyy less burnt out than those who have been swimming for their entire lives. For me, swimming is still about FUN!
I also teach and coach and I work with adult onset swimmers at all levels, many of whom go on to compete regularly.
. I have met many fantastic swimmers in USMS who are late bloomers (BAM! - blast from the past)
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Hope this doesn't get started again! What next? VO2 max shampoo?
Yes, this can be a problem for those swimmers who come into masters swimming at a late age without having been a swimmer when younger. To start in masters at around the age of 30 or 40 without a previous competitive background is probably desirable for health, sanity and to have an aim in life, but in reality the late starter is unlikely to pick up medals nationally.
I don't think it is a problem.
Good observation - Any suggestions for how an adult-onset swimmer might avoid or combat the mentality of using folks like these as competitive benchmarks?
That's a damn fine question and not easy to answer. At some levels they can be inspirational. But, as you improve they can be motivational. And, getting in a heat with them can be fun. I hear a lot of Masters swimmers say, "I'll never be that fast." My answer is always, "Why not?"
However, if you look at the very top of most age groups you do see people with very legit swimming backgrounds - pwb, Chris S, the annoying Smith and good Smith (if they'd ever swim again), Rowdy, Switzer, knelson, Braun, Fortress, Andersen, KPN, etc. Rather than use them as my competition basis, I walk around muttering their names as inspirations for improving, and then hoping they get the stomach bug before nationals.
Yes, this can be a problem for those swimmers who come into masters swimming at a late age without having been a swimmer when younger. To start in masters at around the age of 30 or 40 without a previous competitive background is probably desirable for health, sanity and to have an aim in life, but in reality the late starter is unlikely to pick up medals nationally.
The answer, of course, is to outlive your competitors and compete when over the age of 95.
I've been watching this discussion and waiting for comic sans forum destroyer to slow down, but, alas, that hasn't happened yet. Anyhow, I believe it is very possible to begin that later in life and be competitive, but with an asterisk. I have met many fantastic swimmers in USMS who are late bloomers (BAM! - blast from the past) such as scyfreestyler. I've also managed to be lightly competitive with only a summer league background. I swam my first USMS meet in my early 30s.
However, if you look at the very top of most age groups you do see people with very legit swimming backgrounds - pwb, Chris S, the annoying Smith and good Smith (if they'd ever swim again), Rowdy, Switzer, knelson, Braun, Fortress, Andersen, KPN, etc. Rather than use them as my competition basis, I walk around muttering their names as inspirations for improving, and then hoping they get the stomach bug before nationals.
