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
last shave taper swim was at 185 pounds and went 24.7 50 fly and 23.1 50 free.
But I agree, diff pools, outside vs inside, diff suits, diff time of day, etc.....
Too many variables.
Former Member
I raced unshaved/untapered in late feb at 195 pounds and went 25.4 50 fly and 23.7 50 free.
I then raced shaved/tapered at nats at 178 and went 24.3 (23.7 relay) in the 50 fly and 22.7 50 free. And my 50 free was leading off the 200 free relay just 10 minutes after my 23.7 50 fly on the medley relay!!
Same suit for both. Hard to tell how much the shave and taper helped, but I def felt better at 178 than 195!!
So I have to know:
There was a thread called "Gridge Match" and I have seen this word, gridge, used other times. But gridge is not a word. As best I can tell, the word is grudge. I am a horrible speller, so this is not me being nit-piticky. I am just wondering what I am missing? Has the same spelling error been made over and over again (I can relate!)?
I believe that it was originally a typo mis-spelling grudge, but everyone liked it and it stuck. Here's a link to what I beleive was the original post
forums.usms.org/showthread.php
Former Member
So I have to know:
There was a thread called "Gridge Match" and I have seen this word, gridge, used other times. But gridge is not a word. As best I can tell, the word is grudge. I am a horrible speller, so this is not me being nit-picky. I am just wondering what I am missing? Has the same spelling error been made over and over again (I can relate!)?
We don't hold grudges here, we hold gridges. They are like grudges without the animosity, don't need to be long standing and aren't always about winning. It is really just an excuse to smack talk for a while.
No idea who coined the word and it really does only seem to exist in the usms forums. It probably did start out as a spelling mistake.
I can probably muster up more data points, but here's a fairly close apples-to-apples comparison of what 10 lbs lighter on a 6'4" bought me:
Austin, May 2008
Weight: 192.5/193.0
100 IM: 56.18
Mesa, late April 2011
Weight: 182.5/183.0
100 IM: 56.13
Both swims in jammers, both tapered. By my calculations, I dropped 0.005 seconds per pound of total mass lost! Actually, to make matters worse, I didn't shave down for Austin, but did for Mesa.
I think it's been said many times on this thread, though, that it matters what you lost more than how much you lost. I think I've sacrificed muscle with my recent weight loss and am aiming to rectify this with renewed focus on dry-lands / weights / yoga.
Patrick you are also 3 years older. I wonder how much age factors into this as well?
Former Member
Gridge rematch 2012?
So I have to know:
There was a thread called "Gridge Match" and I have seen this word, gridge, used other times. But gridge is not a word. As best I can tell, the word is grudge. I am a horrible speller, so this is not me being nit-piticky. I am just wondering what I am missing? Has the same spelling error been made over and over again (I can relate!)?
Former Member
Gridge rematch 2012?
So I have to know:
There was a thread called "Gridge Match" and I have seen this word, gridge, used other times. But gridge is not a word. As best I can tell, the word is grudge. I am a horrible speller, so this is not me being nit-picky. I am just wondering what I am missing? Has the same spelling error been made over and over again (I can relate!)?
Former Member
Patrick you are also 3 years older. I wonder how much age factors into this as well?
I'd venture to say 3 years is meaningless as long as injuries aren't in play and relative health remains constant.
