Taper for Masters swimmers

In the past I had always tapered before a big meet. Getting ready for Tempe this year I had the luxury of being coached by someone hired specifically to coach those going to Nationals. Even the weekend before the meet he was still writing workouts for us that were the same distance as before. I asked him "When do we get to taper?" He gently replied that I didn't need to taper because I didn't swim enough for it to do me any good. He knew what he was talking about, because I swam (for me) way better than I ever expected to. I don't think I'll taper again, at least not unless I change my ways and start putting in more yardage at workout!

I know I am replying to my own post. "Fisch" I took your advice and did a search on this topic within the site and i did find a lot of good info. I am still interested in peoples experiences of the taper process. Many Thanks.

Gareth, you might try posting a poll on tapering. i posted one a while ago on weekly yardage, and the results were interesting. you could ask something like this: in the week(s) before an important competition, how is your weekly yardage affected? A) I swim about the same as always B) I swim only about 75 percent of my average yardage C) I swim only about 50 percent " D) I swim only about 25 percent " There's probably a more elegant way to phrase the poll, and maybe a way of incorporating intensity as well (I keep the same yardage but cut back the intensity, for example); anyhow, good luck with your research. It's a topic I think many of us find fascinating, but there are so many variables that it's a bit bewildering to tease out meaningful results (does a distance swimmer need to taper more or less than a sprinter? how about a 65 year old compared to a 45 year old? if you're used to doing mega yardage, is a taper more likely to help you? etc.)

I agree with you there. I only swim between 8,500 up to sometimes over 12,000. So, like you tapers would hurt more. And swimming a single stroke at meets like Breaststroke, you have to swim anything from 50 to 200, and the taper really hurts for the 200. Also, I'm thinking about doing 200 meter freestyle or 400 meter freestyle at our state meet. That's means I'm only doing two sprints, the 50 meter and 100 meter breaststroke.

Jim, thank you for your reply. I wil see if i can figure out how to put up a poll, should take me weeks of head scratching! I have found with my own swimming that i have over done the taper in the past. I think it all comes down to what are you tapering down from. I swim around 10,000 to 12,000 metres a week and i do build up my training from General aerobic phase, to Specific endurance, to Pre-competitive, to Competitive phase and then bring in a 2 week taper before the event. I am thinking that as my yardage is a fraction of that of the elite swimmers then my taper should be shorter, maybe 1 week instead of 2. As I coach as well as swim I am very interested in this topic.

I am wondering what is the typical distance a master swimmer swims by gender by age group? How long does it take you to complete that distance? I'm sure there is no hard and fast rule that says you don't need to taper unless you do "X" distance. It must depend on such variables as, gender, age, distance per week, what type of meet or swim one will do. Is there any rule of thumb? Lainey

y'know, i posted the same question a while back, and while everybody seemed to read it, no one responded!:confused: i'm still interested in hearing what people have to say, primarily for the reason that my yardage seems to be pretty high compared to what others are doing. anybody have anymore insight?

I also swim more than the average Masters (almost 27 kilometers per week, which is almost 30,000 yards per week), looking for developing my swimming VO2Max the way age-group kids are doing it. The mainstream idea in tapering is to cut the training about 50% with 10 days to go if you swim middle distance free like me. In tapering, do lots of broken swims, to imprint the pace. Also, do 25 meter or yards sprints. With this taper, in the 2003 Short Course Nationals, I lost my aerobic for the 1000 free, but surprisingly I got around my fastest speed. With a three day taper for a smaller meet, I went much faster in the 1000 free, and so-so in speed. I don't know how to taper well, even by following the coach's advice.

I too am swimming less than I used to, so my swimming taper will probably only be a 20-25% reduction in yards. However, I will quit lifting weights 10 days out. I have found this to be effective. I think that it is impossible to know how much you should taper until after the big meet - and then it is either too much, too little or just right. If you have been disappointed with previous tapers, try tapering less - not more - the next season.

There are few things in swimming that will garner as many diverse responses than tapering. Bottom line is that tapering is at once a very personal thing and requires a lot of awareness of your body, yet at the same time there are some "basic" principles that always seem apply: - more quality in your workouts; speed work is essential - more rest time on intervals; however you don't necessarilly need a big reduction in yardage. - mental prepration; often overlooked - stop lifting, eat less/better, sleep more - more practice on starts and turns; practicing perfect makes perfect - the last few days rest your legs as much as possible; avoid stairs, stop practicing starts, massage, etc.