I was just wondering if anyone out there knows of masters swimmers who don’t compete and that have achieved Top Ten Times, American Records, World Records, etc. in practice. I know that stories have circulated around about swimmers like Mark Spitz who have done this (although I think he did compete :)). I was just wondering if there are similar stories in the masters ranks. It seems to me that it would be highly probable in masters swimming because so many of its members do not actually swim at meets. Therefore, I would think there are people out there who achieve these (unofficial) times during a practice session and are relatively unknown. If you’ve got a story to share, please do.
How about golf, tennis and water aerobics?
The first thing that crossed my mind was weight training. Lots of people pay lots of money to join health clubs, hire personal trainers, etc. with their only goal being to get in better shape. Very few people lifting weights at a club will ever enter a bodybuilding competition.
Personally (and it shows from my times) the actual in the water part of swim meets is less important to me then the mini-vacation and spending time with friends aspects.
What shows from your times, Rob, is that you're pretty darn fast--4:47.03 in the 400 at the Woodlands last summer, and a 4:38.53 the summer before at Worlds, both good enough for a fourth place finish.
Since I just moved up into your age group, I can only hope that you don't get really serious about competing.
Unless you play by yourself, it is physically impossible to play golf or tennis and not compete. Golf is a competition every round, in your foursome. How can you play tennis and not compete? You may not be in a formal tourney but you play against others in every single outing.Isn’t the same true for swimming, where in a workout you can compete against the clock, your fellow swimmers and your coach’s expectations?
To the same extent that a foursome of golfers is a competition, lane mates swimming a set in a workout is a competition. It’s just that we count seconds instead of strokes. But, I thought this thread was about “real competitions” like a swim meet, which would be more analogous to a tennis or golf tournament, rather than a just a couple of old guys just whacking around balls.
The first thing that crossed my mind was weight training. Lots of people pay lots of money to join health clubs, hire personal trainers, etc. with their only goal being to get in better shape. Very few people lifting weights at a club will ever enter a bodybuilding competition.
This is a good point, although I don't really consider weight lifting a sport as the highest level of competition in that arena is the drug fueled class.
But, if someone trained as hard in weights as we do in swimming (6+ hours a week), had a coach and a training group, I suspect there might be competitions to enter.
I'm a proud workout swimmer. It's not that meets left a bad taste in my mouth, its more a matter of them being painfully boring. I'd much rather gauge my progress by doing a set of 10 x 200's.
Marriage, kids in sports, home improvement projects, etc pretty much dictate that if I don't swim first thing in the morning, its not going to happen.
I try to swim in 2-3 open water events per season, otherwise it is gut-check sets and peer pressure with the group I work out with
AMEN!:notworthy:
I joined the Winskill Otters, three years ago, paid $300.00 for the first quarter. I went to the first workout had a hot tub and watched the workout. The night was kool, one week later went to Mexico. The next year I called the secretay of the club and asked if I could use that money to start again. She said yes by all means. I went to the club social had a good time and won the door prize. We left for Mexico again.
I really prefer the hot tub over swimming. But don't get me wrong this is the start of a new age group for me this year I swim???
