New here so apologies if this is well-trodden territory, but I'm a 41 year old former age group swimmer. I was pretty good, not great but decided to quit swimming at 17 to pursue "other interests" in college. Basically, I just burned out.
Recently, I found myself back in the pool and have swum a few meets and really love it. My times have been pretty good but I wonder if I can ever do a lifetime best at this age? Anybody out there in their 40's or so continuing to kill it in the pool? What are my chances? So far I'm within 2 or 3 seconds of my best 100fr (:49+) and 100br (1:03).
I'm 36, so a little younger, but I've already eclipsed my best 100 FR time from my youth, though I rarely swam that race back in the day. I was and am a breaststroker, and so far I'm about 1.5 seconds off my personal best 100 BR time.* My best Masters 200 BR time is about 6 seconds slower than my "all time" PB. The significant reduction in yardage from my youth really hurts me there, I think. But with smart training, I think that you can still swim as fast as you did as a kid at the shorter distances you're talking about. I certainly hope to!
*Full disclosure--I *was* wearing a B70 when I swam my best Masters time (though it was the older pointZero3 model) so that might have helped a little.My Masters personal best in a "regular" suit is about 2.0 seconds slower than my lifetime PB, so at most the suit can be credited for .5 seconds, though many other factors could have been responsible for some or all of the difference in my times as well.
I'm 36, so a little younger, but I've already eclipsed my best 100 FR time from my youth, though I rarely swam that race back in the day. I was and am a breaststroker, and so far I'm about 1.5 seconds off my personal best 100 BR time.* My best Masters 200 BR time is about 6 seconds slower than my "all time" PB. The significant reduction in yardage from my youth really hurts me there, I think. But with smart training, I think that you can still swim as fast as you did as a kid at the shorter distances you're talking about. I certainly hope to!
*Full disclosure--I *was* wearing a B70 when I swam my best Masters time (though it was the older pointZero3 model) so that might have helped a little.My Masters personal best in a "regular" suit is about 2.0 seconds slower than my lifetime PB, so at most the suit can be credited for .5 seconds, though many other factors could have been responsible for some or all of the difference in my times as well.
