A funny thing happened to me today, at least its funny to me. While I was at the pool during open swim there was this what looked to be highschool team (swam year around) drilling. When I finished my sets the coach who was there approached me and said, "You a swimmer?" I kinda laughed and said "No, not at all." He then looks at me and says, "Well you sure work hard for not being a swimmer." We then discussed that I was a junior in college and he told me I should try out for the swim team. Turns out he coaches highschool and coached college teams around my area and was watching me breifly while I was swimming. As you can see by the title of the thread he pointed out that I have no lungs and I have no legs, which is correct and I have been trying to work on those two attributes for awhile. He went on to say that with a few minor adjustments to my freestyle and with some proper training I could scare some people (I don't know if he was being serious or what but he sure looked it).
I haven't been swimming for all that long (about 8 months or so, only being serious for about 5 months) and have never been coach, so I kinda laughed at the idea of me being a college (D3) swimmer.
So I come here to ask you fine swimmers how could I improve in these two areas? I know theres the "Help my flutter kick is horrible" thread but I haven't found much on how to increase lung capicity and would like to hear some tricks/drills that may help me breath easier/last longer while swimming. One thing that bothers me as well, whenever I swim a long set (like 100's for me) the back of my neck bothers me. I don't know if it's because I'm not relaxed or because my head is to high but it cramps up sometimes.
Sorry for the long winded post, I just thought it was a funny story and would like to share it with you all while asking for advice :)
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Is the coach you talked to the coach of your college's swim team? If so, ask him what you should do. He'll probably be excited about having a motivated swimmer and have lots of suggestions.
If by 'no lungs', he means aerobic capacity, then a spin class will add it quickly. If he means anaerobic capacity, you'll pick that up with anaerobic drills - swims where you breath every 4, 5 or 6 strokes instead of every 2.
If by 'no legs', he means your legs aren't strong, then a spin class or jumping rope or Nautilus-style workouts will help. If by 'no legs', he means your kick is not propulsive, you'll need instruction from a swim coach, as the proper kick is not intuitive and difficult to learn.
Is the coach you talked to the coach of your college's swim team? If so, ask him what you should do. He'll probably be excited about having a motivated swimmer and have lots of suggestions.
If by 'no lungs', he means aerobic capacity, then a spin class will add it quickly. If he means anaerobic capacity, you'll pick that up with anaerobic drills - swims where you breath every 4, 5 or 6 strokes instead of every 2.
If by 'no legs', he means your legs aren't strong, then a spin class or jumping rope or Nautilus-style workouts will help. If by 'no legs', he means your kick is not propulsive, you'll need instruction from a swim coach, as the proper kick is not intuitive and difficult to learn.
