This has been something I've wondered the last few years. I used to be a college swimmer, fit and trim, but the 10 years since then I've drank my fair share of beer and ate plenty of cheeseburgers. Just curious what peoples' take is on how much the extra baggage really effects swim races.
I don't really fit the swimmer mold anymore. I'm 31, 6'2", and 270lbs with a huge beer gut. I got some strange looks since the meet i was in recently was a USAS meet and I outweighed my competition by 100lbs in many cases. My first race in about 5 years i went 23.4 in the 50y free. I didn't expect to be that fast at this weight but at the same time I almost wonder if the added intertia is helping me more on the start and turns. Followed it up with a low 52 in the 100y free but I had a horrible reaction on the start and incorrect pacing. I think if i raced again today that'd be deep in the 51 range. For reference, typical non-taper times for me in college were in the low-mid 22 range at just a tick over 200lbs but I was obviously a lot stronger, younger, and doing a TON more yards at the time, that's why it makes me wonder just how much the weight is actually holding me back.
How much time do you think I stand to drop if i were 50lbs lighter? Could it be a measurable difference or something just slight? I guess I ask that to see if it'd be worth my while to drop that much weight quickly by dieting in addition to the swimming i'm doing. I don't really like dieting, and i generally eat what I want, when i want. Not gorging myself at every meal doesn't really seem to fit into my lifestyle :blush: Anyone have a similar story? "I dropped XX lbs and went XX seconds faster because of it."
Maybe it's an immeasurable, but I thought I'd ask for opinion anyway. I'm hoping it doesn't turn into a "to diet or not to diet" discussion though.
Former Member
Update:
This past weekend I was able to get a SCY 50 and 100 in.
In case you don't recall, back in May was the last I did a SCY race. From back then, at 270lbs My times were 23.4 in the 50free and 52.2 in the 100free. These were swam on seperate days.
After being a few ticks below 260lbs in august, the cheeseburgers won a little battle we had and I was about 262lbs for the meet this weekend. Newest results were 23.1 in the 50 free and 51.6 in the 100 free. The asterisks I would like to add here is that I was the last one off the blocks for the 50. Horrible reaction time on the start that you can clearly see in video (not uploaded yet). There's no doubt in my mind this would have been a high 22 sec swim if i had a good reaction. Not making excuses but I felt I should add this fact for weight/speed comparison sake. The 100free was swum about 5 minutes later. Legs were still a ton of bricks and I was still a little short winded. I ended up having some major oxy-debt breathing problems, needing to breath into the turns and consequently jamming two of them way too close. 51.6 wasn't bad, but I think with about 10 minutes longer rest I would have been able to pull out a 50.xx swim pretty easily. This was a very short meet since it was my old college team vs the alumni. Mostly 50 races and they were going back to back with little rest in between.
Start/turn/rest problems aside the swims were still faster than they were back in may. It's still hard to say again that this is directly due to the weight, but I thought I'd post it here as it's at least part of the discussion i wanted to update.
:)
My next order of business is learning the track start. I can't keep losing time on reaction with a flat start.
Very interesting subject and one that has been close to my heart. I trained at a competitive level until I was 17 and have just recently returned to masters swimming now I'm 40. I did my first comp in December last year, got the bug and have done a few more since. While I was away from swimming I got up to a whopping 273lbs at 6'1".
Last December I weighed around 196lbs and managed the following times in a notoriously fast pool:
50scm free - 26.4
100scm free - 58.0
A few weeks ago I weighed around 182lbs and did:
50scm free - 25.7
100scm free - 56.8
We have our UK masters champs in 3 weeks and I reckon I'll weigh about 177lbs, with a significantly smaller belly than December. This I'll be shaved and tapered for so it will be interesting to compare the times from December as its the same fast pool.
How much these improvements can be attributed to weight/fat loss I'm not sure. I think I would have improved regardless due to increased training, so it's hard to tell.
