Hi everyone,
Next weekend is my very first Master's swim meet and I have to say, I'm really quite nervous! I've been a competitive swimmer all my life since I was 6 years old and growing up, competitive swimming was pretty much my life. When I was younger I was a great swimmer..qualified for YMCA Nationals at the Swimming Hall of Fame multiple times, swam for a Division I college, placed in top 10 at MAAC championships, etc
But now, almost 9 years out of college, I'm about 50 pounds heavier:afraid: and am nowhere near as fast as I was when I was in my best shape. I'm trying to get back in shape and lose some weight, and I'm really enjoying getting back into swimming again. I've been swimming with my local Masters team for the past 2 months now and have my very first meet coming up.
The thing is...I'm really nervous about how I'm going to look in my bathing suit compared to all the other swimmers and how slow I'll be. Am I going to be the only overweight and out of shape swimmer there? I'm worried that my times are so slow, that even if I'm in the slowest heat, I'll still be so far behind even the "slow" swimmers in my heat. (For example, one of the events I've entered is the 1000 free. My fastest time in college was 10:24 and I time trialed myself and was 16:02 :blush:)
I know I need to focus on my progress and not worry about everyone else, but I think I still have that old competitive swimming mindset. I'm envisioning all these fit, trim, ripped swimmers and then there will be me heading up to the blocks with my belly and cellulite!:blush:
How was your very first Master's swim meet?? Did you have the same worries/fears?
Thanks for your help, and please, this is my very first post so don't be too hard on me!
Erica :)
Parents
Former Member
Relax. Most meets are seeded by time, not by age group. Some meets even seed both genders together to improve your chance to have a good race even if you won't be scored against the others in your heat.
Use a realistic calculated seed time, not your college personal best nor "NT", if you don't have recent official resut times to use. That gives you an achievable challenge and gives you somebody to race with and likewise for others in your heat.
Plenty of people get back into swimming when they decide they need to lose weight, get back in shape; and find that competition helps their motivation to keep at a lifelong fitness plan. You can't always tell who's fastest by how they look, either.
Relax. Most meets are seeded by time, not by age group. Some meets even seed both genders together to improve your chance to have a good race even if you won't be scored against the others in your heat.
Use a realistic calculated seed time, not your college personal best nor "NT", if you don't have recent official resut times to use. That gives you an achievable challenge and gives you somebody to race with and likewise for others in your heat.
Plenty of people get back into swimming when they decide they need to lose weight, get back in shape; and find that competition helps their motivation to keep at a lifelong fitness plan. You can't always tell who's fastest by how they look, either.
