Hello there,
I am a late bloomer in swimming because I was not exposed to the sport until the Beijing Olympics... I started swimming with a swim club back in 2008 and I love swimming for all its worth. I'll be joining two swim clubs this coming fall twice a day - three times a week (ie. morning and evening). I'll also be taking swimming lessons at a local community centre (can't afford private centres). However, I'll be turning 21 years old by next month! It's not a problem but I feel it's a big obstacle because many athletic swimmers are exposed to the sport since they were kids compared to me who recently just started. I want to swim competitively as soon I become a competitive swimmer (obviously)... by then I would love to join a varsity team at a university... then again is that too ambitious? I never focused on a sport until now and I am really motivated to do this. What should I do? Is this a reasonable goal to achieve?
BTW: I also love to run... I don't get easily as tired and I could pretty much run all day if I want to... So, I'm starting to routinely run in the morning and in the evening. Am I pushing myself too hard?
PS: Im from Canada, if there is any difference in terms of potential of reasonable expectations of Canada/US varsity swim teams.
Let me know your thoughts about my situation. :agree:
Parents
Former Member
Age isn't a problem. You'll just become a different swimmer, one that will have to put more thoughts to what you do.
Video support, MANDATORY in your case, if you neglect this you'll probably fail.
Use the Internet a lot. Nowadays, a newbie has NO REASON whatsoever to not learn how to swim in a record time. Back to my days, youtube didn't even exist. LOOK at swimmers from all possible angles, get filmed under as many angles as possible. Don't neglect underwater views.
Arm Recovery technical flaws are often the most visible, but they often have a very low impact on overall performances. Focus on what's happening underwater, so get film with underwater view.
Join any varsity team as soon as you can, but do expect to run out of breath most of the time. If you can't stand it then downgrade and swim MS for a season. Then come back and retry Varsity. Do this until it works!
I might insist in the importance to make your own opinion of Varsity level swimming by trying it as soon as possible. Of course, this implies that you can swim sets of 100m off 1:30 (unlimited number of reps) and that you can swim some reps of 100IM.
Often, Varsity teams have a Triathlon sub group made of people that aren't as fast as the pure swimmers. A sensible coach would probably put you on this squad to rule out IM swimming constraints.
Our Varsity team was often the third best in our Country (after Calgary and British Columbia), and yet, we had room for people like you especially with our triathletes.
Worst case, if you don't turn into a very competent swimmer, all the thoughts put to your sport in order to compensate for age will undoubtedly help you becoming a competent coach.
** edit **
I just noticed that you were in Canada. Which team do you want to make? What University are you registered to?
The level of swimmers University programs accept highly depend on the philosophy of the whole department.
Age isn't a problem. You'll just become a different swimmer, one that will have to put more thoughts to what you do.
Video support, MANDATORY in your case, if you neglect this you'll probably fail.
Use the Internet a lot. Nowadays, a newbie has NO REASON whatsoever to not learn how to swim in a record time. Back to my days, youtube didn't even exist. LOOK at swimmers from all possible angles, get filmed under as many angles as possible. Don't neglect underwater views.
Arm Recovery technical flaws are often the most visible, but they often have a very low impact on overall performances. Focus on what's happening underwater, so get film with underwater view.
Join any varsity team as soon as you can, but do expect to run out of breath most of the time. If you can't stand it then downgrade and swim MS for a season. Then come back and retry Varsity. Do this until it works!
I might insist in the importance to make your own opinion of Varsity level swimming by trying it as soon as possible. Of course, this implies that you can swim sets of 100m off 1:30 (unlimited number of reps) and that you can swim some reps of 100IM.
Often, Varsity teams have a Triathlon sub group made of people that aren't as fast as the pure swimmers. A sensible coach would probably put you on this squad to rule out IM swimming constraints.
Our Varsity team was often the third best in our Country (after Calgary and British Columbia), and yet, we had room for people like you especially with our triathletes.
Worst case, if you don't turn into a very competent swimmer, all the thoughts put to your sport in order to compensate for age will undoubtedly help you becoming a competent coach.
** edit **
I just noticed that you were in Canada. Which team do you want to make? What University are you registered to?
The level of swimmers University programs accept highly depend on the philosophy of the whole department.
