Swim-Meet Dreams

I have dreamed of swimming in pools without water,pools full of sand,and pools full of weeds.My most common meet dreams are either I realize I didn't shave or I've locked my suit in a locker and I can't find the locker.

To date, I have had 85 dreams about swim meets. That is not an approximation. That is an actual count. I have had numerous more about pools and swimming, in general. In the two months leading up to my big meet two weeks ago, I started having swimming dreams every night and there was usually one that took place at a meet. My favorite involves me swimming in a long-course meet at the Santa Clara pool. It's a big meet. Lots of big names competing. I was swimming in a backstroke final and I took #1. That was when I realized I had just started swimming a year ago (from the point I had this particular dream)... I realized that I couldn't possibly have gotten as fast as quickly as that. So in my second race of the dream- a prelim, probably- I went really slow and my time brought me nowhere near close to qualifying for the final. The dream took a more nightmarish turn, so why is it my favorite? Well, I did still win a backstroke race against big names, and for once in a dream, the meaning was very clear-cut. I was No. 1 when I wasn't self-conscious, when I didn't have the rationale of being a latebloomer to talk myself into swimming slow. My second favorite actually happened last week. It was a prestigious short-course meet and I took second in the breaststroke final- second in the stroke I have come to hate! The best part of the dream was this breakthrough in technique I seemed to be having with breaststroke. I would make the subtlest move with my legs and hands, and all of a sudden, I could glide so far. I tried to replicate the motions in practice the next day, but didn't really notice any difference. My least favorite involves a meet that I thought was in San Francisco for some reason. I was walking around the pool deck doing stuff when the head coach of my team and my dad both started querying me, "Are you Michael Phelps? Are you Michael Phelps? Are you Michael Phelps?" and on and on and on... It was an annoying dream.

I ask my coach (from childhood) if this is a common experience, to swim a race and not feel that there is any water in the pool, even though there is. He says for women it is a common experience, but for men it is not. That's really interesting! I wonder why the difference. I've had a couple of recurring swim dreams, but as of yet nothing related to a meet. One of them involves a variation of the "no water in the pool" theme. My version is that there is water in the pool, but for some reason the surface tension of the water is similar to that of a pool cover. I'm trying to swim freestyle and am on top of the water as usual, but I'm unable to pierce the water with my hands and therefore can't grab the water to pull myself forward very efficiently. I end up more or less crawling on the surface, which is very tiring! Another one involves me not being able to find a pool for swim practice, which must subconsciously stress me out. However, somehow I have the ability to "swim" in the air. The only problem I seem to have in this dream is finding a safe spot on the wall where I can place my feet for a flip turn! That one is a bizarre one. The other swim dream I remember is one in which I'm very late for practice and can't find any lane space. I end up having to get in with a bunch of noodlers, which is quite frustrating. The funny thing is that this never has happened to me, as I swim in a large facility with a coached practice. I must be lurking and reading this forum too much. :)

I have them frequently. Some people have dreams where they are at school and haven't studied for an exam; I have dreams where I am at swim-meets and haven't trained. :D I can't remember specific ones because I honestly have them often. I usually haven't trained, don't have the right suit, can't find my goggles, etc. You get the theme. :cool:

My dream--swim meet, 400 IM, vertical pool, with no water in it. I'm doing the fly straight uphill on the concrete. I keep trying....:)

I have one that I used to have while swimming in high school. I had it again a couple of weeks ago before my first meet. I am in a butterfly race. I am feeling good, going really fast and winning. I get within about 10 yards of the finish and I stop making progress. My timers lean over in waiting, and after a few seconds start rolling their eyes. I am still feeling good, in a rhythm, my arms still strong, but no forward progress. Then, one by one, each swimmer passes me. My timers keep rolling their eyes. I still feel like I am cruising, but I am not getting anywhere. I watch as each swimmer climbs out, shakes hands, high fives, etc., and my timers are now really annoyed. I keep swimming in place as everyone else leaves the pool, still feeling like I'm having a great swim. Then the dream ends. :confused:

I have swim meet dreams all the time. Though every so often I have the classic can't-find-my-swimsuit-before-the-race type dream, or a dream where I'm waiting and waiting for my race and it never comes up, usually I have dreams of swim meets where the roles of "coach", "starter", "stroke judge", "team mates" "other competitors" and sometimes even "bull pen mother" are cast from a strange assortment of people from the history of my life and from other random people (unremembered acquaintances, celebrities, etc) who end up in my subconscious. The people who turn up at these meets is always amazing. Although I almost always swim at least one race, usually the actual race-swimming part is not the most important thing in the dream, it's the meet itself. Or, the race will be important while I'm swimming it, but when it's over and I notice my (actually deceased) father getting out of another lane, or my coach as played by the supermarket checkout clerk or Hillary Clinton or my boss from a job I had 20 years ago comes over to talk to me, the swimming no longer seems important.

Most of my swim meet dreams were really not dreams, they were nightmares. One of my most frequent - swimming through thin ice. Hitting the ice with my hands to break it. I guess that is the reason I like my Margaritas with crushed ice.

I dreamt a couple years ago (and it woke me up) that I was in a big swim meet (like Olympic Trials) and I was on the blocks looking like I did at the time of the dream (about 255 lbs and not swimming at all). I was panicking about not being prepared and how embarassed I was, etc. I just started back swimming after that and here I am now getting ready for my first Masters Nationals and I haven't left much to chance. I AM prepared this time for the real life scenario! :D

The only swimming related dreams I have are open water ones, where I swim effortlessly through really cool places at impossible speeds.