Time comparison

RE: Time comparison

Former Member — Fri, 12 Mar 2004 16:43:41 GMT

Originally posted by dorothyrd I remember hoping I could go under 40 seconds on the 50 and did 33 with my goggles full of water and an open turn.QUOTE] Try wearing your cap over your goggles. It worked for me 25 years aago and still works today. Paul

RE: Time comparison

Former Member — Fri, 12 Mar 2004 12:36:20 GMT

I swam my very first meet at age 40, and yes I did swim faster in the meet than in practice. For these reasons, in practice, I never push myself to the level of all out speed. So when I got to the meet, the competitive side of me did, and there was a significant decrease in times. I remember hoping I could go under 40 seconds on the 50 and did 33 with my goggles full of water and an open turn. The hundred was in the low 1:20's. Now I am 42 and a veteran of 4 meets :) and am trying longer distances. I also have learned to push myself harder in practice. I tried a 400 IM in a meet last weekend and did 6:53. I was timed in practice off the blocks, going 6:42. Differences, throwing up last Saturday night probably did not help it. The people in my heat were way faster, so no one to try and keep up with to push me. However, my fastest 100 *** in practice was a 1:44 and I went 1:40, and know I can go faster because I was being cautious since I had been sick the night before. BTW, going faster in practice is not restricted to us adult starters. My son has been swimming since age 7, and is now almost 16. There are certain freestyle races(200 and 500) that frustrate him because he has faster repeats in practice than he sometimes swims in meets. He knows he can do the time, and then falls flat at a meet. Eventually the time happens in a meet, because it is there, it just takes patience.

RE: Time comparison

Former Member — Fri, 12 Mar 2004 06:23:37 GMT

I don't doubt that most people swim faster at meets than in practice. But what I am wondering is whether that's true for many new competitive swimmers. If anyone else began racing when they were an adult, I'd be interested in hearing how they made out on this. Bob

RE: Time comparison

Former Member — Thu, 11 Mar 2004 15:39:56 GMT

What I said is true for most people. They swim faster in meets than practice. I never did a 1:34 breaststroke in practice. I was doing at best a 1:48 in 100 yard *** last year in practice and did a 1:43.31 in 100 meters at a meet. But I 46 years old turing 47. So, someone younger than me could do practice times closer to meet times.

RE: Time comparison

Former Member — Thu, 11 Mar 2004 10:01:42 GMT

gee ive never timed my 100s i think i did a 50 in less than 25secs last week but again i never timed ...maybe it was more...WHO KNOWS???Time is illusive in the water..normally i practice distance due to lack of time...hence do as much metrage as i can in an hour!!!!

RE: Time comparison

Former Member — Thu, 11 Mar 2004 09:35:35 GMT

Since I began racing as an adult, I'll chime in here. First, I agree with the other people who have said that you should just go ahead and start racing. You may not be ready to win at this point, but there's a whole process of learning how to race, and if you wait until you're ready to do winning times before you start racing, you still won't be able to win, because you won't have learned how to race. At the same time, you need to realize that most of the people you are racing against won't by any stretch of the imagination be your peers. Age groups in kids' swimming are officially supposed to level the playing field, the argument being that a 9-year-old kid is mature enough physically to be able to compete fairly with a 16-year-old. But my experience suggests that that's about half the story. The other half is that the 16-year-old will swim better because (usually) he/she has been swimming competitively for a longer time. But you are likely to be be up against swimmers in you age group who have been racing literally for decades. So it isn't reasonable to compare your performance to theirs. I should also warn you that, in my experience, what cinc310 says isn't true. I've never turned in as good a time in competition in any stroke as I've done in practice. One of the problems, undoubtedly, is that I've done a lot more practice sets than competition sets, so there's been a lot more opportunity to excell in practice. But there are also a lot of other factors that come into play: racing in an unfamiliar pool, 25y vs. 25m vs. 50m pools, nervousness, having to perform at a particular time on a particular day, only having one shot to get it right, etc. The gap between what I've done in practice and what I've done in competition has been narrowing as I've gained experience, but you shouldn't expect to do better in competition right off the bat. If you do, consider yourself lucky. In my book, there are a number of different ways to "win" a race. One is to come in first, but another is to place higher than you've ever placed before and/or to do a better time than you've ever done before. If you think about things this way, it will give you a tremendous advantage at your first race, since every time you set and every placing you get will be better than you've ever done before. Even if you get DQed, that will still be better than you've ever done before. So you are guaranteed to win! And that's not entirely fictitious. Just by racing, you are already ahead of the vast majority of people, who have never raced. And don't be concerned about what other people are going to think of you. The worst you can do is to take last place or get DQed, and if that happens, there will be at least one person who will be very glad you were there - the person who comes in next-to-last! Consider each race to be a learning experience, and analyze it afterward. What went wrong? What could you have done to have prevented it? What should you do differently next time? Bob