This article seems to suggest that bodyfat around the midriff has a fairly significant impact on elite athletes. Makes an interesting read:
www.pponline.co.uk/.../0346.htm
Quite interesting, both your own experience and the article you linked to.
I do wonder if the simulated fat the Miami swimmers wore was a good proxy for actual fat, which is no doubt distributed in a somewhat more streamlined way (i.e, tucked under the skin.)
I was sad to see the initial hypothesis so thoroughly kiboshed--that fat is NOT forgiven entirely in swimming performance.
.I have read all the threads and I think this guy is just a Natural sprinter. He obviously has some talent, but knows he does not have the capacity to pull his bodyweight through the water longer than a sprint. And let's be real,if he maintains the same level of strength and loses weight he will be faster. His energy systems will improve, and he may get a better 100 and definitly a better 200 whether he wants it or not. Good luck in your weight loss if that is what you want and keep sprinting
Very interesting subject and one that has been close to my heart. I trained at a competitive level until I was 17 and have just recently returned to masters swimming now I'm 40. I did my first comp in December last year, got the bug and have done a few more since. While I was away from swimming I got up to a whopping 273lbs at 6'1".
Last December I weighed around 196lbs and managed the following times in a notoriously fast pool:
50scm free - 26.4
100scm free - 58.0
A few weeks ago I weighed around 182lbs and did:
50scm free - 25.7
100scm free - 56.8
We have our UK masters champs in 3 weeks and I reckon I'll weigh about 177lbs, with a significantly smaller belly than December. This I'll be shaved and tapered for so it will be interesting to compare the times from December as its the same fast pool.
How much these improvements can be attributed to weight/fat loss I'm not sure. I think I would have improved regardless due to increased training, so it's hard to tell.
This article seems to suggest that bodyfat around the midriff has a fairly significant impact on elite athletes. Makes an interesting read:
www.pponline.co.uk/.../0346.htm
Quite interesting, both your own experience and the article you linked to.
I do wonder if the simulated fat the Miami swimmers wore was a good proxy for actual fat, which is no doubt distributed in a somewhat more streamlined way (i.e, tucked under the skin.)
I was sad to see the initial hypothesis so thoroughly kiboshed--that fat is NOT forgiven entirely in swimming performance.
I want to comment on the articles assertion that swimmers are "Fatter than some other athletes." I was at the Oregon coast when the "Hood to Coast" runners finished and I saw several of them around the pool afterwards(few in the pool,several in the hot tub.)Yes,most of them were slimmer than the folks I see at a Masters meet,but this didn't look like a healthy slim.Rather they looked scrawny ,or even in some cases cachectic.
....or even in some cases cachectic.
From: en.wiktionary.org/.../cachecti
Having cachexia; wasting away from a disease or chronic illness.
Allen wins my (just invented, and one day only) word of the day contest. Please help yourself to a complimentary oreo after practice.
That being said - I also wanted to say I'm down 70 pounds officially as of this morning since I started swimming in February. I have noticed a significant speed increase, this is double edged though. I basically started swimming competitively for the first time IN February (as many of you are quite aware). So it makes it very difficult to see the difference between "I'm much skinnier" and just "I've gained a LOT of strength and experience".
Every S C season, I lose 16 lb or so to be at that for the state meet. I do feel faster than earlier meets or it could be the TRCH suit. I;ll miss it this season.
Fans are waiting.:)
OK OK i'll work harder on getting the vid uploaded.
***I should asterisk this video far in advance. It was an alumni meet where there are no rules for alumni. False starting and cheating is allowed for alumni only. During my race a fellow alum jumps the start by about 1.5 seconds and flipturns at the flags. I stayed clean because it was a way for me to time trial at my old stomping grounds for free rather than paying to join a meet held there. I know there's a lot of serious people here that it will probably anger that someone would cheat in this way even having been an alumni fun meet. It's more a big joke fun day than anything... but that's my disclaimer. I'll try to get the vid uploaded to yt tonight.
