Hi all...
I'm just getting started with this whole serious swimming thing, and at 20 I'm trying to make up for lost time.
A friend of mine who was an excellent swimmer in high school is sort of coaching me now, although I'm a little skeptical about some of his advice. He suggests that I shave down like a competition swimmer in order to achieve a "better feel" for the water while I'm improving my technique. Is there any truth to this, and is there any other reason I should consider doing it? I'm obviously not anywhere near ready for competition, but I want to do whatever I can to learn quickly.
Any advice on this, and any other advice for a late starter would be really appreciated!
Parents
Former Member
Originally posted by sundevil86
Is it a big problem that I can't flip turn? Would I be the only one not doing it at a meet, or is it required to finish legally? Answers to all questions and others I haven't asked yet would be awesome!
I think I’ve seen every legal start, stroke variation, and finish possible under USMS rules at meets I’ve attended. Properly executed grab turns are perfectly all right.
Other than maybe nationals or worlds, there is no minimum speed requirement at a sanctioned USMS meet. If you have any desire to attend meets, by all means enter the first one that is most convenient to you. Every meet you attend is going to teach you something new, so you may as well start now. You will then also have more timed results available to you to track your progress.
You can start, swim, and finish anyway you want... as long as it is legal. Do yourself a favor, and read up on the official rules yourself so you don’t get burned. I can’t imagine anything worse than putting months, or even years, of practice in for an event only to get DQ’d (disqualified) for some silly mistake.
USMS rules index page:
http://www.usms.org/rules/
Swimming rules:
www.usms.org/.../part1.pdf
Fortunately I’ve never had a DQ, but I’ve seen it happen. And some of them were not very pretty.
Originally posted by sundevil86
Is it a big problem that I can't flip turn? Would I be the only one not doing it at a meet, or is it required to finish legally? Answers to all questions and others I haven't asked yet would be awesome!
I think I’ve seen every legal start, stroke variation, and finish possible under USMS rules at meets I’ve attended. Properly executed grab turns are perfectly all right.
Other than maybe nationals or worlds, there is no minimum speed requirement at a sanctioned USMS meet. If you have any desire to attend meets, by all means enter the first one that is most convenient to you. Every meet you attend is going to teach you something new, so you may as well start now. You will then also have more timed results available to you to track your progress.
You can start, swim, and finish anyway you want... as long as it is legal. Do yourself a favor, and read up on the official rules yourself so you don’t get burned. I can’t imagine anything worse than putting months, or even years, of practice in for an event only to get DQ’d (disqualified) for some silly mistake.
USMS rules index page:
http://www.usms.org/rules/
Swimming rules:
www.usms.org/.../part1.pdf
Fortunately I’ve never had a DQ, but I’ve seen it happen. And some of them were not very pretty.
