I never competed at anything when I was young, entered my very 1st swim meet at 68. A heart defect prohibited me (unnecessarily) from even participating in any sports until I was about 30. But I do understand the competitive fire. Swimming is the only sport I have seen where middle aged people can come anywhere close to, not to mention exceeding their younger times.
A few decades ago I was a track & field coach, and I organized "masters" teams for the corporate cup relays. I spent much of the year trying to motivate formerly competitive athletes to return to good form, sprinters, middle distance runners, throwers, jumpers. Those who were most reluctant were those who performed at the highest levels when young. They knew they could never come close to college times and seemed to be somehow embarrassed by being a lesser athlete than they once had been. Those who were most enthusiastic were the ones who came into competitive form rather late and were still seeing improvements.
It depends upon the swimmer. Male swimmers are usually able to hold the times better than women in their 50's. The top female swimmers in the 55 to 59 and 60 to 64 are swimming really good in a 100 yard breaststroke if they swim under 1:20. Some of these women as kids swam 1:10 to 1:13 when they were young. None do that in their age group since the record I think for 55 to 59 year old women is 1:13.
I never competed at anything when I was young, entered my very 1st swim meet at 68. A heart defect prohibited me (unnecessarily) from even participating in any sports until I was about 30. But I do understand the competitive fire. Swimming is the only sport I have seen where middle aged people can come anywhere close to, not to mention exceeding their younger times.
A few decades ago I was a track & field coach, and I organized "masters" teams for the corporate cup relays. I spent much of the year trying to motivate formerly competitive athletes to return to good form, sprinters, middle distance runners, throwers, jumpers. Those who were most reluctant were those who performed at the highest levels when young. They knew they could never come close to college times and seemed to be somehow embarrassed by being a lesser athlete than they once had been. Those who were most enthusiastic were the ones who came into competitive form rather late and were still seeing improvements.
It depends upon the swimmer. Male swimmers are usually able to hold the times better than women in their 50's. The top female swimmers in the 55 to 59 and 60 to 64 are swimming really good in a 100 yard breaststroke if they swim under 1:20. Some of these women as kids swam 1:10 to 1:13 when they were young. None do that in their age group since the record I think for 55 to 59 year old women is 1:13.
