How bad a swimmer you are?

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

waves101 — Wed, 31 Dec 2003 09:12:21 GMT

The fun of Nationals is just being there to see all the swims. While I like seeing the fast times, I enjoy seeing the other swimmers doing their best. I consider myself one of those doing my best, even though I can make a couple of the NQT's (most are impossible for me - I can't swim back or *** and I'm a sprinter). In fact, a couple of my events are still too close together, for me anyway, and I'm sure if Nats was reserved for only the elite it would be too fast of a meet for top quality swims. I've charished the two Nationals I've attended thus far and am looking forward to Indy this spring (I guess I better get back into training mode soon as April is fast approaching).

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 17:47:48 GMT

My team is hosting the 2005 LCM nationals, in Mission Viejo California. We'd love to have you all come down here. The more the merrier! Just think, among other things, what a treat it would be to actually meet some people that we converse with in here so often. I'm going to Indy nationals, and to Savannah, whether I make the NQT's or not. I think just the experience of it all is well worth it. My time in masters is short, less than a year... So far, I haven't felt snubbed by anyone in the organization, officials, organizers or swimmers. it's been a very positive experience.

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 17:32:25 GMT

You guys are great, you almost have me talked into it, if I can work the money and family angle. I am not getting up at 4am and driving over like I did for GRIN. Definately not good for swimming. Just have to pick 3 events to get times in and go from there!

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 16:13:58 GMT

I 100 % agree with Ken... I swam in four Nationals (2 SCY-2 LCM)....and everyone was great and supportive. From the slow to the fast and everywhere in between, every swimmer was very nice. Each National was a memorable experience….very memorable…..

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 16:10:13 GMT

Pretty cool Dominick. I watched a young lady with one leg set a 100 back record last summer in Chicago for disability games. They stopped the meet and made an announcement honoring her. She was really fast too. I think when I get to your age it will be easier to compete, not as many family obligations. From what I have seen, chlorine seems to be a very good perservative, so I intend to keep swimming as long as I can!!

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 15:48:10 GMT

Well, I guess there are two ways to look at this. Are you a big fish in a little pond, uh pool, or a little fish in a big pool? I'm slow compared to NQT, but in my home pool I'm faster than any woman my age. LOL... because there is no other woman my age or older who does more than the elementary backstroke. But, you know what? I enjoy that... I get a lot of attention and encouragement from everyone. When one of the guards/senior boy on the swim team, makes statements like "your breaststroke is as good as mine," or "your free is looking great," or "your fly is REALLY starting to ROCK!" that to me is as good as any blue ribbon or trophy!

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 13:29:03 GMT

One of my posts seemed to disappear last night. Must not of sent it right. Indy is attractive because I can go for a mimimun cost. With children swimming, it is hard to take the time for myself. When you look at past results it does not look like a lot of slow swimmers go, but it is nice to hear that there will be some there, and that it will be a fun time! Now I have to get to a meet to get some times!

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 12:47:17 GMT

All you have to do is drop your hang ups. I will tellyou somthing about my self. Maybe that will help. I was at the last national at A.S.U. in az. I did three swims 1650-500 200 Free. I was in the 65-69 Age. But I am A left leg amputee above the knee. I went out on my crutches. and finished all my events. But what i liked about the nationals, is that no body treat me any different thanany one else. I was just one of the boys or men. I felt great about that . So go out and swim any meet you like , because all masters are gtreat people. Have happy new year and compete. DOM. A

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 12:32:41 GMT

Originally posted by dorothyrd OK, so here is my question. How is it looked upon at Nationals when someone like me shows up to swim? I have to admit, I AM intimidated by these people. Not at regular meets, but Nationals sounds like a whole different animal! That said, I may or may not go. Have not decided, I am close enough it would be easy, I know people who are going, and one 60 year old friend could probably really use my support, so I might go just to be there for her. I do try to just try to improve my own times, my own strokes and try new things. I am looking at doing a 400 IM and 100 fly in my next meet. For someone who could not swim a 25 4 years ago, that is OK!

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

swimr4life — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 10:34:06 GMT

Wow! You are truly an inspiration to us all. Thanks Dominick!

