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?
Parents
Former Member
Short answer: No
I consider myself an evolved swimmer that realistically will never go sub-4:40 in the 500. (However sub 5:00 would be nice) Evolved meaning I have a job, family, kids sports, etc like most 43 year olds. Sure it would be nice to have 6 hours a day to train, lift & do dry lands. The real satisfaction comes from doing tough sets and getting the base intervals down approaching college practices. Completely agree with previous posts about training with a group that challenges each other. I would rather train to do an epic set in practice than go to a meet any day.
Tree
What you say reminds me of the T-shirt everyone wore when I was a kid: "I LOVE SWIMMING it's the practice I hate". As a grownup, I LOVE practicing. I love working hard, I love paying attention to my stroke and trying to make it perfect, I love kicking, hell- I even love BREASTROKE!!!
To answer the OP: I am not as fast as I once was. I think it may be possible. Partly because I was wasn't that great. And partly because I'm a lot smarter now. I had what was considered a very nice efficient stroke as a kid (thanks to a terrific early coach) but I think I understand what I'm doing a lot better than I did then. I'm not sure if that's going to bring me to that point I was at when I was at my peak as a kid, but it's at least POSSIBLE if I work hard enough for long enough.
Short answer: No
I consider myself an evolved swimmer that realistically will never go sub-4:40 in the 500. (However sub 5:00 would be nice) Evolved meaning I have a job, family, kids sports, etc like most 43 year olds. Sure it would be nice to have 6 hours a day to train, lift & do dry lands. The real satisfaction comes from doing tough sets and getting the base intervals down approaching college practices. Completely agree with previous posts about training with a group that challenges each other. I would rather train to do an epic set in practice than go to a meet any day.
Tree
What you say reminds me of the T-shirt everyone wore when I was a kid: "I LOVE SWIMMING it's the practice I hate". As a grownup, I LOVE practicing. I love working hard, I love paying attention to my stroke and trying to make it perfect, I love kicking, hell- I even love BREASTROKE!!!
To answer the OP: I am not as fast as I once was. I think it may be possible. Partly because I was wasn't that great. And partly because I'm a lot smarter now. I had what was considered a very nice efficient stroke as a kid (thanks to a terrific early coach) but I think I understand what I'm doing a lot better than I did then. I'm not sure if that's going to bring me to that point I was at when I was at my peak as a kid, but it's at least POSSIBLE if I work hard enough for long enough.
