A little back ground first...after 19 years and 4 babies (one 8 weeks ago!!) I have completed my 18th workout and am up to 2500yds a clip..some straight swimming..some intervels. I however, have a lot of weight to lose, in the vacinity of 80 pounds. I feel better than I have in years and am encouraged by my children who all want to beat me! I do want to go to a meet but have two questions....first..how many REALLY over weight swimmers do you see at meets and how long should I wait to go to a meet? I know there is one in ST. Pete Fl in April and was aiming for that...does it seem too far away??
Former Member
A swim meet is a REWARD for working out. Since you are really only competing with yourself, you will be setting new personal bests everytime you swim:D
There are many overweight swimmers at meets. Including me!
But you meet nice people there, have some fun, cheer for others and have them cheer for you.
Why wait? There are probably four or more meets between now and April.
Set small goals that you can make, then work for those goals. You will feel better physically and mentally by swimming.
Tell your children, Bring it ON!!!!!!
I am a part of the overweight crowd. It just shows that there are all kinds of people at all levels who swim in masters. Don't worry about what you look like just go in and do your very best and be proud in what you are doing. Beleive me, I am not about to win any bathing suit contest anytime soon.
Just another thought. Take your children along. They will be your biggest fans and they don't care what you look like. My six year old loves to go and cheer me on. She even does my lap counts for me when I do my 500.
Originally posted by pooch1
first..how many REALLY over weight swimmers do you see at meets and how long should I wait to go to a meet? I know there is one in ST. Pete Fl in April and was aiming for that...does it seem too far away??
Many years ago I was going to several meets in a row. I convinced my wife to go along to one and just watch, if she didn't want to swim. She was intimidated, self conscious. She's a good enough swimmer, but there were some in our pool each morning whom she knew she couldn't keep up with, and she figured that she would embarrass herself at a meet swimming with people "like them."
At the meet there was an elderly woman who was clearly overweight, and she did the 100 backstroke event. She swam in a frilly skirted bathing suit I would expect to see on the beach. it must have taken her about 5 minutes to complete it, but when she did, the whole place cheered for her, and some friends helped her out of the pool, and you could see the joy on her face and the sense of accomplishment. I imagine she had a goal just to finish. Whatever her goal, her reaction showed that she met it, and her support group knew it too.
From that one example my wife realized what masters swimming was all about, and she started attending meets with me. No regrets.
Don't wait, Pooch1. GO for it! At your first meet you will set some baseline times upon which you can work to improve. Keep a scrap book. Save the sheet from the end of the meet that contains the times from the meet. Watch your times drop meet after meet. You will not regret it.
In 1997-1998, I had 7 operations. I had my colon removed & my bum "redesigned" I was exteremly self-conscious of hte scar on my stomach. I swam wiht a t-shirt while I had an illeostomy bag. Now I swim with out the shirt & am doing some competitons. It is really great to race. I'm much slower than I used to be but alive.
Thank you for the kind words...I was afraid that everyone was going to be very fit at the meets. Maybe I can surprise them by being big and still being able to swim? I will see if there is anything between now and then...all I seemed to find was short course meters...I may have to try that instead of waiting for the short course yards....This forum is great and I look forward to all of the great information that ya'll share. Thank you again!
Kristen
