Do you think this "base" hangs around for 20+ years though?
Unfortunately for me, and fortunately for them, my answer is a definite yes. Especially if this base was built at young age, that is while the body is still growing.
Training regiment of this sort leave a permanent footprint.
Of course, not every swimming having swam a lot at early age can expect reaching Ross' level. Other factors such as genetic have their weight too.
I also agree about the importance of staying Master Swimmer specific on such a discussion forum. The reason why I jumped in this thread holding an Elite Swimmer sort of speech is that most if not all articles quoted in the thread pertains to elite level swimming. I am not reacting against these articles anyway, just against the fact that none of them could issue any suggestion in term of what the base should be.
I see no basis for this statement. Fat old elite swimmers who havn't done more than lift a beer for 20 years can hop in the pool and swim a couple fast 50s or 100s. Fast being relative to a typical trained non-ex-elite master.
What would logically explain this? They are completely out of shape, but can still attain above average speeds. Would this be base developed years ago that they are still drawing from?
No, it is technique. Swimming is like riding a bicycle. You get a little rusty, but you never forget. Better technique is what allows them to become elites in the first place.
Josh Schneider is a current elite, and his base is tiny, almost non existent in the world of D1 collegiate swimming. Yet he beat Nathan Adrian and slew of others in the 50 free. I bet his technique is pretty good, especially his starts and turns.
So those of us who are trying to catch up with the elites, we really don't need to worry to much about trying to catch up with the 15 years of 5 hours per day workouts these guys spent in the pool building a base, but we do need to worry about the bazillion hours they have used to fine tune their start, turn, streamline, kick, pull, pace and everything else that goes into getting from the beginning of the race and the finish.
You did say that Base meant pretty much anything, so maybe Base includes technique? :)
Do you think this "base" hangs around for 20+ years though?
Unfortunately for me, and fortunately for them, my answer is a definite yes. Especially if this base was built at young age, that is while the body is still growing.
Training regiment of this sort leave a permanent footprint.
Of course, not every swimming having swam a lot at early age can expect reaching Ross' level. Other factors such as genetic have their weight too.
I also agree about the importance of staying Master Swimmer specific on such a discussion forum. The reason why I jumped in this thread holding an Elite Swimmer sort of speech is that most if not all articles quoted in the thread pertains to elite level swimming. I am not reacting against these articles anyway, just against the fact that none of them could issue any suggestion in term of what the base should be.
I see no basis for this statement. Fat old elite swimmers who havn't done more than lift a beer for 20 years can hop in the pool and swim a couple fast 50s or 100s. Fast being relative to a typical trained non-ex-elite master.
What would logically explain this? They are completely out of shape, but can still attain above average speeds. Would this be base developed years ago that they are still drawing from?
No, it is technique. Swimming is like riding a bicycle. You get a little rusty, but you never forget. Better technique is what allows them to become elites in the first place.
Josh Schneider is a current elite, and his base is tiny, almost non existent in the world of D1 collegiate swimming. Yet he beat Nathan Adrian and slew of others in the 50 free. I bet his technique is pretty good, especially his starts and turns.
So those of us who are trying to catch up with the elites, we really don't need to worry to much about trying to catch up with the 15 years of 5 hours per day workouts these guys spent in the pool building a base, but we do need to worry about the bazillion hours they have used to fine tune their start, turn, streamline, kick, pull, pace and everything else that goes into getting from the beginning of the race and the finish.
You did say that Base meant pretty much anything, so maybe Base includes technique? :)