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 07:36:55 GMT

Thanks, folks from Illinois have been great. I would probably only go on Sunday and would be willing to be put on the mixed free relay. For a newbie, my freestlye isn't bad, I do a pretty good job gutting out a 50 sprint. Nadine has been encouraging me to go and it is at a good time of year for me. I am surprised there is no "proof of time" for Nationals. I am used to dealing with USA swimming, and for any meet with qualifying times my son goes to, there better be proof of time for any swim he does not hit the times in. Seems if someone is going to enter a National meet, they should have to prove where they got their time from. Maybe that would scare people away, but if I swim events at Nationals, I will make sure I get a swim in at another meet before then for practice. As far as competing against the fastest swimmers, I can't worry about that, it would be pointless.:) I have swum in a total of 3 meets, and have had a lot of fun at each one. Someday I hope to be able to compete more, when the kids are out and I have more time!

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

mattson — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 01:20:49 GMT

Originally posted by dorothyrd I think Illinois Masters has plenty of people to pick for relays, lots and lots of very fast people, so I doubt if I would be needed for that. Dorothy, people can only pressure you as much as you will let them. If you are truly uncomfortable, then you shouldn't feel obligated to go to Nationals. Having said that, you must go to Nationals! :D Illinois tends to have more male than female swimmers at Nationals. For mixed relays, you are much more valuable than surplus "fast" male swimmers. I can't speak for others, but the only "griping" I did was for people who obviously seeded themselves wrong, either way too fast or way too slow for the heat they were in. You shouldn't worry about competing against the fastest swimmers, you should view it as an opportunity to compete as best you can. There is something liberating about forgetting work for a few days, and just focus on swimming. (And when the meet is over, eating and drinking with teammates. :cool: )

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 17:56:01 GMT

I swim for the health benefits and the stress outlet. That being said, I would get bored if I just swam 3 or four days a week. The competion serves as a goal. I train for specific events and meets which gives me more motivation for practice. I can't make the NQT's in any of my events. What I can do is compete to improve my times or swim a new challenging event like the 400 IM. If I keep swimming and keep a positive outlook on life, I'll make the NQT's when I'm in the 80-84 group. Michael

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 15:53:05 GMT

Originally posted by dorothyrd I just have read some threads on these forums where there is a little bit of griping about Nationals being too big, and it sounded a little like there was some people who would like the times to be more restrictive and not allow non NQT. That is probably a small percentage. From my experience over 20 years in USMS, that represents a very small percentage of the overall USMS membership -- these forums are not necessarily a representative cross-section. I've been to Nationals several times over past 20 years, even though I've never come close to making NQT's. No one's ever given me a hard time over my right to be there. With one exception (who I think was having a bad day and so shall remain nameless) every swimmer, including the "elite," is just as supportive at Nationals as at any local meet. There's no reason to be afraid to go and compete.

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 15:49:56 GMT

Caroline Krattli was an ex-national swimmer at the elite level who now swims in the 40-44 age group. My age group the 45-49 while the times are still slower than the 40-44 there was a big drop in some events. The 100 yard breaststroke use to be 1:27 and moved down to 1:25 and the 200 yard breaststroke use to be 3:12 and went down to 3:08. In my state, there are several women in my age group that are not that bad of swimmers in breaststroke and the other strokes that can't make the times now. I did make two time inm meters but I swim better in meters in my middle years than yards. Also, there is less competition during the meter season. Compared to the general poplation I do swim better than most women my age.

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 15:43:38 GMT

I started swimming at 38 and did it to give me another form of exercise, now at 42 I have competed at a couple of meets, and I agree, the women in this age group and the next are insanely fast. At the GRIN classic I looked down the line of women in my heat and they all seemed 6 foot tall, slim and strong, and my thought was, "Do any of these women have children?" . So yes everytime I feel like I am doing pretty good passing the old lady sidestrokers in the pool I just have to look at the times on this website to know that I have a long way to go, AND will probably never get there. I do think to set those type of times, being an one-time age group swimmer is a must(I know I sound like Ion and he started swimming a whole lot sooner than I). I don't begrudge the times, I just know I will never ever qualify for Nationals. I will probably do a meet here and there for the fun and to give myself a challenge to train for. It is more motivating to swim when you have an event to gear up for.

