Does anyone know a woman who was able to swim at their top form after she had a child? In running, Marion Jones was able to come back in international form after giving birth. I was just wondering if swimmers are able to do this yet. This woman doesn't have to be an Internationally ranked swimmer as well.
I was thinking about this after a girl I knew was going to go under 5 minutes in the 500 free but she got pregnant in high school and she never got back to her top form. Where else could I ask this question than the USMS discussion board.
Originally posted by USMSarah
this could be a totally stupid question....
how "hard" could a woman who is "with child" actually practice? i haven't had kids yet... someday we will... but i was just wondering... when i am pregnant someday... how much can i swim in the pool?
S.
Good question! I am currently over 5 months pregnant. I have tried to continue to swim through the whole pregnancy but due to weight loss that my doctor didn't like, I was put on restrictions. First 3 hours a week, then 1 hour a week, now I'm finally back up to 2 hours a week (yea). This is a huge drop from my 4.5 hours a week I was doing as late as August. I competed at LC Nationals while pregnant and did personal bests in 3 out of my 5 events. I was only slightly off on the other 2.
In practice now I try to swim at 90% most of the time with small breaks to let my heart rate come down a bit. I do watch my heart rate, though. After all the time out of the water recently, I am only a few seconds off my pre-pregnancy 100 free time in practice. So, pregnant women can practice very close to top form while pregnant, with doctor's okay.
We did have a swimmer who was back in practice 6 days after giving birth. She swam the entire 9 months and competed only a few months after giving birth. It can be done.
Originally posted by USMSarah
this could be a totally stupid question....
how "hard" could a woman who is "with child" actually practice? i haven't had kids yet... someday we will... but i was just wondering... when i am pregnant someday... how much can i swim in the pool?
S.
Good question! I am currently over 5 months pregnant. I have tried to continue to swim through the whole pregnancy but due to weight loss that my doctor didn't like, I was put on restrictions. First 3 hours a week, then 1 hour a week, now I'm finally back up to 2 hours a week (yea). This is a huge drop from my 4.5 hours a week I was doing as late as August. I competed at LC Nationals while pregnant and did personal bests in 3 out of my 5 events. I was only slightly off on the other 2.
In practice now I try to swim at 90% most of the time with small breaks to let my heart rate come down a bit. I do watch my heart rate, though. After all the time out of the water recently, I am only a few seconds off my pre-pregnancy 100 free time in practice. So, pregnant women can practice very close to top form while pregnant, with doctor's okay.
We did have a swimmer who was back in practice 6 days after giving birth. She swam the entire 9 months and competed only a few months after giving birth. It can be done.