RE: Time comparison

Former Member — Thu, 11 Mar 2004 07:25:28 GMT

Ill be 33 in May Dolphinccc

RE: Time comparison

Former Member — Thu, 11 Mar 2004 07:22:31 GMT

I recently learned that Masters swimming is competitive but fun and camaraderie are the most important elements. I was a competitive swimmer from age 5 to 19 and then stopped swimming completely until a month ago. I was doing 59 secs in 100m LC at the age of 12 now i can barely float (remember Im starting again) but am having the time of my life. My club practices at 5am and I havent missed a practice. im hooked again for the fun and camaraderie and in a distant third is the times. Have fun Dolphinccc

RE: Time comparison

Former Member — Wed, 10 Mar 2004 14:20:06 GMT

I have been swimming regularly for a little over a year now. I am down to a 1:18 for 100 with an in-pool start. I am guessing that if I learned to do a block start maybe I could knock off a couple of seconds. But I am with you - 54 seconds seems like a world away. Oh well, I keep telling myslef that the health benefits are the real reason for swimming.

RE: Time comparison

knelson — Wed, 10 Mar 2004 10:56:04 GMT

Originally posted by the texillectual I really appreciate the responses. 100 yards in 54 seconds! Wow. Forgive me for having a little water in my brain but doesn't that translate to around 13.5 seconds each length? I gotta see it. Does anyone know when the next meet is scheduled in the Portland, OR area? Check out your LMSC web site: http://www.swimoregon.org/ There should be a calendar there with a list of all meets coming up and entry forms for them.

RE: Time comparison

aquageek — Wed, 10 Mar 2004 09:24:46 GMT

Tom is fast. I didn't know that before but I sure do now. You go to a bigger meet and you'll see lots of 54s and lots lower as well. Forget the times, you'll have a great time at a USMS meet. Going to one meet hooks you big time. You'll want to keep going after that. I suspect you'll soon see the 1:00 minute mark if you keep up your practicing.

RE: Time comparison

Former Member — Tue, 09 Mar 2004 16:57:27 GMT

I really appreciate the responses. 100 yards in 54 seconds! Wow. Forgive me for having a little water in my brain but doesn't that translate to around 13.5 seconds each length? I gotta see it. Does anyone know when the next meet is scheduled in the Portland, OR area?

RE: Time comparison

Former Member — Tue, 09 Mar 2004 12:24:37 GMT

Originally posted by knelson Your 1:20 isn't going to be the fastest swim at the meet, but it won't be the slowest either. In short: you'll be fine. Just try it! Kirk Nelson could not have said this any better.... I have swam :54.7 in the 100 SCY Free at 47 years old.......I was happy with that swim...and....their were a slew of guys my age that went close to 50 flat.....and....their were a slew of guys who didn't.... Time is not a good yard stick to measure Masters Swimming...It tells you how fast you went...but it does not tell you how much better you feel, how much gratification you get from simply "Walking into the Arena and giving it a whack." That makes you a winner...Heck, most of America is over weight and out of shape.... swimming USMS makes you a winner just being here....Lastly, try not to compare yourself with others...set individual goals that you want to achieve....and trust me....NO ONE WILL EVER, EVER, look down their nose at you at a USMS meet. I've been swimming USMS for 14-15 years and have never seen that...ever! Go for it...

RE: Time comparison

Former Member — Tue, 09 Mar 2004 10:34:50 GMT

You are talking about a workout time. In a meet you probably could swim between 1:15 to 1:18. Most swimmers swim slower in practice than meets. And if you are repeating at 1:20, you could be at a 1:10 or faster range in a meet. Doing 5 or 10 x 100 yard freestyles means that you are probably swimming 10 seconds or so slower than you would in a meet. In your age group, the beginning male swimmers are close to your speed.

RE: Time comparison

Former Member — Tue, 09 Mar 2004 08:51:11 GMT

The yards or meters is a good question, but really you should go try a masters meet. Since you've just begun, you can set a bench mark time, and improve from there. I started at 38, did my first meet at 40, and it has been fun to see the progression of times, and trying new events. No one at meets really pays attention to others times, it is about the spirit of the event(unless, of course someone really good is swimming, then it is just plain fun to watch!).

RE: Time comparison

knelson — Tue, 09 Mar 2004 06:42:57 GMT

You will be able to "hang" at a Masters meet because, generally, events are seeded with all ages and both sexes swimming together. So, if you enter with a 1:20 time you should be surrounded by others of similar speed, they could be men or women, young or old. As far as how your times compare to others your age? Well, there are guys your age who can swim a 100 yard free in 46 seconds. But don't let that faze you! Most people at Masters meets are there to swim as well as they can and to support others. We all know there are swimmers of widely varying abilities. Your 1:20 isn't going to be the fastest swim at the meet, but it won't be the slowest either. In short: you'll be fine. Just try it!

RE: Time comparison

swimshark — Tue, 09 Mar 2004 03:18:16 GMT

Is this yards or meters? Short course or long course?