goals?

Have you thought about joining a master's group/team? you will still be able to compete and have intense workouts while not having to worry about 'not making the team'... peace...

I think you've come to the right place :) . A masters club sounds exactly like what you're looking for. As Eliana said, you'll get the workouts, training plans and coaching you're looking for, plus support from a group, without the pressure of having to "make the team." And you can compete as much (or as little) as you want. Many colleges have masters clubs on campus -- or there may be one nearby.

Ashley, You didn't mention where you went to school, or whether it's a top NCAA program,... but it sounds like the yardage that you put in would definitely allow you to keep a pace that's worthy of one of the far lanes. Maybe your goal should be to get a spot on the team, and then some! Our high school and college teams had some rather unusually talented swimmers, and the coach never denied the opportunity for the "walk-ons" (as we called them) to join up unless they were impeding the other athletes progress during workout. Some of the best personalities on the team as I recall were actually the non-scholarship swimmers. We had one guy in particular who would swim the thousand as slow as possible to allow our star distance guy some rest before he hopped on the blocks again for the two hundred free. It was absolutely hilarious at times. He did just about everything but dog paddle for about twenty minutes. In any case, what I'm trying to say is that perhaps trying to join up with the school team could be an option to consider before looking elsewhere to swim. Swimmers never give up. I find that despite the varieties of personalities in the pool, we all share the common trait of persistence, determination, and dedication. Go for it. And if not,...Masters allows you to compete starting at the age of nineteen.

I live in San Diego like you, and train in La Jolla with a Masters program. The program is coached by a UCSD college coach, with the same mentality as the college has for goals of improvement. It is more oriented towards Masters swim competitions than four other programs in San Diego. Informations on the program, including driving directions, are here: www.swimsmarter.com

But I think I've plateau'd. As you are unsure of what you wanted, how do you define "plateau'd"? Like you, I swam through most of age group. The focus here is get faster - secondary is fitness and stroke (though these are very closely related). Once I returned to the water, it was hard to overcome that urge to Swim harder/faster/better and be so goal oriented. Enter Masters swimming. Now my goal is to still be swimming when I am 90. It gives me a much more relaxed approach to swimming. I still have short term Time goals, but it is simply not as intense. This is what works for me. There are many others who are more focused, and yet others that are more casual than me. Hope this gives you somethings to think about. Please attend a Masters meet in your area so you can understand what I am trying to say... Chris

Gee, a high school pool that is 50 meters. When I lived in California the only high school around that had a 50 meter pool was Newport Harbor High School and at that time it was sort of a rich kids school. My high school pool was just 25 yards and had a separate 10 yard diving pool.

Gee, a high school pool that is 50 meters. When I lived in California the only high school around that had a 50 meter pool was Newport Harbor High School and at that time it was sort of a rich kids school. My high school pool was just 25 yards and had a separate 10 yard diving pool. Also, you could transfer from the four year college to a 2 year program. JR colleges don't care how fast you are. California has more community colleges that do swimming than four year schools. As for 4 years, if you don't swim freestyle around 56 if you are a woman or breastroke around 1:10 or fly around 59, I would not recommed it. Instead, switch to masters swimming where you could compete better at.