I posted this message a while ago, but I thought I'd ask again. I'm a University student writing an article on people ages 30-50 that swim on a regular basis. Specifically I'm looking for people that had joint or bone problems from other forms of exercise, ex: running- knee problems, and switched to swimming because of the low stress on your joints. Or if you would like to reply to this and tell me why you love to swim and why it helps you, that would be great too.
Thanks,
Rebekah
I think Cynthia has hit on one of the very best benefits of Masters swimming: that it helps your self-esteem. I too was a mediocre swimmer when I was a kid, and I'm still mediocre. But as she says, that's in comparison to elite swimmers like Shirley Babashoff. When you consider how few Americans can actually swim a length of the pool nonstop, then that makes you feel pretty good about yourself. I see my swimming as a personal challenge. Every now and then I swim events just to see if I can do them, like the 200 fly I swam the year I turned 40. Hey, it wasn't fast, but that wasn't the point. The point was that I did something I never tried before--and lived to tell about it!
I think Cynthia has hit on one of the very best benefits of Masters swimming: that it helps your self-esteem. I too was a mediocre swimmer when I was a kid, and I'm still mediocre. But as she says, that's in comparison to elite swimmers like Shirley Babashoff. When you consider how few Americans can actually swim a length of the pool nonstop, then that makes you feel pretty good about yourself. I see my swimming as a personal challenge. Every now and then I swim events just to see if I can do them, like the 200 fly I swam the year I turned 40. Hey, it wasn't fast, but that wasn't the point. The point was that I did something I never tried before--and lived to tell about it!
