Hello,
Just wanted to say hi and introduce myself. I'm a 29 year old male swimmer in San Antonio, Texas. I ws born and raised in the UK (the king of 20 people in a lane public swimming pools) and only recently moved here. My swimming history has always been as a "fitness swimmer" I guess ever since I was very young. These days, however, I have found myself swimming every day and doing longer and tougher sets. I have just recently acquired through 3-4 weeks of pain and trial and error the flip turn, which I am pretty proud of.
My times are rubbish really. Currently, in a 25 yard pool, my best 100 is usually around 1.30 in the middle or end of an 8 x 100 set on 2 minutes. I have not done a flat out, lung buster 100 yet but I think I can get it under 1.30. My best 50 is around .35 flat out. In the middle of 8 x 50 set, I will consistently swim 0.40. Although I don't think these are great, over the last 6-9 months I have shaved almost 30 seconds off of my 100 time and at least 10 seconds off of the 50 time and have also taken almost 10 strokes off a length. I am hoping that as I improve my turns, my times will drop further. I am beginning to work on the other strokes now.
I guess my major weakness is developing a varied training program since I train alone. I am interested in joining a swim team of some kind eventually. If anyone knows of a suitable team in San Antonio, Texas, please let me know.
Welcome, Luke!!!!
For teams in your area check here:
www.usms.org/.../placswimform.php
Congrats on teaching yourself the flip turn, it's one of the most intimidating things to learn and it sounds like you feel comfortable with it. Great job!!!!
As for your times, they are not 'rubbish' because you should only ever compare yourself to yourself. For someone who sounds like a self taught swimmer who's prior focus has been only on swimming for fitness, 1:30 is a solid time. And you said that you had cut off 30 seconds, so keep working!!!
I would suggest adding some drillwork such as fingertip drag, catchup or distance per stroke drills to your workouts. And don't forget to work on your kicking!
Welcome to the forum. Take a look around, especially Ande's threads.
Ask Ande:
forums.usms.org/showthread.php
Ande's Swimming Tips: Swimming Faster Faster
forums.usms.org/showthread.php
What do YOU need to do to have a amajor swimming breakthru?
forums.usms.org/showthread.php
Help My Speed is Horrible!
forums.usms.org/showthread.php
Again, welcome!!!!
Try out some teams! They should welcome you to do so. Try to be open & not expect all to warm up to you like in any situation. You will fit in if you are willing to listen to the coach. Good luck & keep at it. !!
Hi Luke,
I also live in San Antonio and swim with this team at 5:00 am at the 1604 locastion. This team also has locations on the northeast and by 410 and Ingram Mall.
www.nisd.net/.../masters.php
Here is another team and location. PM me if you would like more information.
www.mastersofsouthtexas.org/
:fish2:
Yeh I have actually looked at this before and e-mailed the contact on the website but got nothing back so just forgot about it. To be honest, I am a little nervous about joing a team having not done it before but I really like the idea of it. I could give you a long list of excuses why I can't join but the reality is I am being a wimp! I also do not know many people in San Antonio yet so it would give the opportunity to make some friends. Do you think I would be out of my depth at your club? What is the skill level there? As long as there is people of similar ability to me to share a lane with then I would be willing to give it a try.
Mookie, thanks for the link and hello to you. That could be helpful for my lonely training periods!
Welcome Luke!
When you do swim without a team, this website http://www.swimplan.com/
will customize workouts for your ability and available time, and give you new ones to keep it interesting.
Hi Luke,
I also live in San Antonio and swim with this team at 5:00 am at the 1604 locastion. This team also has locations on the northeast and by 410 and Ingram Mall.
www.nisd.net/.../masters.php
Here is another team and location. PM me if you would like more information.
www.mastersofsouthtexas.org/
:fish2:
Welcome to the forum.
I recommend joining a team. I was slower than you when I joined, and it helped me a lot with everything... technique, endurance, and speed.
