Looking at one-hour results, and just finishing New England Masters SCY Championships at Harvard, how is it that older swimmers are getting faster and faster, and pretty much everyone is getting faster and faster compared to a few years ago when there seemed to be more mortal swimmers?
What are older (45+ women; at this point 65+ men) swimmers doing that keeps them at such elite levels? Weights? Extensive training? How much of both? How do they have jobs and families and train? The field of fast swimmers is getting deeper and deeper. Anyone have idea as to why?
I want to know the secrets. Are the people who race now self-selecting more and more as elite swimmers? Has everyone swum all their lives? I know to swim hard you have to train hard, but I am baffled by sudden increase in amazing fast times and so many records getting broken.
...
I think a cultural shift may have something to do with it. When I was a kid, sports were for kids. Grownups maybe played softball but that was about it. My hometown had a strong kids' swim program and no adult program at all; now I understand that it has a masters team. .
In my area, everybody swam, nobody "swam." No swimming program whatsoever for miles around. When Red Cross swimming program started, about 7 miles away, it cost money. And nobody was driving anybody to swimming lessons.
Ppl did develop water competency without lessons, and took canoes and kayaks out on big lakes fairly sure they could make it back to land just fine in the event of an overturn.
Same with skating, skiing, and so forth. Which means I've been in a lot of adult beginners' groups! :)
Regards, VB
...
I think a cultural shift may have something to do with it. When I was a kid, sports were for kids. Grownups maybe played softball but that was about it. My hometown had a strong kids' swim program and no adult program at all; now I understand that it has a masters team. .
In my area, everybody swam, nobody "swam." No swimming program whatsoever for miles around. When Red Cross swimming program started, about 7 miles away, it cost money. And nobody was driving anybody to swimming lessons.
Ppl did develop water competency without lessons, and took canoes and kayaks out on big lakes fairly sure they could make it back to land just fine in the event of an overturn.
Same with skating, skiing, and so forth. Which means I've been in a lot of adult beginners' groups! :)
Regards, VB
