I just got back from the SPMS meet and I am in a funk. I have talked to several of my contemporaries who share my dysphoria at getting slower. From age 50-62 I slowed down very little. Ages 63 and 64 were one injury or illness after another, but at least there was a cause and I felt I would do better. Age 65 I aged up and for most of the year was healthy. That was a great year,but my times were all significantly slower than at 62. Since then it is very unusual to have one swim that is faster than I did the previous year.At 67(almost 68) I am notably slower than at 65. I have seen the graphs of how times slow with age, intellectually, if I am staying at the same rate of decline as my peers I should accept it, but I don't like it. I know most forumites are much younger and what I am saying may seem like something natural that I should just acknowledge and go on, that is what I thought until I was 63. I know that our having age groups every 5 years is a partial solution to the problem, but there is more difference between a 65 year old and a 68 year old than between a 40 year old and a 50 year old, in my experience. How do the other older swimmers out there cope and have a good attitude? The common saying in Masters Swimming is that "you are only competing against yourself",but my slightly younger self is kicking my butt and I am tired of it.
I needed to see this today as well. When I was 16-21 my breaststroke times were great. 32 years later I recently found some journals from back then (yes, I was OCD and wrote almost everything down) and got so disgusted with my current times. This old thread popped up at a perfect time.
Well, the master swimmers within 5 seconds of their youth times are in pretty good physical shape. Also, on the ladies side, the top swimmers like Laurie Val and others have been swimming masters since their 30's or early 40's. This helps to built a swimming based and makes it easier to be within 5 to 7 seconds of your youth times in a 100 yard. Many swimmers that take up masters swimming years later and do it more on and off can be 10 to 30 seconds slower than their youth time in a 100 yard.
I needed to see this today as well. When I was 16-21 my breaststroke times were great. 32 years later I recently found some journals from back then (yes, I was OCD and wrote almost everything down) and got so disgusted with my current times. This old thread popped up at a perfect time.
Well, the master swimmers within 5 seconds of their youth times are in pretty good physical shape. Also, on the ladies side, the top swimmers like Laurie Val and others have been swimming masters since their 30's or early 40's. This helps to built a swimming based and makes it easier to be within 5 to 7 seconds of your youth times in a 100 yard. Many swimmers that take up masters swimming years later and do it more on and off can be 10 to 30 seconds slower than their youth time in a 100 yard.
