Dara Torres-Amazing

I would actually disagree about masters athletes and how they train. I travel all over the US and train with dozens of teams each year and there is one single constant; the majority of competitive masters swimmers overtrain and focus to much time on volumne and not enough in quality race prep training.. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I hear "I'm trying to get into shape" or "I can't go to a meet until I get a base". What Dara is doing and teams like The Race Club as well as a few others in masters swimming is recognizing that time spent in the water should be high quality, race pace and a focus on perfect technique...aerobic base training is better attained thru things like spin classes. Chris Carmichael was recently interviewed and said the biggest mistake recreational athletes with limited time do is low level aerobic work...given limited time he recommends extremely high intensity practice....try telling that to the soccer mom/dad you see on the elliptical at the gym every morning with the level set at 5! Additionally the lack of attention to flexibility amongst our peers is staggering. Its funny that each year at nationals I talk to at least a half dozen swimmers who STARTED stretching the week before the meet and pulled something...even more get injured because they have done nothing in this area then attempt to go 100% effort in multiple events over multiple days and staring something. I wonder if most masters swimmer take the approach you've observed because: (1) they're used to it; (2) that's how their teams train; (3) they simply prefer it to race pace work; and/or (4) they're focused on longer distances, as Dave notes. Seems that most would know from casual reading that race pace and core work is critical for competitive distances of 200 or less, if that's what they wanted to do. On the other hand, I agree that I have seen quite a few sprinters ('t know any masters in the gym 90 minutes, in the pool 90 minutes and on the massage table 60 minutes 5-6 x per week. That's 4 hours per day, not counting transtition time and re-fueling! Dave: I'm only training for 50s and 100s. :thhbbb: No time for yoga. Too busy running for some aerobic work.

I would actually disagree about masters athletes and how they train. I travel all over the US and train with dozens of teams each year and there is one single constant; the majority of competitive masters swimmers overtrain and focus to much time on volumne and not enough in quality race prep training.. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I hear "I'm trying to get into shape" or "I can't go to a meet until I get a base". What Dara is doing and teams like The Race Club as well as a few others in masters swimming is recognizing that time spent in the water should be high quality, race pace and a focus on perfect technique...aerobic base training is better attained thru things like spin classes. Chris Carmichael was recently interviewed and said the biggest mistake recreational athletes with limited time do is low level aerobic work...given limited time he recommends extremely high intensity practice....try telling that to the soccer mom/dad you see on the elliptical at the gym every morning with the level set at 5! Additionally the lack of attention to flexibility amongst our peers is staggering. Its funny that each year at nationals I talk to at least a half dozen swimmers who STARTED stretching the week before the meet and pulled something...even more get injured because they have done nothing in this area then attempt to go 100% effort in multiple events over multiple days and staring something. I wonder if most masters swimmer take the approach you've observed because: (1) they're used to it; (2) that's how their teams train; (3) they simply prefer it to race pace work; and/or (4) they're focused on longer distances, as Dave notes. Seems that most would know from casual reading that race pace and core work is critical for competitive distances of 200 or less, if that's what they wanted to do. On the other hand, I agree that I have seen quite a few sprinters ('t know any masters in the gym 90 minutes, in the pool 90 minutes and on the massage table 60 minutes 5-6 x per week. That's 4 hours per day, not counting transtition time and re-fueling! Dave: I'm only training for 50s and 100s. :thhbbb: No time for yoga. Too busy running for some aerobic work.