Hello Fellow Swimmers!
I am just about to turn 49 and got back into the pool about 4 months ago. My daughter is on the same swim team (Rose Bowl) that has the Masters program I speka of, and I thought that I might as well start swimming again since I was basically living and breathing swimming again anyway as I attended her practices and meets.
As far as my swimming past, I was just ok. I recall doing a 55 in the 100 short course free and about a 58 in the 100 short course fly. This was in 77 and I was on a very fast high school team. I was a second tier swimmer on a team that had some guys that were pushing Olympic trial cuts.
It had been over 30 years since I did any serious laps that were done under workout conditions. Oh sure, I did the obligatory 20 laps in my pool (45 feet long) and thought that was pretty good. I keep myself in decent shape and have always maintained my weight within ten pounds of my ideal weight.
So, on a cold and dreary Halloween morning last year, I dragged my butt out of bed and showed up at the pool deck at 5:30. The Masters coach has coached my daughter in the past and he smiled and pointed to the slow poke lane, which was fine with me.
I jumped in and after about 4 laps of long course. I was totally dead. My arms were rubbery tentacles and I was breathing like a corpse that had just been reanimated. Any semblence of form had quickly dissolved into a spasmotic sequence of jerky strokes that was probably of quickly deepening concern to the lifeguard.
I lasted for about 45 minutes and then got out. I was shaking and just sat dripping in the locker room for about another 15 minutes with this thought swarming throgh my head, "What the heck am I doing this for?". I then slowly pulled on my clothes, went into my office, and fell asleep on the floor.
The next few weeks were a hellish blur of morning workouts where I was continually passed by much older people who clearly had never swam competitively. I felt a sorenness in my neck and back that made me contemplate a full body cast. After about 30 minutes of each workout, I went into the bathroom and, more often than not, threw up.
If not for the gentle and postive support of the coach (Chad) I would probably have literally thrown in the towel. But I kept going and kept it up through December. I still felt really slow and tired.
During the new year, I had to take about a week and a half off and was dreading how it would feel when I returned to the pool. I was very surprised to find that I was actually quite rested and started to actually move a bit faster. We did 6 100s on the 1:50 (LC) and I think I made 5. And, I did not get sick. Bonus.
In January and February, I became obsessed with doing that darn Polar Bear Club. I made the required workouts to get that dumb t-shirt, and then got really sick and sat out another two weeks.
When I came back in late Feb, I was tired but still found that the rest had done my good. I entered our fun meet (The Pentathalon) where we swam SC 50s in all of the strokes and finished with a 100IM. My daughter went (she is 8) and our coach gave her a stopwatch and she had fun telling me how to swim my races.
I did a 32 for my 50 fly and a 29 somthing for my 50 free. Pretty slow, but I was happy to make the fly without collapsing into a mass of screaming jello.
Today, I went to a workout and was pushed over to a faster lane. We did 100s (LC) on the 1:35 and I made five of them and was keeping up with the leaders. (We had to get out of the pool since a rat had fallen in. Fun!)
I fell a heck of alot better about myself and go 4-5 times per week, one hour per session. I do about 2,500 meters and am finally feeling my old stroke come back. After the meet, I can now do butterfly with a great deal more power and don't worry about making a fool of myself.
Here are my observations after these first four months:
Masters swimmers are the nicest pepople I have ever met. They are not afraid of hard work, they respect their bodies, and gladly welcome anyone into the pool, no matter the age or ability.
The Masters coaches (Chad and Alice) at the Rose Bowl are fantastic. Wonderful attitude with gentle encouragement and nice variation in workouts.
My morning swim is an incredibly postive way for me to wipe myself clean of any negative thoughts or physical problems for that day. I have watched many a sunrise while swimming in the pool and it is a deeply personal and satisfying experience that nothing can replace.
I have tremendous added respect for what my daughter does in her swim practices. The drills we do are the same as she does, and they are hard because they work the body core in a way that my previous life as a swimmer never did.
The next time I see a parent screaming at their kid to "GO FASTER!" at the end of the 200fly or 400IM, I might just hand them a speedo, tell them to get it on, and then push them into the pool, and watch them swim the same event while I scream those same foul words. Folks, swimming some of these races is really hard and you die a little at the finish line each time you push yourself harder.
Swimming is the greatest disclipline you can do for yourself. It establishes a primal connection between a person and water with nothing more that a thin piece of fabric as your equipment. Water is in us and all around us. Is is only natural that some of our most peaceful and fullfilling moments should happpen as we swim through that environment, no mater our age or ability.
And, at that, I am done.
Swim On!
Rob
