I just don't see it. I am 45 and my last year of "serious" competitive swimming was at age 21, over half my life ago. No base remains from that.
I think you defined base as something like, the volume of work one can do in one week (I'm going from memory). If someone spent 20 years as a coach potato, I don't care how much he trained as a teenager, he won't have the base of almost any masters swimmer who practices regularly.
As Q pointed out, that doesn't mean he couldn't throw down a respectable 50 or even a 100 (though I bet the latter would hurt a lot), but it isn't due to any lingering base.
As far as some sort of permanent physiological footprint...maybe. But not a base as I understand you defined it, that will have a shelf-life unless actively maintained.
Agree 100%. The 12,000+ meters per day in college have been swamped by 20+ years of (relative) inactivity. Some technique remains, which may make it easier to regain some semblance of aerobic and anaerobic fitness.
But the give-away, for me, is that I am much closer to my "all-time bests" in short events; the longer the distance, the further away I am. There may be some exceptions to this rule, but I think they are exceptions. Unless they were distance swimmers to begin with and have stayed in shape (Jeff Erwin).
Otherwise, fatty can always bust a 50, but a 200 is another story altogether..
I just don't see it. I am 45 and my last year of "serious" competitive swimming was at age 21, over half my life ago. No base remains from that.
I think you defined base as something like, the volume of work one can do in one week (I'm going from memory). If someone spent 20 years as a coach potato, I don't care how much he trained as a teenager, he won't have the base of almost any masters swimmer who practices regularly.
As Q pointed out, that doesn't mean he couldn't throw down a respectable 50 or even a 100 (though I bet the latter would hurt a lot), but it isn't due to any lingering base.
As far as some sort of permanent physiological footprint...maybe. But not a base as I understand you defined it, that will have a shelf-life unless actively maintained.
Agree 100%. The 12,000+ meters per day in college have been swamped by 20+ years of (relative) inactivity. Some technique remains, which may make it easier to regain some semblance of aerobic and anaerobic fitness.
But the give-away, for me, is that I am much closer to my "all-time bests" in short events; the longer the distance, the further away I am. There may be some exceptions to this rule, but I think they are exceptions. Unless they were distance swimmers to begin with and have stayed in shape (Jeff Erwin).
Otherwise, fatty can always bust a 50, but a 200 is another story altogether..
