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.
I also am a PLUS size swimmer -64 years & still am in the top 3 in 7 events at state. .I have to work harder than the smaller swimmers in my lane to do this.
I think extra weight is real bad. Elite swimmers are shreded.
You must pull the weight much like climbing a ladder and it also ads drag. The only concern is cutting weight so much that it effects endurance and stamina, otherwise get it off.
It's free speed, just so darn hard to take off the extra weight.
That must bust a lot of their egos. :D
i thought that too, but the 2nd place finisher came and shook my hand. I was kinda surprised they weren't all mad at me for ruining their day :applaud:
I am a plus swimmer and had 3 Top 2 rankings last year in LCM. And no tech suit! Of course, I probably need to lose another 30 pounds to have higher rankings in yards since Yards/SCM is all about the skinny swimmers(they can get around all those turns easier). There is a good number of plus size swimmers who can have top rankings in any pool course.
so, when you look at the Top Ten, the swimmers with the elite rankings aren't always shredded. I wonder if "shredded" swimmers get ticked off when they get beat by a plus size swimmer.
This is a very interesting topic. I don't really have any idea if losing weight will help you. But, at your weight, losing some weight is bound to help I would think.
I have a slightly different take. When I had the fatness I had less overall energy and what excess energy I had I devoted to the consumption of food and beer. As I lost weight I had more stamina for training so my training improved, and thus my swim times improved. So, I suspect losing weight just by itself may not have any big impact but losing weight coupled with diet and exercise improvement might make you faster.
Who knows, try it out and let us know. Good luck.
OK, now I just watched your video and I'm totally confused. You might be a bit beefy but you can swim lights out. So, maybe stick with the bigness.
I just don't see that happening at the Olympics, or trials, or Words or Nationals....
It can definately happen in USMS where former fast guys are still real darn fast. Just not as fast as they could be.
I wonder if the effects of weight would grow as the distance grows? It would seem that lugging extra weight in a 50 is probably less dramatic than toting it around on a 500/1000/1650.
Since you don't accelerate while swimming (you are fastest off the start and turns), your mass doesn't matter, just drag.
I've often wondered if extra weight hurts butterfly/breaststroke more than free/back. I think that there is more change in velocity when swimming the short-axis strokes, especially breaststroke.
This past weekend I was in another meet, weight has dropped 12 lbs since june to 257 or so, but I had also shaved down for this meet. Result was a 26.5 50 free LCM.
Not bad. The women's 50 free LCM World Record by Britta Steffen is only 2 1/2 seconds faster considering that you're pretty overweight and haven't really practiced in some time. My weight is only around 155 lbs and I wish I could swim nearly as fast as you.
I have to admit I haven't sat still and pondered a subject like this for a long time. My final conclusion is based on observation - the fastest swimmers in USMS are typically not overweight. I do not know if that means anything, however.
Conversely, there are a whole lot of very fast swimmers in USMS who are bigger people.
From an overall health perspective, it is probably best to not be 270. But, from a swimming perspective, I can't say for sure one way or the other. I had a pretty solid opinion prior to seeing your video.
