What do you think of total immersion?

Still not able to commit to the 50m race.

Originally posted by geochuck Still not able to commit to the 50m race. At Stanford I won't be doing an individual 50 free. I am not a sprinter. The 29.60 in 50 meter free Long Course that I did in 2005 is in a database I can show. There is none of yours.

May be an open water swim as I will have trouble with turns it took me 1.5 years before I was able to push off on a turn after the first knee op.

Originally posted by scyfreestyler I would argue that this is an oversimplification. 99% of athletics revolves around physiology in some way, shape, or form. Under that heading are many differences that contribute to a persons success or failure. That is why I suggest that this might be an oversimplification. I am also uncertain how the word integrity fits into the second portion of that sentence. What exactly are you trying to say? Overtraining is when you train so hard that your body is unable to regenrate quickly enough to keep up with the demand being placed upon it. It can cause poor training results and would most certainly not classify as a shortcut. By physiology in swimming I mean mitochondria (that makes one's VO2Max) -best developed in life in a certain teenage age span, when the body grows while swimming-, I mean Human Growth Hormone -that teenagers have in abundance and declines later on-. By integrity, I mean that the age group workouts -threshold, VO2Max, kicking with a board- they apply the same to adults. It's harder in adults when the hormones decline, but the physics of swimming are the same for teenagers and adults. I was tired at the 2005 Long Curse Nationals, I saw overtraining.

May be wrong spot but there is a little discription of my first marathon swim at age 30 and my stroke at waterlevel as seen through another swimmer, www.acswim.org/.../JoeGrossmanBookChap21Excerpt.htm

Last time I raced 1998 after not racing since I retired from Marathon swimming 25 years ago, although I have kept up on technique and have been teaching others to swim. I spent 3 years in Yellowknife NWT no pool and 5 years working on an Indian reserve working with teens in crisis, no pool in the town. Only swimming on holidays. If you need a data base to create times to prove yourself, I don't need it. I know what I can do and have done. I even tried to get results from all of my races but the data base does not exist. Not many computers around when I raced. But I will be glad to swim against any body. If you ever get a chance ask Graham what I did to John Hendricks at the 54 Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, he was there. In 52 sick did not make the team. Started training in Feb 1955 after a long layoff 1955 April 16th Pan Am Games I came second was sun burnt and blood was gushing from my shoulders. I beat Scholes a few weeks later, can't find the results in a data base the race was in Cayuhoga Falls Ohio. At the 56 Olympics sick and had a problem with the turn 17th qualifier. Raced those same guys in the fina meet cannot find the data base on the race the result for me was good. I swam for North America in that meet. The Hungarian water polo Olympic championship team came to Canada. We beat them an amazing score 26 for our team 25 for the Hungarian team. My brother Bob scored the winning goal. 57 and 58 no racing til 1958 Commonwealth games, broke my ankle had it tapped did not qualify for the final. After that I played water polo through those years. Did not train for swimming just waterpolo but entered races of 100 meters or yards fly and free. I raced against all kinds of world record holders and won and lost agaist them. No data base to check. Beat guys like Carl Wooley, *** Hanley, McIntyre. Even raced against Jeff Farrell. Started Marathon swimming and it was not necessarily to be the World Champion I needed money for my large family, and I made as much as the world Champion did. I ran swimming schools also from 1964 until 1978 when I moved to western Canada. I now teach all over but only give private clinics . We leave for Mexico swim clinics soon. I am opening an Infinite pool 10.5' x 20.5' next to a six rink skating facility, the pool is a swim in place pool. It will open in time for when I get back from Mexico. I have a 2 week clinic in Belgium in August. Knock me all you want. I love it since you have been making noise I have booked 3 $2000 private clinics.

Originally posted by Ion Beza By physiology in swimming I mean mitochondria (that makes one's VO2Max) -best developed in life in a certain teenage age span, when the body grows while swimming-, I mean Human Growth Hormone -that teenagers have in abundance and declines later on-. By integrity, I mean that the age group workouts -threshold, VO2Max, kicking with a board- they apply the same to adults. It's harder in adults when the hormones decline, but the physics of swimming are the same for teenagers and adults. I was tired at the 2005 Long Curse Nationals, I saw overtraining. I don't recall that the development of mitochondria are inhibited with age. It seems to me that they multiply when there is demand and they decrease in number as the demand decreases. Either way, mitochondria and the resulting ATP molecules are imperative to succesful swimming at high levels. So you understand the concept of overtraining. Good. My opinion is that training at or near the overtraining threshold is not a healthy thing. It might get you the best times in the pool or on a track but I don't think that this method is conducive to making swimming a lifelong sport. I can only speak for myself but to me, swimming is about staying in shape, some friendly competition, and self-improvement. I am healthy, I win some races and lose some races, and my times are getting better slowly. I am not pushing myself excessively and my workouts are brief by your standards. However, it makes me happy and in the end, that is what is important. A top ten time is probably not in my future but I don't care, that is not my goal. There's no money in it! My biggest successes are in terms of family, friends, and career.

Originally posted by gull80 but I'm picking up mixed messages here regarding the role of TI in competitive swimming. Terry wrote, Have I not made it clear enough that our goal is not to coach or produce elite swimmers, but to guide "just folks" to greater efficiency." By defining elite, the confusion may be eliminated. Terry, could you amplify what you mean by "spearing." I spend a lot of time working out at a gym and I see this kind of swimming. Swimmers often ask me if I think they are doing right. I have no answer because I am unsure what they are trying to accomplish (in respects to their stroke) with that kind of entry.

Originally posted by lefty Terry wrote, Have I not made it clear enough that our goal is not to coach or produce elite swimmers, but to guide "just folks" to greater efficiency." By defining elite, the confusion may be eliminated. Terry, could you amplify what you mean by "spearing." I spend a lot of time working out at a gym and I see this kind of swimming. Swimmers often ask me if I think they are doing right. I have no answer because I am unsure what they are trying to accomplish (in respects to their stroke) with that kind of entry. The last part of your entry is great. Two days ago, a woman said that she wished she could swim the mile faster. I asked her why she wanted that as a goal. she said it was so that she didn't feel like she was a slow swimmer. I think many times, I'm told by people that they wished they could swim as well as I can. Yet I'm not that fast. It is so important to remember what are specific goals.

Originally posted by craiglll@yahoo.com The last part of your entry is great. Two days ago, a woman said that she wished she could swim the mile faster. I asked her why she wanted that as a goal. she said it was so that she didn't feel like she was a slow swimmer. I think many times, I'm told by people that they wished they could swim as well as I can. Yet I'm not that fast. It is so important to remember what are specific goals. I think that most Masters swimmers would fall under the category of not wanting to be the slowest, but not really concerned about being the fastest either.