Swim Happy 2021

Great idea! New thread for the new swim year especially now that so many more people have pools opening and can swim again. Here's what I posted in the old thread, sharing here to share the happiness. 

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Hello all!

It's been a while since I posted anything (old forum name was Zwemmer) but I wanted to check in and reconnect with people here. 

To recap: swam high school and college, took 32+ years off and returned to the pool in summer 2018 swimming with Palmetto Masters in Charleston, South Carolina. This year was crazy as I moved from SC to Colorado Springs and after two months of almost no training (moving is fun! ha!) just started swimming with Pikes Peak Masters on June 1st. Getting used to the altitude and enjoying a great pool & team.

Posting all this here for the reasons already mentioned and to also say how happy I am to be in Colorado, to be swimming, and to be once again inspired by all the Olympic Trials swimming goin on. And very much looking forward to getting in shape to go to USMS Nationals next year and breaking some records. Last year saw me get 7 USMS All American awards in the 55-59 age group and to be FINA world-ranked in 6 SCM events. 

So yup! I'm definitely swim happy. 

Very nice!  I'm trying to figure my best chances to get into the world rankings for SCM this fall... Maybe 50/100 back?  Assuming my LMSC actually has their annual SCM meet, that is.  Tough in the 30-34 age group because sometimes some elite swimmers are dual-registered so their times at World Cup or Worlds or Euros or whatever count for Masters too.  

I hope it works out well! With this being an Olympic year and a delayed Olympic year I think a lot of other meets and goals are all over the place. Now I need to work on LCM so I can get some other rankings. :-) But first adapt to altitude. Which is much more interesting than I thought it would be. 

I never really swam more than a couple days at once in altitude so I never got to experience adaptation.

Though adapting for LCM is and adventure for me since I make my swimming living on the walls and underwaters.  Especially since Nats in July is SCY...

I love walls & underwater, too. Always have. So I have the same kind of adventure with LCM....about halfway down the pool I start to get the turn-twitch. :-) 

I'd made it my goal to swim a 5K for the (now-virtual) Cross for LifeFlight swim - and on Sunday, I succeeded!  Actually, it turned into 6.1K, because nature is not a perfect circle.  Not fast, by any means (2h53m4s) and I was tiring by the end, but I didn't feel as bad as I thought I would.  I had a friend as my support kayaker who kept me encouraged and hydrated.  Couldn't have done it without her, for sure. 

That's awesome, Badger!  Congratulations!

I just do what I can. Worked out from age 45 to 50. Dropped out until age 59 to age 64 no times in the top 10 and only could masters qualifying at ages 45 and 46 in 100 meter and 500 meter breastroke. Its good for my health. Mainly do the local senior olympics which is not registered with us masters. There is a state meet with senior olympics that counts with masters. I might swim the local polar beat but its close to the local senior Olympics. Anyway, did two of the three 100 yard Im under 2;!0 that doesn't sound fast but my Im time is similar to breastroke times do th a slower backstroke.

This is to encourage us with our swimming even though the person is track and field. He once was homeless and only went to the 8th grade. A very successful sprint runner in his early 70's.nsga.com/.../