I have noticed that some (many?) of you swimmers have the opportunity to train with age-group swimmers. How did you manage to arrange that?
I typically train early mornings (5:30, as soon as the pool opens). The local Masters club only trains in the evenings while I am still at work, so the majority of my sessions are solo, trained in the "public lanes". This works out fairly well; I am a fast enough swimmer that I usually end up with my own lane or sharing with other like-minded people. The problem is that, left to my own devices, my work-outs are all about the same. Same times, same strokes, same distance. I always go about 4000 to 4500 meters, one half swim, one quarter kick, one quarter pull. I do some sprints and tons of traditional short-rest interval training. Ho hummmmm...
It would be nice to periodically (or routinelly) swim with the age-group swimmers of my speed calibre, but I just cannot see how to arrange that without coming across as just plain kooky (and not in a good kooky way either) Maybe it is just the very traditional, old fashioned culture in this area that makes this difficult.
As an example: I once asked why the masters swimmers do not share swim meets with the age group swimmers more often to defray the costs of pool rental and increase the number of paying competitors. The major answer was that many parents do not want a bunch of "dirty old men" warming up in the same pool as their young impressionable daughters. This took me aback: at the time my daughter was a competitive swimmer and I just could not fathom that anyone could have such a dirty mind that they could imagine anything sexual happening in a crowded warm-up pool.
For the swimmers that have the opportunity to swim with age group teams: was this opportunity offered-up voluntarily by the club, or did you have to campaign the club to allow you to join as a master swimmer?
Good discussion.
The USS coach here invited me to swim with the kids several times before I actually jumped in and swam with them. Their practices often coincide or come after our USMS practices and I guess I looked like I wanted to swim more. I declined for a while because I was unsure about a.) being perceived as the dirty old man and b.) getting my butt handed to me.
Fortunately, there are a couple of dads that swim with the USS team sometimes. 1 guy, a master's swimmer, actually does their workouts a couple times a week and the other guy just swims on his own while his son is swimming, in a lane next to the kids' lanes. So that did a lot to alleviate fears related to (a.) above. I usually get in ~1 practice a week with them now.
WRT dual-sanction meets: there are a couple of coaches around here who do set up dual-sanction meets in this area. I try to support those as much as I can because I think it is a great opportunity to open up some more meet options for USMS here. I've always had a great experience with these meets, the kids have been very nice, and I've never gotten any dirty looks from disapproving parents. Just some ribbing from my wife. But she calls me old man all of the time.
If there is a team there that you're interested in practicing with, talk to the coach. If they work out at the same time, you might just start BS'ing with them about swimming and general and get to know them a bit before you broach the subject of practicing with the team. Or approach them about organizing a master's team.
Good discussion.
The USS coach here invited me to swim with the kids several times before I actually jumped in and swam with them. Their practices often coincide or come after our USMS practices and I guess I looked like I wanted to swim more. I declined for a while because I was unsure about a.) being perceived as the dirty old man and b.) getting my butt handed to me.
Fortunately, there are a couple of dads that swim with the USS team sometimes. 1 guy, a master's swimmer, actually does their workouts a couple times a week and the other guy just swims on his own while his son is swimming, in a lane next to the kids' lanes. So that did a lot to alleviate fears related to (a.) above. I usually get in ~1 practice a week with them now.
WRT dual-sanction meets: there are a couple of coaches around here who do set up dual-sanction meets in this area. I try to support those as much as I can because I think it is a great opportunity to open up some more meet options for USMS here. I've always had a great experience with these meets, the kids have been very nice, and I've never gotten any dirty looks from disapproving parents. Just some ribbing from my wife. But she calls me old man all of the time.
If there is a team there that you're interested in practicing with, talk to the coach. If they work out at the same time, you might just start BS'ing with them about swimming and general and get to know them a bit before you broach the subject of practicing with the team. Or approach them about organizing a master's team.
