November marks 3 months that I have been swimming now. I have been swimming an average of 5 times a week and have just recently got my 800 yd. free down to 16 minutes and my mile down to 45 minutes. My question is how long should it take me to get my miles down to 30-35 minutes and my 800 down to about 10? I was involved in zero physical activity before I started swimming so my cardiovascular health was not at its peak. When I started I was doing good if I could swim 400 yards in 45 minutes. Perhaps I am being overeager or impatient but what sort of timeline should I set for the goals I mentioned above? If it matters I am 30 years old, stand rougly 6 feet tall and weigh about 165. This swimmer carries no extra bulk!! BTW, all of my swimming is done in regular boxer type swim trunks with pockets. When I switch to a jammer or brief will I notice a big difference in drag? I feel a lot of drag when doing my pushoffs especially. Thanks for any input.
Parents
Former Member
No problem.....I hope it all works out for you (and I am sure it will as long as you keep doing what you're doing)....As far as the distance thing goes....My Masters coach just refers to "The Mile" as 32 laps....I never really stopped to question it??....So I didn't realize that other people swim further than that....I guess for 35 laps you would have to add a couple of minutes to my time (so more like 23 minutes the last time I timed myself)....Anyway, as far as drag goes, It's like I mentioned before in my last posting, ....For some reason my shorts don't seem to create that much drag (or at least I am not feeling much drag) even though they have pockets.....My body position feels just fine in the water and my stroke mechanics feel very smooth. I think that you have to go with the philosophy that "Not All Swim Trunks Are Created Equal" ...at least when it comes to drag.....Knelson said that a little drag is o.k. ....Well that's what I reported about my trunks so I'm not sure why he disagrees with me? Maybe he disagrees with my philosophy of obtaining a sensation similar to shaving down when I switch to jammers for competition? My old high school coach had us workout in swim trunks for this same reason (but without pockets)....He also had us wear panty hose in practice during the two to three weeks or so between or regional swim meet (where you qualify for state) and our state championship b/c many of us had to shave down in order to qualify for state at regionals (you had to finish in the top 2 places at regionals to qualify for state in an individual event and we swam in one of the fastest regionals in Texas)....The panty hose were used to dullen the "shaved down" sensation while you were working out prior to state so that when state rolled around you could get that same feeling again after the second shave in a couple of weeks span. My coach must have known something b/c we won the Texas High School State Championships (5-A) 3 of the 4 years that I was in High School and we were ranked third nationally my senior year by Swimming World Magazine (1983...Clear Lake High School in Houston Texas).
newmastersswimmer
No problem.....I hope it all works out for you (and I am sure it will as long as you keep doing what you're doing)....As far as the distance thing goes....My Masters coach just refers to "The Mile" as 32 laps....I never really stopped to question it??....So I didn't realize that other people swim further than that....I guess for 35 laps you would have to add a couple of minutes to my time (so more like 23 minutes the last time I timed myself)....Anyway, as far as drag goes, It's like I mentioned before in my last posting, ....For some reason my shorts don't seem to create that much drag (or at least I am not feeling much drag) even though they have pockets.....My body position feels just fine in the water and my stroke mechanics feel very smooth. I think that you have to go with the philosophy that "Not All Swim Trunks Are Created Equal" ...at least when it comes to drag.....Knelson said that a little drag is o.k. ....Well that's what I reported about my trunks so I'm not sure why he disagrees with me? Maybe he disagrees with my philosophy of obtaining a sensation similar to shaving down when I switch to jammers for competition? My old high school coach had us workout in swim trunks for this same reason (but without pockets)....He also had us wear panty hose in practice during the two to three weeks or so between or regional swim meet (where you qualify for state) and our state championship b/c many of us had to shave down in order to qualify for state at regionals (you had to finish in the top 2 places at regionals to qualify for state in an individual event and we swam in one of the fastest regionals in Texas)....The panty hose were used to dullen the "shaved down" sensation while you were working out prior to state so that when state rolled around you could get that same feeling again after the second shave in a couple of weeks span. My coach must have known something b/c we won the Texas High School State Championships (5-A) 3 of the 4 years that I was in High School and we were ranked third nationally my senior year by Swimming World Magazine (1983...Clear Lake High School in Houston Texas).
newmastersswimmer