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 14:15:15 GMT

I have only been swimming 2 years and am dwarfed (in times) by my fellow age-group swimmers (not a stellar performance in the GRIN fall classic)...but still, I'm seriously considering competing in the nationals at Indi this year. I don't have any NQT's and probably won't have at that point since I don't compete much...yet it would be an awesome experience to compete with the "best of the best". If I get there, I plan to swim for me... and if I bomb, so what.....there'll be others just like me there, and I'll take the snubs from the elite with a grain of salt!! Cheers!

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 14:01:48 GMT

when I first came back to swimming this past spring, the motivation was to recover from a cycling accident, and have a replacement for running. Swim meets were going to replace running races. There was one meet that I did, and that has been it. And, I'm back running (praise the Lord!). So, swimming did help me rehab, and was a great substitute. Now I'm training for a half ironman that takes place in August...obviously swimming will be a big piece of it. So, my answer is it has been for both exercise and a little competition. Happy New Year! jerrycat

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 12:42:23 GMT

I know how you feel - I have only been swimming for a year now. My times are way slooooower than the qualifying times recently posted for my age group (30-34). In fact, I don't see how I could ever make a qualifying time. To me, the times seem very fast. I keep reminding myself that the reason I started swimming was not to compete - just to lose weight. I have done that - about 30 pounds. Although it would be nice to get faster! That brings up an interesting question. How many USMS members compete and how many just do it for the exercise? Does anyone know?

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

aquageek — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 12:39:50 GMT

You do not have to have a qualifying time to swim at Nationals. Regardless of your times, taking the time to train and compete at Nationals is the highlight of my year.

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 12:22:25 GMT

I just have read some threads on these forums where there is a little bit of griping about Nationals being too big, and it sounded a little like there was some people who would like the times to be more restrictive and not allow non NQT. That is probably a small percentage. I think Illinois Masters has plenty of people to pick for relays, lots and lots of very fast people, so I doubt if I would be needed for that. Having Nationals so close makes it tempting to attend, even if for one day. I even thought about offering my services to the volunteers just so I could see what it was like. I am very good at running the computers at the age group meets, but they probably have their people all set for that.

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 11:31:46 GMT

Originally posted by dorothyrd I know people who are going, and one 60 year old friend could probably really use my support, so I might go just to be there for her. Before I even started swimming, I wentto several of the meets that my best froend competed in (she's really really good, in the national top 10). By the time I finally started swimming, it was really not a big deal. The only thing I was worried about was that maybe it wasn't my place to go to a meet, being that I was a beginner. After the meet, I realized that even at my slowness (I'm talking a minute for a 50 free in 30-34 age group) I managed to pick up a few points for my team, and that the coach was able to put together couple relays (also picked up points) that most likely would not have existed, I realized that no matter how small my 2c were, it was a tiny bit better better than if I hadn't been there at all. That was encouraging. Importance of little contributions is all too often overlooked.

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 11:02:17 GMT

OK, so here is my question. How is it looked upon at Nationals when someone like me shows up to swim? I have to admit, I AM intimidated by these people. Not at regular meets, but Nationals sounds like a whole different animal! That said, I may or may not go. Have not decided, I am close enough it would be easy, I know people who are going, and one 60 year old friend could probably really use my support, so I might go just to be there for her. I do try to just try to improve my own times, my own strokes and try new things. I am looking at doing a 400 IM and 100 fly in my next meet. For someone who could not swim a 25 4 years ago, that is OK!

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

Former Member — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 09:43:17 GMT

I am a masters swimmer. But I swim 85% for excerise. I also swim 15% competion. But I do not qualify for any of the N Q T , S. But you know what , It does not stop me from competeing. I look at it this way . We all cannot be world champs. Some will go faster and some will go slower. But when you have heart and desire , and no matter how you swim . Then you are a CHAMP. Happy NEW YEAR to All. DOM. A

RE: How bad a swimmer you are?

aquageek — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 07:44:38 GMT

The only way to lose that feeling of intimidation is to train and compete head-to-head with the fast swimmers. Also, there is nothing like a big meet to keep your motivation high. Swimming back and forth 200 laps or so a day gets old without some serious motivation. I think everyone should swim in meets, they are fun and give a real sense of accomplishment, regardless of how you place.