The Butterfly Lane

Hi. I'm new to this thread..and new to Master's Swimmer. I was a swimmer as a child up throughout high school. I swam IMs and Fly and Free. Now 25 years later, I'm starting almost from scratch. The only evidence I have that I WAS a swimmer is a "good looking" Fly. Problem is..after 3 months of swimming, I'm only swimming a 25 Fly a few times a week. (It hasn't been a huge focus until NOW). Now I want to be able to swim easily 50 Meters..and eventually more. Where do I start??? I'm honestly not sure why I can't finish a 50 meter lap. I just fall apart..I don't know if it's overall conditioning, fatigue in my upper body or what. Can anyone (or everyone!!) give me an idea on how to progressively work on my distance (without feeling defeated) so I can get up to a 200 Fly by December?? (Yes, a check off challenge member!) I'll do drills, use fins , pull buoys, anything!!! Please any or all advise is requested!!!! Oh..maybe intense cardio outside the pool??? Just feeling like I don't know where to start. :welcome: When I got back into swimming and joined USMS three years ago, I could barely swim 25 yards of fly and was ecstatic when I worked up to being able to compete in a 50. It was a combination of technique and conditioning that got me there. Between coaching, feedback on my videos on this thread, and building up my fly yardage in training, I was ultimately ready to attempt a 200 fly in practice to see if I could do it in a meet. I guess I was ready long before that attempt, because I kept going after 200 and stopped at 900. And, that 900 was continuous. Two weeks later, I swam 2,000 yards of continuous fly. That was last June, at the age of 50. Believe me, if I can do it (almost) ANYBODY can do it. If you knew my medical history, you would understand why I am so sure when I say that... So, this is what you do: 1. Get somebody to video your butterfly, upload it to YouTube, and then post the link on this thread. You will get great feedback on your stroke; probably from That Guy, an AWESOME flyer. :cheerleader: 2. Work on correcting whatever needs to be corrected when you train. 3. Build up your fly yardage slowly. 4. I found that in order to swim any more than 50 yards of fly, I MUST breathe every stroke to get enough air. If your lungs feel like they can't handle breathing every other stroke, breathe every stroke. :drowning: 5. Listen to any advice That Guy gives you on this thread; he knows his stuff. And, so does James Adams. :agree: 6. Good luck! And, keep us posted! :D

Hi. I'm new to this thread..and new to Master's Swimmer. I was a swimmer as a child up throughout high school. I swam IMs and Fly and Free. Now 25 years later, I'm starting almost from scratch. The only evidence I have that I WAS a swimmer is a "good looking" Fly. Problem is..after 3 months of swimming, I'm only swimming a 25 Fly a few times a week. (It hasn't been a huge focus until NOW). Now I want to be able to swim easily 50 Meters..and eventually more. Where do I start??? I'm honestly not sure why I can't finish a 50 meter lap. I just fall apart..I don't know if it's overall conditioning, fatigue in my upper body or what. Can anyone (or everyone!!) give me an idea on how to progressively work on my distance (without feeling defeated) so I can get up to a 200 Fly by December?? (Yes, a check off challenge member!) I'll do drills, use fins , pull buoys, anything!!! Please any or all advise is requested!!!! Oh..maybe intense cardio outside the pool??? Just feeling like I don't know where to start. :welcome: When I got back into swimming and joined USMS three years ago, I could barely swim 25 yards of fly and was ecstatic when I worked up to being able to compete in a 50. It was a combination of technique and conditioning that got me there. Between coaching, feedback on my videos on this thread, and building up my fly yardage in training, I was ultimately ready to attempt a 200 fly in practice to see if I could do it in a meet. I guess I was ready long before that attempt, because I kept going after 200 and stopped at 900. And, that 900 was continuous. Two weeks later, I swam 2,000 yards of continuous fly. That was last June, at the age of 50. Believe me, if I can do it (almost) ANYBODY can do it. If you knew my medical history, you would understand why I am so sure when I say that... So, this is what you do: 1. Get somebody to video your butterfly, upload it to YouTube, and then post the link on this thread. You will get great feedback on your stroke; probably from That Guy, an AWESOME flyer. :cheerleader: 2. Work on correcting whatever needs to be corrected when you train. 3. Build up your fly yardage slowly. 4. I found that in order to swim any more than 50 yards of fly, I MUST breathe every stroke to get enough air. If your lungs feel like they can't handle breathing every other stroke, breathe every stroke. :drowning: 5. Listen to any advice That Guy gives you on this thread; he knows his stuff. And, so does James Adams. :agree: 6. Good luck! And, keep us posted! :D