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.
The best advice I got for my first swim meet, three years ago, came from my then-coach, John Fedena. He told me to get to the pool early and, if at all possible, do a few warm-up laps in the pool I would actually be competing in. I did as he said, as was I glad I did. The pool had a moveable bulkhead, which created weird visual effects as I approached it — I couldn't tell whether I was looking at it, through it, or under it. The first few laps I either ran smack into it, or flipped too soon and missed it altogether. But by about the 10th lap, I finally figured out exactly where to look, and I had no problem in the actual race. Had I not found this out beforehand, it would have been a disaster.
Something else you might want to find out before your first meet is what the actual starts consist of — I mean the bells and the whistles (and buzzers). Nobody thought to tell me that, since everyone else has been doing it so long it's just obvious — except to me! I did sort of figure it out from watching the first few heats, but then I had a false start (not my fault!) in one of my races.
I can't remember whether they blew a whistle or I just noticed everyone else stop swimming, but we had to climb out of the pool and do it all over again, by which time I was thoroughly spooked. On the second start, I dove in, but then I noticed a red flashing light in my peripheral vision. "Oh no, another false start," I thought, and stopped swimming. Only to see the rest of the swimmers swimming furiously toward the far wall. It only cost me about 10 seconds (and a red face!) Someone told me later that the flashing light I saw might have had something to do with the timing. I'm still not sure how the ref actually does signal a false start.
The best advice I got for my first swim meet, three years ago, came from my then-coach, John Fedena. He told me to get to the pool early and, if at all possible, do a few warm-up laps in the pool I would actually be competing in. I did as he said, as was I glad I did. The pool had a moveable bulkhead, which created weird visual effects as I approached it — I couldn't tell whether I was looking at it, through it, or under it. The first few laps I either ran smack into it, or flipped too soon and missed it altogether. But by about the 10th lap, I finally figured out exactly where to look, and I had no problem in the actual race. Had I not found this out beforehand, it would have been a disaster.
Something else you might want to find out before your first meet is what the actual starts consist of — I mean the bells and the whistles (and buzzers). Nobody thought to tell me that, since everyone else has been doing it so long it's just obvious — except to me! I did sort of figure it out from watching the first few heats, but then I had a false start (not my fault!) in one of my races.
I can't remember whether they blew a whistle or I just noticed everyone else stop swimming, but we had to climb out of the pool and do it all over again, by which time I was thoroughly spooked. On the second start, I dove in, but then I noticed a red flashing light in my peripheral vision. "Oh no, another false start," I thought, and stopped swimming. Only to see the rest of the swimmers swimming furiously toward the far wall. It only cost me about 10 seconds (and a red face!) Someone told me later that the flashing light I saw might have had something to do with the timing. I'm still not sure how the ref actually does signal a false start.
