I am a 59-year old masters swimmer, in my 6th
year back after a 35-year layoff. Swimming just two 50s at a Sunday meet. Two questions: Do I rest the day before, do a light workout, or a full workout? I swam yesterday. Second question: How much warm-up on the day of for just two sprints?
How important is this meet to you. If not very, then do a regular workout. If somewhat important, do a light workout focusing on staying loose, but with a little sprinting. Day of the meet, you want to do really good warmups and warm downs. No event puts as much strain on your joints as the sprints so you want to be really loose and have your muscles warm. Also, no event generates as much lactic acid as a sprint, so the warm down is really important.
I've only been to 2 meets, but yes, I would still recommend a warmup. As orca1946 said, it's always good to get a feel for the turns. I am so used to pushing against tiled walls, but in my second meet, it didn't even feel like it was a wall, most probably just a separator between the main pool vs the warmup pool. It felt really off the first few times I did my turns.
