K, so I have a hurt shoulder but not from swimming (imagine that!). By now I wanted to have goal races for December SCM NE Champs but I'm still mostly kicking with a bit of 1 arm drill. I may or may not be better by then but I want something to focus on now to keep me going.
I've been practicing a LOT of SDK (although I'm mostly unable to streamline the hurt shoulder) and a lot of breaststroke kick with gentle sculling. I'm doing other stuff, too but a lot of dolphin & whip kick drills. I did some open water swimming this weekend (30 minutes without a set distance) completed as 5 x 1 arm fly, 5x *** kick with sculling (not a legal pull). And it got me thinking...I could race...anything.
So I was thinking:
50 M free as 1 arm Fly
100 M free as 1 arm ***
200 M Free as 1 arm IM or 1 arm Free
All with in water starts.
Except the tricky part being *** isn't quite legal for Freestyle - I do go under a tiny bit and certainly would with a 1 arm stroke. Is it possible to get 1 arm *** for time in a breaststroke event if you keep that arm by your side and don't use it the whole race? I mean, I'll get a time no matter what but not get DQ'd? Would it be possible?
My advice would be to talk to the Referee before the meet and explain your situation to them. By virtue of the rules I think most referee's would DQ you since you are not permanently disabled. If the referee declares he/she will DQ you there's still no reason you can't swim. You can participate and get a DQ; there's really no shame in that. I assume you're not going for any records and you already know you're not swimming a technically correct *** so just dive in and see what you can do with one arm and look forward to the day you'll have use of both again. BTW I was a National Level Starter/Referee for several years when my 3 kids were swimmers.
My advice would be to talk to the Referee before the meet and explain your situation to them. By virtue of the rules I think most referee's would DQ you since you are not permanently disabled. If the referee declares he/she will DQ you there's still no reason you can't swim. You can participate and get a DQ; there's really no shame in that. I assume you're not going for any records and you already know you're not swimming a technically correct *** so just dive in and see what you can do with one arm and look forward to the day you'll have use of both again. BTW I was a National Level Starter/Referee for several years when my 3 kids were swimmers.
