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Check out the long distance calendar on the USMS site: www.usms.org/.../ldcalendar.htm

Hi Elizabeth, Definitely check out the long distance calendar at USMS web site. But here is some general info..... longest distance races at Master's swim meets are the 1000 and 1650 (short course yards ) and 800 and 1500 (long or short course meters). It is often difficult to find a meet which will offer both long distance races unless it is a national or regional championship. Often, you must choose one or the other even when they are offered as they run them on the same day! (This needs to be changed). Postal swims are really where the distance events are offered. You do this at a local pool and send in the splits/entry to the host team which breaks them into age groups by distance or time. These include the Hour Swim, 3000/6000 yd, 5k/10k meters, plus a few others. These are good ways to rank yourself nationally against other swimmers your own age. And it gives you a benchmark to measure your improvement by each year. And finally there are the Open Water Swims which vary in distances from 1/2 mile up to 25K swims and are in various lakes, bays and oceans regionally. USMS has several national championship open water swims which they try to spread out nationally. Hope this helps! Website has all this info on it and some open water swims may be listed in the regional websites for your area. (Good luck and congrats on getting back into it). sharon

Open water is what fascinates me... I think for now what I'll need to do is get out to the Y, and start training... I remember enough from High School to work on my own, and I'll look into masters after a few years of training... Any recommendations on when a person is ready for masters? I have a lot of rebuilding to do... first of all, though I've lost 55 pounds so far this year, I'm still overweight and have to keep going on weight loss, I also have weight induced asthma, and I am now a 1 week old ex-smoker.. Smoked for 15 years and decided to quit to get back into swimming.. so my lungs are pretty messy right now... so I've got a lot of work ahead of me and I don't want to jump right in and think "I can compete" cuz I know better than that... I think my biggest concern really is that I was average in school for swimming, I couldn't tell you what my times were or anything... our coach only focused on the ones she felt could get our team to win which meant she focused on 2 people who I certainly wonder now if they made the olympics, one girl in every meet would win atleast 8 events... simply amazing swimmer) anyway, I was average and I do worse when competing... hence why I don't think I would do well with short distance as I do with long distances... even as a smoker and weight induced asthma, I could still swim 2 miles out to the ocean and 2 miles back which I did on my honeymoon... I was slow, but I did it. ROFL... imagine with training and not smoking... that's more of what I'm hoping for. Anyway, I'm going to keep reading and researching... Thanks for the advice guys, Love, Elizabeth

Elizabeth, Wow, I'm impressed by your resolve to get on a healthy lifestyle routine! I have no doubt that you can do it and swimming is going to "light the fire". By all means, do not wait to join a Master's team. There are all levels from super competitive to people just like you. You will be inspired by your team mates, have some coaching and will make great new friends. Anyway, it sounds like you are no beginner anyway! So, absolutely do not wait 2 years to join a team! Do it soon.....Good luck and maybe I'll see you out there in the middle of a nice lake one day? Sharon

Sharon, Thank you for your encouragement!! Every time I want to smoke, I keep thinking about being in the water and it's working wonderfully.. so are you an open water swimmer? ( you said maybe you'll see me in a lake some time) :) What's it like.. do you only compete in your area or do you go all over? and I am sorry, but I have to ask the obligatory question... in oceans, what do they do about the fishies with big teeth. :) Elizabeth

OK, please, someone tell me if I'm wrong. is it harder to swim in a lap pool than in open water because it seems like it is to me. I grimaced the minute I heard "few incidents with jelly fish" OUCH!!!!! I've been lucky to avoid them the few times I saw them.. I don't get to the ocean much being I live in the midwest. Well, I swam tonight. First lap swimming I've done since 1992!!!! and first time I've swam since our honeymoon in 2003. Oh my I am in very very bad shape... I didn't make it to 50 meters before I couldn't catch my breath. I had to stop and rest every 50 meters so that I could start again, and I only did 400 meters tonight... Funny thing, I immedietly tried to "push" myself when I'm in a lap pool rather than taking my time like I do in open water... there was no "slow" lane, just med. and fast, but noone was in the fast lane so I asked her if I could use it as a slow lane until someone showed up, and I ended up swimming faster than I had been intending. That, and a friend of mine came with, and I instantly wanted to be 15 years old again with non-smoker lungs who could just keep going. ROFL... I'll learn... one of these days. I was REALLY disappointed that there are no starting blocks here let alone a diving board. ( For some reason, I wanted to see if I could still do a back dive or if I'd just land on my back, even though I'm pretty sure it would be the latter of the two, but it sounded like fun anyway.. ahahahahaa) Oh, and I got the flyer for the masters program out here. They're called W.I.M.P.S. I think I will be giving them a call. They say to start right away too but with how I felt after my pissy 400 meters, I'm still not sure it's the greatest idea. :) But I could atleast call and see if they'd take me. :) Anybody got a spare lung they can swap? Sincerely, Wheezy. :)

Oh PS Sharon! My friend who came with me tonight had gotten speedo goggles a year back and lent them to me, they were perfect, no fog, no water! So she's letting me use those till I can find a pair for me like them. I will officially join the Y on the 9th ( payday) so I have to wait a week before I can start practicing daily or every other day ( preferably daily)

Hi Elizabeth, Yes, I have swum many open water races since I joined Masters. First, out in the SF Bay area as they have a series of open water lake and bay swims and now ocean swims here in Florida. Gotta admit to liking the lake swims best. While I have never had any close ocean encounters with big fishies with teeth - the thought has crossed my mind and limits me to mostly pool training. I have had a few jelly fish incidents! I just like the fresh water and will take my chances with trout and bass! To be honest, I find the most dangerous part of open water swimming to be the start! It's often a mass of tangled swimmers and it's hard to avoid getting kicked or swam on top of. This alleviates itself once the pack has spread out. Best advice to newbies doing their first open water swim - stay towards the back of pack or out on the sides to avoid the pile up at the start. Oh, and be sure your goggles fit well and don't fog up! If you can't sight the buoys or some other landmarks along the way - you will swim off course and probably add a lot of unneccessary time and effort. I've lost many places in ow swims to ill fitting goggles that made me constantly stop to empty out water or defog! You want to swim the most direct route you can! Sharon

well, it'll have to be 500 meters on Next wednesday because I can't join the Y till then. HA.. but you better believe I will be there at 5:20 sharp ( which is the fastest I can drive after work without getting in trouble. :) I figured out why I swam and swam and swam all day in the ocean and swam distance but couldn't do it in the lap pool... it's the snorkel... I was breathing regularly through it... So apparently I need some MAJOR work on breathing during laps which doesn't surprise me because I would start losing my breath after 3-4 laps and be physically exhausted during swim meets back in high school... Any suggestions? You've been so helpful Sharon, I really appreciate it!

Elizabeth, Baby steps. 400 today, 500 tomorrow, 1000 in a month. You will build up and feel better. And, yes, by all means call the master's program. If anything, it will make you feel better about your abilities and can give you goals to achieve. I did not go near a pool for over 10 years after college and now I have withdrawal if I miss two days in a row! You'll be surprised how fast your competitive drive comes back. Sounds like you had a small dose of that in the lap pool last night! That's good. As I said before, your fellow swimmers will inspire you. So, make that call and join that Y. Sharon ps - In response to your question - no, I do not find lap swimming more difficult than open water. Open water always has curves it throws you - currents, waves, water temp, no lane lines, etc. Lap swimming is pretty consistent unless you constantly have to swim around loafers and waders.