This is something I have been wondering about for a while. To the swimmers that are REALLY Fast, like top 10 national times...were you always fast or did it come later in life? If it came later, how did you get so fast, was it great coaching or just working hard on your own. I was thinking about this because many people are born fast runners ( I am not one of them )I was wondering if swimming is sort of the same. Thanks
Don't despair. You can be a late bloomer. Like many sports, for some, swimming comes effortlessly. But talent cannot replace hard work and good coaching entirely. I was pretty fast when I was young, but was only ranked as a young age grouper and was not in the Top 10 as I grew older and through college. I was competitive, had a nice career, but wasn't going to the Olympics. I stopped swimming for 25 years after burnout and family and what not and just went back 14 months ago. Because I had always stayed in reasonable shape during my life, I'm now in the Top 10 in lots of events as a 45 year old. But I think it really helped me to have a great coach the first 10 months or so who straightened out all the kinks in my strokes. I'm a real believer in proper technique and drilling. It's especially helped my butterfly and freestyle, which was very old school. Once you have an efficient technique, you can ramp up the yardage a bit, although overtraining isn't really necessary unless you want to do lots of long, open water events. I only train about 10-15,000 yards a week max. I train some on my own and some with a team, but I really think it helps to join a masters team and have people motivate you in practice. Strenghtening the old core helps too. There are a couple other people on my team who didn't swim in college that have logged some Top 10 times. Good luck! Leslie
Don't despair. You can be a late bloomer. Like many sports, for some, swimming comes effortlessly. But talent cannot replace hard work and good coaching entirely. I was pretty fast when I was young, but was only ranked as a young age grouper and was not in the Top 10 as I grew older and through college. I was competitive, had a nice career, but wasn't going to the Olympics. I stopped swimming for 25 years after burnout and family and what not and just went back 14 months ago. Because I had always stayed in reasonable shape during my life, I'm now in the Top 10 in lots of events as a 45 year old. But I think it really helped me to have a great coach the first 10 months or so who straightened out all the kinks in my strokes. I'm a real believer in proper technique and drilling. It's especially helped my butterfly and freestyle, which was very old school. Once you have an efficient technique, you can ramp up the yardage a bit, although overtraining isn't really necessary unless you want to do lots of long, open water events. I only train about 10-15,000 yards a week max. I train some on my own and some with a team, but I really think it helps to join a masters team and have people motivate you in practice. Strenghtening the old core helps too. There are a couple other people on my team who didn't swim in college that have logged some Top 10 times. Good luck! Leslie
