Is this for real?

Not sure what you mean about lost time. At 20, as a masters swimmer, you've got a lifetime of fitness and competitions ahead of you. You're starting at a young age and have years to improve your abiliities. Be happy about that. As a 42 year old male swimmer, with lots of hair -except on my head, I chose not to shave at the Nationals in Coral Springs. I'd rather buy a fastkin body suit than spend the time involved in shaving my back, legs, chest, arms, etc. I swam hairy chested and was satisfied with my results. My opinion is not to bother with this until you're at a point, after a few meets, that time imporvements are tapering. Then you may want to consider it. The only time I shaved was at my high shcool county championships 25 years ago. I did notice a frictionless sensation without body hair. Good luck. Will

Better learn to swim before you shave, I am 73 never shaved anything but my knees before they were replaced.

I can only relate using my experiences as a recent new swimmer. I started swimming in June 2005 at 42. I could barely swim a lap (25 yds) of freestyle when I first started. I now can swim all 4 strokes proficiently (not real fast, but legal) and swim roughly 3000-4000 yards 4 times a week. The first time I shaved was at US Masters Nationals in May of this year and cannot imagine any reason to do it prior to swimming in a big meet or at a time accompanied by a taper. Most swimmers get a better "feel" for the water due to the added sensation, but there are many other things to work on prior to worrying about shaving. I may not have enough swimming experience to expertly comment on the need to shave when you start out, but I doubt there is much benefit. The most important thing to my progress was joining a Masters swim team. Swimmers are tremendously supportive and at most clubs very welcoming to new members. Their encouragement and the expertise of a seasoned coach are both priceless. At 20, you haven't lost much time. You might want to comment on what your current abilities and goals are because there are alot of expert long time swimmers browsing this forum that will be able to provide some sage advice. Good luck!

It's good to hear that I'm not jumping into this way too late...I just always feel like I'm at the same stage as a lot of really young kids and feel behind. Well, as far as my abilities are concerned, I'm in about the same boat as Brad was when he started. I can swim freestyle pretty decently, and I can make it about 100 yards at a time, but I'm definitely sucking for air after. I can do backstroke too, except it's still a little disconcerting for me. The other two...forget it. But like I sort of said before, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get good at this. I mean, I don't expect to be Michael Phelps or anything, but I've always wanted to swim competitively, and well enough not to feel like I'm embarrassing myself. Thanks to all who have already posted, and keep 'em coming...I would love all the advice I can get on my original question, and any other wisdom you can share!

Hmm? I have swam in a few meets since I started swimming nearly two years ago and have yet to shave down. I am sure it makes a difference but the hassle does not seem like it would be worthwhile when I am not going for top 10 times or anything. If somebody wanted to shave down for a meet I can certainly understand that but I don't see the need to shave for practice. As a matter of fact, shaving for practice will take away the benefits of doing it before a meet if I am not mistaken. Good luck in your quest for swimming mastery.

Sundevil, That is actually not a bad idea. The shaving down will allow you to have a better sensation of the water. One of my club coaches would recommended we do that at the start of the fall season, after a few weeks off. I always thought it worked for me. More importantly than shaving, find yourself a good coach/master's club and get some books/videos that teach you proper form. There are a wide range of opinions out there on what works and doesn't work. You will have to choose what seems like it will work and try it out for awhile. If you seem to make progress to a point and then stop, try something else. Always keep experminting, you never know what you will learn.

Well, I guess the way I understand it is that I wouldn't continue doing it all the time, so I wouldn't lose the benefits when I compete, especially considering I don't think I'll be ready to compete anytime in the near future. I would just do it for a little while now while I work on mechanics. He thinks that he has a much greater awareness of his movements in the water when shaved, and thinks that that would help me in improving technique.

Save the shave until your big meet for the year. Work on stroke technique when you have hair and after shaving you'll notice a big difference(along with the taper) Enter any meet you can or want to, the more experience the better......plus they are tons of fun!

There is no problem with not doing a flip turn in competition. When I first started back to swimming 2 1/2 years ago I was rehabing my lower back and could not do flip turns for about 4 months. It is also legal to start from in the water instead of the blocks if you need to. You will learn them over time but until then just do what you can. Donna:cool:

Just an added question about my progress...is it reasonable for me to want to compete once before the end of this summer? I'd really like to if I could, but based on my current ability, I'm not sure. Tell me what you think about either one of my questions, or both!