So do other people feel diappointed with their times as adult versus as an 18 year old or 20 year old. I understand that I was out of swimming for almost 26 years. And I didn't practice that much during the first 2 years because I was badly out of shape and had to changes jobs and for about 9 months my work didn't workout that much with swimming, only swimming a couple of days at week. I guest we are not that young and many of us who take a very long break from swimming and are middle age are going to be slower. This is workout times according to a pace clock.
Former Member
This post causes me some reflection on my own history. I use the 100 fly because that is the event I have never abandoned. So: in 1955 at age 16 = 59.6, age 17 = 57.7, age 18 = 55.5 (note the times figured only to 10ths !!) Fast forward to age 45, starting into Masters. Dropped quickly from a 1:14 to 59.20 in about 6 months. By age 47 had gone 58.76-the falling off started there, until age 62 at Nationals-went a 1:03.26 - currently good for about a 1:05 @ age 64. SO: what does it mean? Not much, because most of my career slowdowns have occurred either due to injury or burn-out. Cannot coach and swim intensely at the same time. How to handle the slow attrition ? Just have to get my ego under control and reaffirm my motives; to wit: health, fitness and a longer, better quality life. I feel comfortable knowing that I'm slowing down and that's O.K. Everyone else is too ! ;)
Anyways, I would love to even do 100 freestyle at 1:14. Practices have been in the 120's or beyond. And freestyle range in 50 from 33 rested to 45 slow pace. I'm planning on right on just swimming beastroke in a meet. Its not too bad I've clock trying to go fast after doing three or more 50's with porbably 20 to 30 seconds rest at 46 in a 50 yard. I'm going to swimming LC meters that gives me a little scare. Doing the 50 breastroke and the 100 meter breastroke. In the future maybe i'll add freestyle. Breastroke was the stroke I could do fair from age 12 to the present. Probably some of my problem is that the nearest masters team is 20 miles on the otherside of the town and I workout on myself that why I'm probably not making the process such as you did at 45 years old.
Cynthia- slowing down in breastroke is something I have a lot of experience at. Without going into a lot of specifics, you cannot rediscover your speed without rediscovering the right rhythm & timing of your stroke at slower speeds & gradually accellerating it over time. The danger comes then as you try to go faster that you must avoid creating greater resistance (breastroke is the least efficient stroke) as you are applying power. Without having a coach to guide (& nitpick) your stroke, you might try this: go & spectate a quality USS open-level event & watch the breastroke being done. You're not there to analyze anyone's stroke (you'll still see many variations), but to try to feel the rhythm & body position of a swimmer who you think is swimming in a manner that you would like to aspire to. If you can then get in a pool as quick as you can & attempt to replicate the "feel" & rhythm you observed without being too self-critical- you may well surprise yourself & make some good progress towards your old speed.
That's a good idea about seeing a meet with the top breastrokers. Anyways, I think I will stop whinning about how slow I swim now. I can still beat a lot of the general public that lap swim.
Cinc310-
I am also a mid-40's swimmer. I wasn't a great age-grouper and I'm not a great masters swimmer either. The first 5 years after my 20-year lay-off, though, I did get faster. Now I seem to be facing the "inevitable decline." (Or maybe I'm not working out as hard...) I'm envious of those that have continued to get faster in their 40's an beyond, but for most of us mortals, it can't go on forever.
I find it hard to revise my goals. Many of us have spent our lives with the goal of being faster. I can't do the times or the sets in practice that I used to be able to do. I work out alone, mostly, so I often only have the unsuspecting lap swimmer in the lane next to me to race against. So I have been trying to take some advice from friends who say what I need to do is have new goals. Just swimming faster (with better technique or better training, or both) can't continue to be a goal, I don't think. Especially if you are measuring yourself against your age-group or college times.
Although, intelectually, I know that health and fitness are the over-all goals, I still like to have that feeling of "beating the clock," doing a really good set at practice. It is hard not to be discouraged when you can't make the same time or intervals. Instead, I set a goal this summer to make some nats qualifying times for long course next year since I'll be aging up. That has giving me something to work at. I try to make the times/intervals that I think will allow me to swim my goal time for the next meet (and try to forget about how much faster I was swimming in previous years....).
That's whats good about the age-group format of masters. You can set targets, such as Deb's goal of national qualifying times, or top ten, or place in regional meets, that are presumably moving as fast (or slowing down as much) as you are.
In a far away thread, long ago, we talked about this before.
Jim Thorton suggested that those of us Masters swimmers who were
"mediocre" in our teens had an advantage over those swimmers
who were hotshots in their teens when it came to PRs now.
Makes a lot of sence to me now.
After 13 years as a Masters swimmer (I'm 49), I did my
PR's this year in the 500 and 1650. I credit it to better
technique.
I was no hotshot as a teenager. My best time in 100 yard breastroke was a 1:16.1 and the 100 yard butterfly, 1:05.8 My freestyle time in the 100 yard bordered on B and A time, 1:03.7. So, even average swimmers don't always get bettter with age. Maybe, part of the reason you did best times was because like you stated you have been at masters swimming for 13 years, while I started lap swimming again in my 40's. Laura Val who was a hotshot swimmer as a teenager since she made olympic trails is swimming better in her 40's and early 50's than both of you do..
I was a breaststroker and butterflyer as a kid and my times were around the 1:10 mark for 100 meter *** and the 1:00 mark for 100 meter fly.I took thirty years off, gained 50 lbs, and had a heart attack before returning to the pool two years ago, my times then were slow slow slow, but after 2 years and many meets my *** times are within 9 seconds of my best as a kid, fly has come to within 11 seconds. This by hard work and changing my stroke to the way they do it today( good coaching). I now compare what my times were when I first came back and feel good seeing improvement from those times. After 2 years back the biggest improvements have just come the last few months.
The most important thing is that I am now in better shape than most peole my age and I am enjoying my swimming way more than I did as a kid.Work hard Have fun and I am sure the times will improve some what.
Glen
