I just started back swimming about six months ago and about two months ago signed up for USMS because there was a Masters swim meet at my pool and I thought it would be a fun goal to eventually compete.
I am seriously thinking about signing up for my first swim meet (Colonial Zone SCY Championships) in April but I am afraid that 1)I will finish dead last in every event I do - I have gotten A LOT faster but I don't I am at race speed yet and 2)The people from my swim club might be irritated that I didn't scored well enough in my races to earn them any club points. I also don't think I will be doing any relays because I think I will hurt the team's chances in placing well. I don't know anyone else in the local swim club (VMST) I signed up for.
Right now, I think I want to do the 50 free, 50 back, and 100 back. Should I really wait to do my first swim meet or should I just do this first one for the experience? I don't want people to snicker at my times.
Parents
Former Member
As everyone else says, just go for it! At my very first masters meet, I was nervous and thought I swam really slow as I was comparing myself with my age-group times.
However everyone I met was so supportive and thought I'd done great and convinced me that I was starting a fresh chapter. Now I menatlly reset my PRs after each life event (yeah, yeah its still nice to get close to all time PRs and is a long term goal, but I don't beat myself up about it). Some people I know reset when they age up.
Get the experience and enjoy it. Be the best you can be with what you've got right now :)
As everyone else says, just go for it! At my very first masters meet, I was nervous and thought I swam really slow as I was comparing myself with my age-group times.
However everyone I met was so supportive and thought I'd done great and convinced me that I was starting a fresh chapter. Now I menatlly reset my PRs after each life event (yeah, yeah its still nice to get close to all time PRs and is a long term goal, but I don't beat myself up about it). Some people I know reset when they age up.
Get the experience and enjoy it. Be the best you can be with what you've got right now :)
