I started swimming competitively at age 8, and for nearly that long have had the same issue: I swim pretty fast in practice, but when it comes to meets, my results are not so spectacular. I find that the people who swim in my lane during swim workouts all get times 5-10 seconds faster (on sprints to mid-distance), than I do. I kind of avoided pool swimming and did open water for a while, but recently swam and the same issue is still there.
I don't feel like I get overly anxious about my swim events. At least not enough to hurt performance, and I usually have enough rest and food, etc. beforehand. It's less of an issue with distance swims - which makes me think that there's a switch turned off my brain that would make me really 'work it' when in a competition.
Any suggestions? :confused:
Parents
Former Member
You may need more warmup at meets and try to get in a mini warmup right before your events. Some people will take longer to get their stroke dialed in than others.
My 500 free best time was in practice on the last repeat of 5x500 free descending on short rest. I started that repeat with my heartrate closer to 130 than to the resting pace ('t have to ramp up its efforts so quickly to keep up with the demands placed on it.
I also have "issues" since I prefer evening exercise but meets are always in the morning before my body has really woken up. Getting up earlier on meet day means I go short on sleep. YMMV
You may need more warmup at meets and try to get in a mini warmup right before your events. Some people will take longer to get their stroke dialed in than others.
My 500 free best time was in practice on the last repeat of 5x500 free descending on short rest. I started that repeat with my heartrate closer to 130 than to the resting pace ('t have to ramp up its efforts so quickly to keep up with the demands placed on it.
I also have "issues" since I prefer evening exercise but meets are always in the morning before my body has really woken up. Getting up earlier on meet day means I go short on sleep. YMMV
