Thinking of joining Masters swim team in NYC, have questions!
Former Member
Hello! I just recently moved to NYC.
I've been wanting for a long time to get back into the pool. I swam 5 years in high school. My best stroke was butterfly, decent freestyle sprinter, and not as good of a distance swimmer.
I graduated way back in 93, since then I've swam periodically but without a coach/teammates pushing me I find I have trouble staying focused.
I've been recovering from a back injury sustained in martial arts training so I've pretty much been out of the pool the last year. I've not in very good conditioning right now so I'm going to have to ramp up.
I'm worried about not being able to keep up and/or make it though a practice at first. Would you suggest I swim on my own for a while to build up to a minimum level of conditioning? Or should I just show up at the pool and join a team?
After doing some research looks like two potential places to swim with here in Manhattan: AGUA at Asphalt Green and Red Tide.
Anyone know anything about these two teams and/or have any suggestions for any others?
Thank you so much!
Parents
Former Member
OK -- I'm a member of Red Tide and I swim on my own at Asphalt Green several nights a week (not with the AG team).
Red Tide has about 300 registered members and we work out at two pools in Manhattan (Baruch College and John Jay College). We have members of all ability levels, so you don't need to be concerned about not being ready for the team. (Your high school experience is more than many of new members have.) We have two coaches on deck at all our team practices and one works exclusively with the "less fast" lanes, so you'd get plenty of personal attention. We also have practices seven days a week, two on most days and you can go to as many as you want -- from one a week to all, if you can handle it (or none, if you want).
One thing you should know about Red Tide is that we're a very competition oriented team. We want all members to go to meets (at least two a year). No one cares how you finish -- you can set records or be the slowest swimmer there (I'm living proof of that :p ) -- but we're very serious about participating. But as Sonic Swimmer said, Masters competition is very low key and nothing to be be afraid of. Our web site is at www.redtidenyc.org and our email address is info@redtidenyc.org
I don't know much about Asphalt Green's team, since I'm not a member. But I'm very familiar with their pool. It's fifty meters, usually divided into two 25 yard courses. It's probably the best facility in New York City.
OK -- I'm a member of Red Tide and I swim on my own at Asphalt Green several nights a week (not with the AG team).
Red Tide has about 300 registered members and we work out at two pools in Manhattan (Baruch College and John Jay College). We have members of all ability levels, so you don't need to be concerned about not being ready for the team. (Your high school experience is more than many of new members have.) We have two coaches on deck at all our team practices and one works exclusively with the "less fast" lanes, so you'd get plenty of personal attention. We also have practices seven days a week, two on most days and you can go to as many as you want -- from one a week to all, if you can handle it (or none, if you want).
One thing you should know about Red Tide is that we're a very competition oriented team. We want all members to go to meets (at least two a year). No one cares how you finish -- you can set records or be the slowest swimmer there (I'm living proof of that :p ) -- but we're very serious about participating. But as Sonic Swimmer said, Masters competition is very low key and nothing to be be afraid of. Our web site is at www.redtidenyc.org and our email address is info@redtidenyc.org
I don't know much about Asphalt Green's team, since I'm not a member. But I'm very familiar with their pool. It's fifty meters, usually divided into two 25 yard courses. It's probably the best facility in New York City.
