I know that you're there... and you have something to say.
Lets' hear it.
But seriously. Do Fitness and Lap Swimmers really read this Forum?
I wish they did, but I doubt they see the potential.
Fitness and Lap Swimmers, I'm a masters swim coach.
I watch your lanes - oh maybe 15-20% of the time I coach the masters lanes.
I see those of you lurking on the side lanes listening to the sets - and to the stroke instruction...
Watching swimmers underwater for stroke demonstrations.
Its' ok - and a really good thing.
A decent masters swim coach knows how to recruit right out of those lap swimming lanes.
Ahelee
P.S. I loved reading the thread, "As an outsider to harcore swimming..."
Finally some swimmers after my own heart.
Except that I like to recruit lap swimmers to our program!
I also coach a lap-swim class once a week. Great group of swimmers. We just had our first "mock meet" and some of them got really into it. Perhaps they'll join the USMS ranks sometime this year. If not, they are really enjoying swimming for fitness.
In our workout group, there is a mix of swimmers: about half of them don't compete (or maybe do so only occasionally, restricting themselves to our "home" meet for its convenience).
What I find interesting is this. During much of the year, our coach gives intense "test sets" about once a week, where we do repeats off the blocks with lots of rest, and he records the time and calculates the average. This always seemed pretty "hard core" to me, and they are exhausting...but the fitness swimmers do them too.
Of course, the coach doesn't really give them a choice, but no one forces them to come to practice. (In fact, membership to the masters group entitles them to swim laps at the pool on their own.) I think they like actually doing race-like activities, and since Mark records their average, they can track their progress as they improve.
My larger point is that the line between competitive and "fitness" swimming (I don't really like that label) is sometimes blurred, particularly when it comes to what workouts are suitable for which group.
I also coach a lap-swim class once a week. Great group of swimmers. We just had our first "mock meet" and some of them got really into it. Perhaps they'll join the USMS ranks sometime this year. If not, they are really enjoying swimming for fitness.
In our workout group, there is a mix of swimmers: about half of them don't compete (or maybe do so only occasionally, restricting themselves to our "home" meet for its convenience).
What I find interesting is this. During much of the year, our coach gives intense "test sets" about once a week, where we do repeats off the blocks with lots of rest, and he records the time and calculates the average. This always seemed pretty "hard core" to me, and they are exhausting...but the fitness swimmers do them too.
Of course, the coach doesn't really give them a choice, but no one forces them to come to practice. (In fact, membership to the masters group entitles them to swim laps at the pool on their own.) I think they like actually doing race-like activities, and since Mark records their average, they can track their progress as they improve.
My larger point is that the line between competitive and "fitness" swimming (I don't really like that label) is sometimes blurred, particularly when it comes to what workouts are suitable for which group.
