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.
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 am one of those evil 45+ women.
Contrary to Art's observation, I have 3 kids, work part time and am very busy. I took 24 years off from swimming. I don't train nearly as much as other elite women I know. And I am mostly uncoached and have never had any video analysis. I also had 6 FINA top ten times last year. :P:P I have a couple women teammates with jobs and kids that pretty regularly grab a couple top ten times every year as well.
I attribute my times to quality sprint specific training 4-5 x a week, improving my SDKs, core work and staying fit most of my life. Quality over quantity is the ticket for me. Plus, I do a lot of drills and technique work. And I believe the fastskins help! I do cross train with some running and do moderate weights and core work. Otherwise, no secret formula!! I do use the John Smith cheater caffeine intake before racing. I have fun at meets though, and try not to worry about my times too much. The social part of meets is just as fun as the racing part.
However, I will say that some of the fastest chicks in my age group do not have children. That definitely gives them an advantage in terms of having more training time and flexibility. And I know some who put in serious yardage. They can also attend more meets. If I worked full time+, as I used to, I highly doubt that I would be competing right now. I have to train when my kids are in school or on the weekend.
As for the real elites like Susan VDL or Susan Walsh or Laura Val, that's just raw talent.
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 am one of those evil 45+ women.
Contrary to Art's observation, I have 3 kids, work part time and am very busy. I took 24 years off from swimming. I don't train nearly as much as other elite women I know. And I am mostly uncoached and have never had any video analysis. I also had 6 FINA top ten times last year. :P:P I have a couple women teammates with jobs and kids that pretty regularly grab a couple top ten times every year as well.
I attribute my times to quality sprint specific training 4-5 x a week, improving my SDKs, core work and staying fit most of my life. Quality over quantity is the ticket for me. Plus, I do a lot of drills and technique work. And I believe the fastskins help! I do cross train with some running and do moderate weights and core work. Otherwise, no secret formula!! I do use the John Smith cheater caffeine intake before racing. I have fun at meets though, and try not to worry about my times too much. The social part of meets is just as fun as the racing part.
However, I will say that some of the fastest chicks in my age group do not have children. That definitely gives them an advantage in terms of having more training time and flexibility. And I know some who put in serious yardage. They can also attend more meets. If I worked full time+, as I used to, I highly doubt that I would be competing right now. I have to train when my kids are in school or on the weekend.
As for the real elites like Susan VDL or Susan Walsh or Laura Val, that's just raw talent.
