Hey y'all! I'm new to the board--well, I've been lurking, but I finally decided to get an account and post. :)
I'm seriously considering starting to swim masters. I swam competitvely when I was a child, but I quit when I got to be a junior in high school (I'm 30 now). I did some lap swimming off and on through college as most of my jobs involved the pool (life guard, swim instructor, asst pool manager, asst swim coach). In November, I started swimming laps regularly. I try to swim 3x a week--which can be difficult since I work full time and I'm in grad school part time (taking 2 classes)--but I always manage 2x.
Anyway, I was swimming over Christmas break, and that's when I realized how much I miss swimming and miss competing. I have struggled with whether or not I am ready to begin swimming masters yet for almost a month now. At first, I told myself that I wasn't ready because I can't do a 100 fly without wanting to die at the end. I am able to swim 500 yds without stopping. The workouts that I do (ones that I've found online) are between 2,500-3,000 yds, and I swim for about an hour. What kind of yardage should someone who is swimming/practicing be able to swim? How do you know if you are "ready" or not? I definitely don't think that I'm ready for meets yet, but I would like to start practicing with a team.
Thanks for your suggestions!!!
Take care!
Parents
Former Member
Welcome Katie! On the Masters team I swim with we have some standout athletes and some people that swam in their very first meet this year. We have people that are holding 100s under 1:10 and people that are happy to swim 50 yards without stopping (no joke!). If you can swim a 100 fly you are heads above the average Master's swimmer. And coaches no longer "make" you do stuff. There are plenty of people I swim with that substitute another stroke for fly, modify their interval, swim less yardage, etc.
And meets are way fun and not scary. I think pretty much every meet is seeded by time. Which means you are swimming with people that are (or at least in theory should be) at your same speed. I only swam for two years in high school. And now I'm back and I love it! I was out of the pool for like eight years or so. Also I think you'll improve even more if you swim with a team. I know I swim much faster and harder when I swim with my team. Good luck! Keep us updated!
And Mattson - I hear ya'! Bring on that 200 fly!
Welcome Katie! On the Masters team I swim with we have some standout athletes and some people that swam in their very first meet this year. We have people that are holding 100s under 1:10 and people that are happy to swim 50 yards without stopping (no joke!). If you can swim a 100 fly you are heads above the average Master's swimmer. And coaches no longer "make" you do stuff. There are plenty of people I swim with that substitute another stroke for fly, modify their interval, swim less yardage, etc.
And meets are way fun and not scary. I think pretty much every meet is seeded by time. Which means you are swimming with people that are (or at least in theory should be) at your same speed. I only swam for two years in high school. And now I'm back and I love it! I was out of the pool for like eight years or so. Also I think you'll improve even more if you swim with a team. I know I swim much faster and harder when I swim with my team. Good luck! Keep us updated!
And Mattson - I hear ya'! Bring on that 200 fly!
