I am a middle aged woman with no competitive swim experience. I have been swimming with a master's group for about a year now. My training has been mostly open water and triathlon distances 750 to 1500 meters with very little work on starts and turns or swim meet distances. I've done pretty well with open water distances, but am not very good at sprinting. I can dive off the blocks pretty well, but my flip turns are worse than my open turns. My local YMCA is hosting their first masters swim meet in years. I figured I would participate for the fun of it with no expectation of being competitive. Furthermore, they expect so few competitors that the age groups and gender groups will be combined. My main goal is to have fun and not be DQd from my events. Any advice on making it a good day?
I am a middle aged woman with no competitive swim experience. I have been swimming with a master's group for about a year now. My training has been mostly open water and triathlon distances 750 to 1500 meters with very little work on starts and turns or swim meet distances. I've done pretty well with open water distances, but am not very good at sprinting. I can dive off the blocks pretty well, but my flip turns are worse than my open turns. My local YMCA is hosting their first masters swim meet in years. I figured I would participate for the fun of it with no expectation of being competitive. Furthermore, they expect so few competitors that the age groups and gender groups will be combined. My main goal is to have fun and not be DQd from my events. Any advice on making it a good day?
Welcome to competitive swimming! :welcome: The following would be my advice :2cents::
1. Check out what I put in bold (above), but put the emphasis on the first part. Have fun! Make a point of introducing yourself to other swimmers, and socialize in between races. Let them know you're a newbie, and I'll bet they give you a lot of encouragement, and make you feel at ease.
2. Forget doing flip turns. You say your open turns are better, so do them instead, and concentrate on making them snappy. I have been competing for six years with USMS, and I have never done a flip turn in competition. I have Meniere's (an inner ear disorder), so repetitive flip turns make me seasick. If I can't do them repetitively in practice, I don't want to take the chance of messing one up in competition; so, I do open turns, and nobody cares.
3. If you are going to dive off the blocks, wear a cap OVER your goggles, and pull the front of the cap over the top edge of them. Better yet, use two caps, and wear the goggles in between them. This will keep your goggles more secure on entry. Don't forget to tuck your chin and hold your upper arms tight against your ears. Another tip, putting a thin layer of Vaseline around your eyes (where the goggles touch your skin) helps the goggles stay in place, and it helps protect your skin from irritation.
4. Stay nice and still on the block after "get set," and don't jump the gun at the start!
5. Warm-ups and cool-downs are a highly individual thing, so you will learn what works best for you; but, do both! You want your muscles (and joints) to stay nice and loose throughout the meet.
6. Stay hydrated and nourished. Again, that's a highly individual thing; but make sure if you eat in between races, it's something that will sit well in your stomach. If you are unsure about solids, bring some Gatorade or some other sports drink to have in between races.
Good luck in your races, and please let us know how you did! :cheerleader:
Neither have I ever entered a meet. There are so few in upstate NY that I may have only 2 or 3 chances per year without extensive travel. Coming from the world of running where I have a choice of 2 or 3 road races every single weekend and 8 or 10 track & field meets every summer, this is disheartening. Open water swims are not much more common. With so few chances, one feels like to falter in any way is to fail for the entire season.
You can start from in the water if you wish. Have fun in the 1st meet. Do open turns and finish with a firm touch on the touch pad FRONT to stop the clock - do not finish with a grab hitting only the top as this will not stop the race time.
HAVE FUN
You can start from in the water if you wish.
HAVE FUN
How about from the deck? I have not had the chance to try many dives from the block since none of my pools will allow diving except during a masters practice, which I won't see again until January. I would practice it then but it gets in the way of the prescribed warmups and sets. I have gone in from the deck a few times and kept my goggles on though.
How about from the deck? I have not had the chance to try many dives from the block since none of my pools will allow diving except during a masters practice, which I won't see again until January. I would practice it then but it gets in the way of the prescribed warmups and sets. I have gone in from the deck a few times and kept my goggles on though.
Yes, absolutely! :agree:
How about from the deck? I have not had the chance to try many dives from the block since none of my pools will allow diving except during a masters practice, which I won't see again until January. I would practice it then but it gets in the way of the prescribed warmups and sets. I have gone in from the deck a few times and kept my goggles on though.
You can start on the pool deck instead of the starting blocks. As for googles, when I did a few meets back in the early 2,000's I swam without them but I was used to that years ago as a kid. I think if you can keep the googles on from the deck dived from the deck.
Do I understand correctly that you have to touch the end with both hands for *** and fly, but not free and back?
Yes, that is correct. Make sure on *** and fly you touch the pad SIMULTANEOUSLY with both hands!
I think I'll be ready to dive off the blocks by the time the meet comes in 3 weeks -- I'm about 90% success for keeping the goggles on presently,and I like the head start it gives me. Glad to hear that open turns are OK since the flip turns aren't improving quickly. Thanks for the tip on the touch pads -- there won't be any chance to practice that before the meet. Do I understand correctly that you have to touch the end with both hands for *** and fly, but not free and back? Current plan is to compete in 200 free relay for the team experience, 100 IM for the heck of it (I learned fly this year and am still a beginner), and 500 free because I'm best at longer distances.
