I am always amused at how often master's swimmers will take individual liberties in workout to suit their own needs. For example:
* Swimming free instead of breaststroke or the stroke prescribed by the coach.
* One handed turns on *** and fly.
* Cutting corners to stay up with the lane
* Using pull gear when it isn't a pull set
* Kicking your favorite kick and not the one given by the coach
* Leaving 2 seconds behind (more like 2 tenths behind)
* Pulling on the lane line
* Swimming when it's a kick set
* etc...
Maybe its all those years of swimming under "do it my way or the highway" type coaches, that I still have a hard time changing anything in the workout. I must admit however that it does feel good once and while to cheat a little.
As a coach, I've asked many swimmers as to why they change the set or cheat and I hear a million different excuses. I'm very interested in hearing from all of you, all the excuses you have or have heard from other swimmers.
Some of my favorite ones are:
* I don't want to get passed!!!
* I hate the other strokes? (from a former IM'r)
* My tri coach say's I shouldn't swim other strokes
I hear the kids talk about the swimmers that "cheat" all the time. Funny it crops up in Masters. When I work out, I do what I can with the work-out, but sometimes it simply is above my ability and I am in the fast lane of my work-out group. It does not bother me if others modify the work-out. On a Friday night when work has been he!! all week, sometimes people just don't have it in them to do the work-out. I feel, we are adults, we can do what we like!
I hear the kids talk about the swimmers that "cheat" all the time. Funny it crops up in Masters. When I work out, I do what I can with the work-out, but sometimes it simply is above my ability and I am in the fast lane of my work-out group. It does not bother me if others modify the work-out. On a Friday night when work has been he!! all week, sometimes people just don't have it in them to do the work-out. I feel, we are adults, we can do what we like!
