Hello. First post. I'm Canadian (British Columbia), and I haven't found a forum like this for Canada. This looks like a wonderful place - friendly, intelligent people - a great resource.
So.....I was a runner for 40+ years. Then it became a struggle in my mid 50s. (I'll be 57 next month.) Osteoarthritis in both knees put an end to it. When I got this diagnosis, I moped for a while, and then, on February 21st, 2019, it suddenly occurred to me that Swimming is my new sport.
I bought a few books, and went to the pool most days since SRD. (Swimming Realization Day.) I absolutely love the feeling of swimming. It's my new drug. I hope I can have 40+ years of it. :)
But in these early days I cannot claim to be very good at it. I'm improving rapidly, and that in itself is thrilling. The books are very helpful, and I'm making adjustments/improvements in form. I care only about Freestyle.
At the time of this post, my very modest PRs in a 25m pool (without diving in) are:
25m-19sec
50m-42sec
100m-1min32sec
200m-3min26sec
400m-7min19sec
800m-14min53sec
1600m-31min19sec
I think by the time mid-April rolls around, I can be under 7min 400m. 400m seems to be my favourite event at this early stage. It just so happens that our Provincial Masters Meet is in mid-April. In running, I lived for meets. Those events organized my running. I'd love to do the same in swimming.....but I am so new at this.
I'm terrified about signing up for this meet in mid-Apr. Do I belong there with a 7min 400m? I've looked at old results, and I'm in awe of the times recorded. I understand that as a 7min 400m person, I would be in a heat with other people around my time, no matter the age/sex. That's a wonderful thing. But I'm still mortified.
It's a new sport. I'm very new at it. I'm not even sure what I'm asking in this post.
Perhaps some of you will describe similar situations in your journey? Maybe you can talk me into signing up and losing my inhibitions? I'd hate to wimp out of this, then read results afterwards and cringe, while shouting "I would have loved this".
I seeded at 6:45 for the 400m FS.
6:39=A+, 6:44=B+, 6:49=C+.
I actually have not pushed 400m since a 7:09 3 weeks ago, but this Saturday I will do a "semi-final". :)
I must say that I have not figured out flip-turns yet.
Ugh.
I spent half the morning watching flipturn how-to videos. I got to the pool and promptly commenced the somersault with noodle drill. Then I did a series of turns at the wall, including one where I dragged my back along the shallow end bottom. Just when I thought that I was getting somewhere, it occurred to me that all of these turns had given me motion sickness. I felt like puking for the remainder of the flipturnless session. (400/200/100/50/50 warmup + 200 bung + 400 cooldown.) I was very disappointed that the 200m was only 3:18. I was hoping for 3:14-3:16 today. I'm not sure where I go from here regarding those damn turns. This was not an issue that I anticipated. I still feel like I've been on Space Mountain as I type this. Sheesh.
Been there, done that! :eek: I can no longer do flip turns because of having Meniere's, an inner ear disorder, so I do open turns. I would recommend doing snappy open turns at your first meet. Unless you have your flip turns down, you will be faster-- and more confident-- doing open turns. It will be one less thing to stress over! :agree:
Check this video out instead:
www.youtube.com/watch
I've watched a few open-turn videos now. They could have filmed me for every one of the "common mistakes" portions!! :) I will hopefully execute some GOOD open-turns tomorrow. Thanks again, ElaineK.
You're welcome, Skuj! I'm glad those videos will help you. Go Swim offers a free subscription at GoSwim.net if you would like to see more of their videos. They will e-mail you one daily.
Ugh.
I spent half the morning watching flipturn how-to videos. I got to the pool and promptly commenced the somersault with noodle drill. Then I did a series of turns at the wall, including one where I dragged my back along the shallow end bottom. Just when I thought that I was getting somewhere, it occurred to me that all of these turns had given me motion sickness. I felt like puking for the remainder of the flipturnless session. (400/200/100/50/50 warmup + 200 bung + 400 cooldown.) I was very disappointed that the 200m was only 3:18. I was hoping for 3:14-3:16 today. I'm not sure where I go from here regarding those damn turns. This was not an issue that I anticipated. I still feel like I've been on Space Mountain as I type this. Sheesh.
Wow, thanks ElaineK. That's very helpful. I confess to not knowing what "open turns" were until now, but I suppose I have been doing them....somewhat badly! I will look at all the steps in these videos, because frankly, I cannot see myself doing flipturns anytime soon, and certainly not at this meet. I'm really taken aback by what the actual dynamics of the flipturn did to me. It will take me a while to overcome this, methinks.....and I suspect open turns are the way forward for me.
Thanks again.
I've watched a few open-turn videos now. They could have filmed me for every one of the "common mistakes" portions!! :) I will hopefully execute some GOOD open-turns tomorrow. Thanks again, ElaineK.
Ugh.
I spent half the morning watching flipturn how-to videos. I got to the pool and promptly commenced the somersault with noodle drill. Then I did a series of turns at the wall, including one where I dragged my back along the shallow end bottom. Just when I thought that I was getting somewhere, it occurred to me that all of these turns had given me motion sickness. I felt like puking for the remainder of the flipturnless session. (400/200/100/50/50 warmup + 200 bung + 400 cooldown.) I was very disappointed that the 200m was only 3:18. I was hoping for 3:14-3:16 today. I'm not sure where I go from here regarding those damn turns. This was not an issue that I anticipated. I still feel like I've been on Space Mountain as I type this. Sheesh.
If you're super dizzy doing flip turns, my first guess would be that you're trying to literally "flip." That's kind of a misnomer. For me, it's helpful to think of a flip turn as more of a pike movement than, say, a barrel roll. That also helps with the precision of the movement - you don't want to tuck your torso up too much because you want your body streamlined in the direction you're going to jump off of the wall as quickly as possible.
TBH I don't really like open water flipping drills for people first learning flip turns because it encourages just throwing your body over like that and deemphasizes the needed precision of the movement.
Anyway, there's soooo much complexity to turns, as there tends to be with movements that require a lot of precision in a very short window of time... I could wax poetic for awhile, but that's not going to help you learn them in the first place :P
JPEnge, that's fascinating. Thanks. I've decided that my long term goal (ie age 60 in 2022) is to master flipturns, one very gradual step at a time.
Meanwhile......
After yesterday's debacle at the pool, it was a great relief to have a good swim today.
I did 400 + 4x50 warmup (8:15/:52/:53/:52/:52) + 800 bung (14:19) + 200 cooldown (4:03).
14:19 is 8sec faster than last week. My 400 splits were 7:12/7:07. Funny that my 400 PR is 7:09. (But that was 3 weeks ago. I haven't done 400 since then.) 14:19 means that I should be able to do 400 in 6:51. I seeded 6:45 for the meet.
My open-turns were better today, but far from perfect. There is so much I can do to get better!!
Videos! We need videos! How else can we know what you are doing right and what can be improved? Get somebody to shoot some videos of your freestyle, open turns, and block start, ok? Post them on YouTube and post them here. :cheerleader:
NOTHING has helped my breaststroke more than having my husband shoot video and posting it in "The Breaststroke Lane" thread for feedback. Allen Stark is the breaststroke guru; however, we have some great freestyle guru Forumites as well! Post your videos, and they will respond. :agree:
