Breaking 1:00 in the 100 free SCY for the 1st time

I swam 58.40 at age 40 in my first meet since I was 13. I'm pretty sure I didn't break 1:00 as and age grouper... I was very slow back then. Right now, I'm shooting for breaking 2:00 in the 200. I swam 2:11 back in February... maybe next year.

I started swimming in 2000, at age 48, and though I knew how to swim (kind of) had never swam competitively before. In 2005, at age 53, I went 59.23. I haven't broken 1:00 since though I've been close several times (1:00.04 in Atlanta last year).

I started swimming in 2008, aged 58, and at my first meet ever, in 2009, I went 1:08.xx in the hundred. The following year I went 1:10.xx, and this year I went 1:09.xx. Like you guys, I'd love to do a 100 in under a minute before I finally hang up my goggles. I know I've got a ways to go. The good news is that for someone who started so late, I'm still getting faster, whereas most of my comrades who grew up swimming age group and/or college can only decline.:D

Related question I've been curious about... has anyone that didn't swim competitively in high school or college ever swam a top ten USMS time?

Related question I've been curious about... has anyone that didn't swim competitively in high school or college ever swam a top ten USMS time? I know of at least two people in my workout group that do it regularly...one reason is that they are in the 75-79 group, and swim the more difficult "no one wants to swim" events. Neither of them swam when they were in H.S. or college. One was in the Navy, but didn't "swim".

Charlotte Davis has 101 USMS Top Ten times and 11 world records and she never swam in high school. She quit competitive swimming at age 13 to compete in synchro. PNA's Wet Set newsletter just did a story about her last month: www.swimpna.org/.../2011_03_Wet.pdf Of the people who have posted in this thread I've seen both poolraat and cheakamus swim in person. Both these guy have nice, efficient strokes and when they're in the water they "look like swimmers." I think that's the key. Unless you've got good technique you aren't going to swim fast.

Related question I've been curious about... has anyone that didn't swim competitively in high school or college ever swam a top ten USMS time? I got a couple of UK top 10s in 2002/2003 having swum (hopefully that is the right choice of swim/swam/swum) competitively as a kid at a much, much lower level than the US high schools (think summer rec standard, all volunteer coaching etc, but year-round at 2-3 sessions per week). I did no swimming in college or for a few years after - this was 1992-1999. I think I got 200 fly LC and SC, 800 LC free and maybe 400 LC free (Unfortunately the ASA/Britishswimming web records are either non-existent or un-searchable). So not the most popular events - also there were precious few LC Masters meets, so if you could actually swim in one, you were in for a shot at a top 10. I never swam those events as a kid at all, never swam LC until I was a master - the longest event we used to swim was the 200 free and that was only once a year. My PR for the 100 SCM free stands at 1.09.xx done when I was 17 or 18 to give you an idea of how good/bad I was. I'm now at 1.04 SCY and would love to break that 1.00 barrier. However currently I'm concentrating on my 200 fly again, to see if I can get a USMS top 10 :D That was a long answer to a short question:blah:

Congrats to those who have "broken through". My fastest as an age grouper was 1:03.7 at age 17. This past weekend I did a 1:01.61. I'm inching up on the below 1:00 mark :)

I had been swimming with masters groups since 1998, with no prior swimming experience...no kids groups, no high school, no college. To this date, my best 100 SCY free is 1:00.33 at a meet, 1:02 in practice.

I know of at least two people in my workout group that do it regularly...one reason is that they are in the 75-79 group, and swim the more difficult "no one wants to swim" events. That's my backup plan... Top ten by attrition. Charlotte Davis has 101 USMS Top Ten times and 11 world records and she never swam in high school.Great story! If only I'd gone into synchronized swiming.