Hey, solo swimmers! :wave: Welcome to the thread for all of us who train solo. Whether you train on your own due to a lack of a Masters team in your area (or for any other reason), this is our virtual locker room. Please post training tips that you think would be helpful, or anything else you would like to share with the rest of us. Have a rant? Go ahead and vent here! :rantonoff:
I'll start with a tip:
The most frustrating thing for me training solo is not having a coach on deck to evaluate my stroke and keep me on track, so I bought a waterproof camera and enlisted the help of my husband to periodically shoot video of all four strokes. Shooting underwater video became a knee/back buster, so I bought a camera mount and attached it to PVC pipe, so my husband could stand up straight to shoot underwater video. The camera gets dunked underwater, and he twists the pipe to pan the camera as I swim by.
Today, I bought a 2-pack of 12-inch "Gear Tie" reusable rubber twist ties (available at Home Depot), so I can tie the PVC pipe to the pool ladder (located in the corner of the pool) and shoot video myself. (If I angle the camera just right and keep it on wide angle, I can video me coming and going.)
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After each video session, I upload the videos to my desktop computer and compare my stroke to my favorite Go Swim stroke videos to see what I'm doing well (or not). I also post them on the Forums for feedback.
Ok, solo swimmers, what's your tip?
I had a great time on Wednesday at the Alabama Senior Olympics, a qualifying meet for the National Senior Games in 2019. Three of my teammates and I decided to take a pass on Georgia's Golden Olympics in September, because the facility in Warner Robins is the PITS. The pool is outdoors, there is very little shade (canopies get very hot, too, so I avoid them), the air temp. is typically in the 90's, the water temp. in the mid-80's, the poorly run (and hand-timed) meet lasts over eight ours until the sun is setting on the 500 free swimmers, and the restrooms are disgusting.
Hoover's Recreation Center is an AWESOME facility in comparison. You should see the locker rooms! It was a dream in comparison, and the whole thing was over in five hours (the medal ceremony took up an hour of that). The meet was well-run, and it was electronically timed.
It was a FAST-PACED meet for me. In two hours, I raced the 100 fly, 50 ***, 400 IM, 200 fly, 200 IM, and 200 ***. My times were better than in my past two meets for most of my events, though, so I was happy! I also beat out three others in my two breaststroke events to win golds, and all of my other events were uncontested in my age group. Six golds, and I'm qualified for Albuquerque! :bliss:
I had a great time on Wednesday at the Alabama Senior Olympics, a qualifying meet for the National Senior Games in 2019. Three of my teammates and I decided to take a pass on Georgia's Golden Olympics in September, because the facility in Warner Robins is the PITS. The pool is outdoors, there is very little shade (canopies get very hot, too, so I avoid them), the air temp. is typically in the 90's, the water temp. in the mid-80's, the poorly run (and hand-timed) meet lasts over eight ours until the sun is setting on the 500 free swimmers, and the restrooms are disgusting.
Hoover's Recreation Center is an AWESOME facility in comparison. You should see the locker rooms! It was a dream in comparison, and the whole thing was over in five hours (the medal ceremony took up an hour of that). The meet was well-run, and it was electronically timed.
It was a FAST-PACED meet for me. In two hours, I raced the 100 fly, 50 ***, 400 IM, 200 fly, 200 IM, and 200 ***. My times were better than in my past two meets for most of my events, though, so I was happy! I also beat out three others in my two breaststroke events to win golds, and all of my other events were uncontested in my age group. Six golds, and I'm qualified for Albuquerque! :bliss:
