Hi all, I've been lurking here for the past few months. I swam as a young girl in age groups, and was decently fast as a young'un, mostly free and backstroke, but quit at age 12 for reasons too stupid to believe. I then proceeded to not swim a single length for almost three decades. Two months ago, I decided to get back in the water as my kids are getting older and I have more time to work out, and it's been the best thing I have done in ages. I'm enjoying it a ton.
I am am overweight and out of shape and slower than a snail: I swim a 50 free in about 55 seconds "normal," closer to 49/50 if going all out -- molasses pace either way. But after I completed the zero-to-mile program, which came fairly easy (if slow!) to me with open turns, I decided maybe I should venture to one of the local Masters clubs and try it out. When I did, the coach recommended I swim the entire workout with fins, explaining that it would get more yardage in so would enable me to get in shape faster, and also let me focus more on stroke. This seems odd to me, since I feel like it's easier in a lot of ways to swim with the fins, but I'm certainly not a swim coach...
Any advice or thoughts? Is this common? It kind of feels like cheating. But it would be weird not to use them when the coach has told me to or to push back with a bunch of questions, since the whole reason for doing this is to work with a coached group.
At this point I am thinking I could work out 2x a week with that group and then 1-2x on my own, and when on my own only use the fins occasionally (kick sets, occasional drills, or for when I attempt butterfly which I do want to do again someday if only to say I tried!).
Fwiw, there are plenty of lanes available at the pool and time when I swim with the Masters group -- I have had either half a lane or whole lane to myself (!), more space than I get at the fitness club where I swim solo. So it's not an issue of keeping up with the slow lane... Most of the newer/slower swimmers seem to be following the same practice of always having fins though.
sorry for such a long first post, trying to include all relevant info --
Any advice or thoughts? Is this common? It kind of feels like cheating.
Yes, it's cheating in a sense. Looking at it from the coach's perspective he/she probably has seen new swimmers give up because they can't keep up and the fins will enable them to. In my opinion the only problem with this is fins can become a serious crutch. If you're confident that you can keep going without the fins then I would suggest not using them and telling the coach your reasons. I think you'll find that masters groups tend to be very accommodating. Coaches typically respect your decisions. We're all adults, after all!
Any advice or thoughts? Is this common? It kind of feels like cheating.
Yes, it's cheating in a sense. Looking at it from the coach's perspective he/she probably has seen new swimmers give up because they can't keep up and the fins will enable them to. In my opinion the only problem with this is fins can become a serious crutch. If you're confident that you can keep going without the fins then I would suggest not using them and telling the coach your reasons. I think you'll find that masters groups tend to be very accommodating. Coaches typically respect your decisions. We're all adults, after all!
