Learn to swim as an adult - time questions

Vic “does any one know people who learned to swim as adults and what times they can expect?” I know lots of Masters Swimmers who learned to swim as adults. Their times are all over the board, often based on why they swim. If they are in it to race then you’d expect different time based results from those who swim for health, recreation and camaraderie. “Or handicapped people?” Yes. I recently worked a disability meet, where we had athletes from S5-S14. Again all different time results. “Should I be happy with the ability to do some of these (learning and doing a 100/200 fly, 400 IM at my age), and doing it legally in a meet, and just leave it at that?” I wouldn’t dream of telling you what should make you happy. You need to decide what makes you happy. But if you are anything like me then swimming makes me happy and spending time with our swimming family makes me happy. I hope you can find happiness in all aspects of your like, including swimming.

I swam on a club team for a few years when I was young. I enjoyed it, but didn't have much coaching, so my technique was poor-to-mediocre. I took about 40 years off before starting to swim again seriously and was fortunate to hook up with a Masters coach who was a great stroke technician and worked with me on the fundamentals of all four strokes. I saw some huge improvements in my times over the first year, dropping 17 seconds in my 100 meter free (LCM). I attribute my improvement to a combination of both improved technique and conditioning. I'm still getting faster, but the time improvements are smaller the faster I get. I'm still a long, long way from the top guys in my AG, and don't harbor any thoughts of posting any top ten times, but I enjoy the challenging of setting goals and working hard at getting faster. I find it somewhat ironic that some of my fast Masters friends who are life-long swimmers get frustrated by the fact that they are getting slower as they age and can't swim the times they used to, while at 63, I am still continuing to improve. I enjoy swimming in meets, but try to go into it with the expectation that I'm really only competing against myself and not worrying too much about who else shows up. Still seeking that "perfect" race. I also am in the early stages of an incurable debilitating disease, so I know that I might not be able to do this stuff forever. Just trying to enjoy it while I can. Every day is a gift. The best advice I can give is too decide what makes you happy and just to enjoy the journey.

Hi, I didn't learn to really swim until about 5 years ago, I'm middle aged. I have since become handicapped (mildly in the legs but enough to qualify). Since I participated in some of the meets, the below is what I've improved on from Feb/March to October times in SCY. My regular times are still slow from what people swim/post here, even with the improvements. I can also do things this year I never thought I could (400 IM, 100/200 fly, 100/200 ***, 500 free, etc.). I've only done them once or twice (400 IM I had a 10 second difference in times in a month) so I've no way to know if I'm improving or not. The question is: does any one know people who learned to swim as adults and what times they can expect? Or handicapped people? Should I be ok with just getting time improvements, as I don't think I can expect what others to swam as kids do? Should I be happy with the ability to do some of these (learning and doing a 100/200 fly, 400 IM at my age), and doing it legally in a meet, and just leave it at that? Thanks, Vic 50 free: 5/6 seconds 100 free: 10 seconds 200 free: 15 seconds 50 back: 5 seconds 100 back: 17 seconds 200 back: 40 seconds 50 ***: 20 seconds 50 fly: 6 seconds 100 fly: 5 seconds 100 IM: 15 seconds 200 IM: 30 seconds I'm super impressed that you're doing all these strokes and 400 IM! I learned to swim as a kid, though was never on a team. First masters swim experience was 11 yrs ago, but my butterfly is essentially caterpillar. ;) 400 IM? I've never attempted it. Result would likely be . I will say I did my longest ever swim this year, 8 miles in a river. I won't say I was fast! ;) Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Well, as for disabilities, min's more psychological and mental, I have Asperger and poor visual perception skills. I can see but some problems interpreting visual information in my brain. People with Asperger tend to be poor at sports because of poor motor skills. I was not but noticed that when I swam as a kid I had some timing issues. Also, I'm flat footed which means I have less flexibility in my feet for Backstroke and Freestyle which were my worst strokes as a kid. As a adult breaststroke is my best stoke and as a kid Breaststroke and Butterfly were my best strokes but I have put on lots of weight and I'm in less shape, so butterfly is not as good as a kid. In my mid 40's when I return to swimming, I swam 50 yard fly about 8 to 10 seconds slower than when I was 18 or 19 years old at my peak. I swam 50 yard breaststroke about 5 to 6 seconds slower. The 100 meter Breaststroke was 13 seconds slower. Different swimmers will swim differently as adults depending on how much yardage they can do or if they gain a lot of weight and so forth.

I don't care what your time is or when you started to swim, if you can complete a 400 IM without stopping or breaking form, you have my respect. I started swimming when I was 6 and was in the pool almost everyday until I was as 25. I'm 56 now, healthy, and just started swimming again and no way no how could I swim a 400 IM as I struggle to get 2000 yards of freestyle completed right now. I hope within a few months I can do what you are doing. Congrats

I only attempted it because I'm tired of being afraid of strokes and like something of a challenge. I find some masters' swimmers' ?mindset? I don't understand. If you had to obey a coach when you were younger, why not try something else, rather than sticking with the same old thing? Its a chance to grow & learn. :) My attempts aren't that great at all but it gives us a basis to say here is what I need to work on, here is how I can fix it. I've learned a lot.

Thanks for the votes of confidence all. :) I'm sure if you all practiced and put your mind to it, you can do it. I found a YT video that showed a lady making 20+ seconds in 4 months in her 100 meter free, and then less than 2 years later, had a 40 second improvement. She went from like 2:10's in the 100 meter free to 1:30 something.