Pl turned swimmer?

RE: Pl turned swimmer?

Former Member — Fri, 01 Oct 2004 07:38:21 GMT

Originally posted by danimal I guess what else I should ask, if how long are rest sets generally? If in a straight set, where you are supposed to swim something in 2:00, but you swim it in 1:45, you get a 15 second rest right? Is this common for all types of swimming. I would think that keeping good form is quite hard while swimming at a fast interval for a long while. BTW: Last night was firggin awesome! It felt so good to be back to the water. I swam some frestyle, back stroke, butterfly(my favorite), and *** stroke, my least favorite :) Im not sure of the ammounts of lanes swam, but it was good ammount that I got in during the time of about one hour. If you're just getting back into swimming after a multi-year layoff, don't worry so much about times and intervals and rests. Just work at getting a feel for the water. Find what is comfortable. Work at increasing your distances (100 yards, then 150 then 200) while holding whatever amount of rest you need to be able to do the next repetition. Eventually you'll settle into whatever is "you", and THEN you can start trying to shave time, shorten rests, etc. I believe that too many people bite off too much up front, and then either they hurt themselves or they don't find any joy in it at all and quit.

RE: Pl turned swimmer?

swimshark — Wed, 29 Sep 2004 11:03:33 GMT

Originally posted by danimal in the meantime, until I can find a coach at the Y, Danimal, where in Washington State are you? There are a lot of very good teams for you to chose from in Washington.

RE: Pl turned swimmer?

Former Member — Wed, 29 Sep 2004 10:59:20 GMT

I guess what else I should ask, if how long are rest sets generally? If in a straight set, where you are supposed to swim something in 2:00, but you swim it in 1:45, you get a 15 second rest right? Is this common for all types of swimming. I would think that keeping good form is quite hard while swimming at a fast interval for a long while. BTW: Last night was firggin awesome! It felt so good to be back to the water. I swam some frestyle, back stroke, butterfly(my favorite), and *** stroke, my least favorite :) Im not sure of the ammounts of lanes swam, but it was good ammount that I got in during the time of about one hour.

RE: Pl turned swimmer?

Former Member — Wed, 29 Sep 2004 10:38:46 GMT

north west washington state, Tacoma to be exact. I have a license, so driving places isnt out of the question. I was thinking of joining the Stadium Highschool or Wilson Highschool team, but am unsure in general about which has better coaching etc.

RE: Pl turned swimmer?

Rob Copeland — Wed, 29 Sep 2004 07:58:51 GMT

Yes, doing the posted workouts are a good start! And as recommended by Bill Volckening of the USMS Fitness Committee; you may want to check out the "Getting Started" page in the Fitness section of the USMS web site: www.usms.org/.../gettingstarted.shtml

RE: Pl turned swimmer?

Former Member — Tue, 28 Sep 2004 14:06:36 GMT

If you are swimming alone work on distance primarily don't try to match the hard workouts until you get the feel of the water. May be good to vary the strokes see how far you can swim in one or two hours. George

RE: Pl turned swimmer?

Former Member — Tue, 28 Sep 2004 14:01:21 GMT

in the meantime, until I can find a coach at the Y, would it be good to follow something similiar to what is demonstrated by Mo Chambers or Jeremy Kipp? My reason for asking, is that I will be heading off to my first session in alittle under an hour, and I havent yet decided how my workout should go. Maybe I should do some volume with some different strokes for now. Im not sure, what my best stroke is yet, because I havent swam in a long while.

RE: Pl turned swimmer?

Former Member — Tue, 28 Sep 2004 13:23:40 GMT

Don't worry about shaving the body until you are top 10 in the world. At the level you are at now it won't make that much difference. My friend Dennis Matuch had a lot of hair all over his body and he was one of the top marathon swimmers in the world. George Park www.swimdownhill.com

RE: Pl turned swimmer?

Former Member — Tue, 28 Sep 2004 13:00:23 GMT

one last question, you guys may get asked this all the time, but, how important is it to shave the body? Does it really remove alot of time from your swims? I do not in any way mean this in an anti shave way, I am just curious. -Danimal

RE: Pl turned swimmer?

Rob Copeland — Tue, 28 Sep 2004 09:31:01 GMT

Last things first. Typically, guys shave only for major competitions, such as nationals, and this goes deeper than the top 10 in the world. . And you will find many who never shave at all. It is more an issue of personal preference and suit selection. To your first post, go ahead and join! No time like the present! The main obstacle for someone transitioning from power lifting to swimming will be gaining needed flexibility. Your coach should be able to provi9de you with some swimming focused stretching to improve your swimming. Also, keep lifting; strength is an important component to speed.