What are the odds of getting back to your high school or college times? I'm 40 and just got back into it 7 months ago. I was an age group swimmer from 9yrs old till 18yrs old.
Right now my freestyle is off about a second per 50yd. My 100yd *** was my specialty in high school and I am still about 5 seconds off that time... although I don't swim it nearly enough in practice.
How far off is everyone else off? Is there hope of being as fast as you were as a teenager?
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Former Member
I guess it boils down to you will always be a % slower than your best as you age. I just wish their was a formula that would let me know what to expect.
If it's a formula you're after, you can use Chris Stevenson's rating calculator. It can help you figure out whether your times are falling off faster or slower than those setting USMS records. It will only let you turn the clock back to age 19, though.
Another similar alternative is to use my attempt at motivational time standards to see how your current times in your current USMS age group stack up against your younger times in the appropriate USMS or USAS age group.
To answer the original question: I'm setting lifetime bests at age 41, but I quit swimming as an age-grouper when I was 14, so the bar was not too high.
I guess it boils down to you will always be a % slower than your best as you age. I just wish their was a formula that would let me know what to expect.
If it's a formula you're after, you can use Chris Stevenson's rating calculator. It can help you figure out whether your times are falling off faster or slower than those setting USMS records. It will only let you turn the clock back to age 19, though.
Another similar alternative is to use my attempt at motivational time standards to see how your current times in your current USMS age group stack up against your younger times in the appropriate USMS or USAS age group.
To answer the original question: I'm setting lifetime bests at age 41, but I quit swimming as an age-grouper when I was 14, so the bar was not too high.
