With all the super fast times being slung around on this board, I have to wonder how long it took people to get there.
If you are a reborn swimmer, how long did it take you to get close (within say 5 seconds on a 100, 2-3 seconds on a 50) to your previous best times?
Did it take two a day or 2 hour a day swimming to get close to college/age group times again? Or is it just a matter of remembering how to swim fast and being dedicated with the time you do have?
Any advice for those re-joining the swimming ranks and are excited to compete but still stuck waaay behind former best times (like 20 seconds in a 100 and 8 seconds in a 50) and getting depressed coming in last in their age group?
I think much depends on how long you took off and how active you stayed druing the "break". I've seen a lot of former college swimmers come back and within a year or two are swimming VERY fast....but even though they may not have competed for 5, 10+ years they still got "wet" and kept active.....and didn't get fat!
My advice is don't focus on getting all back fast......there is an entirely differant group I see try to make a comeback who are super motivated, training 2x a day....and are either injured or burned out and gone in 6-12 months.
If you can focus on short term goals of simply learning to love to swim again and having fun.....you'll stay around longer and most likely start to see results in 12-18 months.
I think much depends on how long you took off and how active you stayed druing the "break". I've seen a lot of former college swimmers come back and within a year or two are swimming VERY fast....but even though they may not have competed for 5, 10+ years they still got "wet" and kept active.....and didn't get fat!
My advice is don't focus on getting all back fast......there is an entirely differant group I see try to make a comeback who are super motivated, training 2x a day....and are either injured or burned out and gone in 6-12 months.
If you can focus on short term goals of simply learning to love to swim again and having fun.....you'll stay around longer and most likely start to see results in 12-18 months.
