The Masters Swimming Thread!

[Kimmyt]

Regale us with your tales of derring-do from Masters classes (or, heck, just tell us about your latest lap session!)!

Had my first Masters class yesterday. Last year was my first season, and I entered into the class 1/2 way through so I missed the warm-fuzzy start and just got tossed into the deep end. Hah.

Yesterday it was odd because there was some new people and it felt weird to be considered the experienced one, even though there are alot of people that are faster than me, I guess now I'm officially the fastest in the slow lane?

Except for this one guy who was in class for the first time, and he was really good. He had me struggling to keep up when we were doing our 75 intervals. It was nice to be pushed. Last season I found a guy who swam just a tad faster than me, and he was my favorite lane partner. This guy will probably move up lanes pretty quickly, but I was feeling okay. And The Boy survived and did pretty dang well, despite his nerves about drowning!

My foot did start to hurt again during the kick. Does anyone have any experience with wrapping a foot during a swim workout? It never hurts any other time, even in running, but when I kick it just aggravates the heck out of the tendons in the floppy part of the ankle, and normally I love kicking and am a very strong kicker so this is upsetting.

Oh, and this was fun, The Boy and I decided it was useless to fire up the car for the 1 mile drive over to class, and just as useless to get on the bike (especially considering it would be dark on the ride home). So we implemented our new form of commuting, and ran over there and then ran home, which was actually quite a nice bookend for the workout!

Yay swim season!

K.

[light_sabe_r]

Great thread Kimmyt!

I did my third class yesterday... OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I SIGNED UP FOR!!! I'm aching all over this morning!



I've never learnt how to swim breast stroke. Or should I say people have tried to teach me but I've failed misserably! So we were doing medleys yesterday and while I kept pace with everyone on butterfly and backstroke, I became a floundering piggy on the breaststroke... No power, no rythum, no co-ordination what's so ever. Dog paddle would have looked more dignified...

My coach is good though. And my class is small and I'm the "new girl" so they're all nice and understanding. ^_^

[Running Mommy]

Went to masters lastnight. I got Tony in the water. He's suppose to be doing IMAZ next year, so he needs masters in a bad way. He LOVED it!!
Claudio the instructor is just the BEST! He is one of those people who just makes everyone around them feel better about themselves. He's a super fast triathlete- 10th at IMAZ last year- yet he doesn't look down his nose at anyone. He's just so dang excited about his sport, and so positive.
He's working with a girl named Jen who is pregnant with twin girls. She's due in Jan but looks like she could go anytime. She is so helpful with correcting your stroke.
Yeah I'm the slowest girl in the pool. My 100 time has come down three seconds in a week! At a whopping 2:22.. YEE HAW! But Claudio swears there is hope for me...
I will say though that the drills are hard, the sets are hard, the kicking sets stink, but it's also a bucket o fun! I have always been so inimidated by masters, but it really isn't THAT scary. I'm bummed that I didn't find claudio sooner. I could have had a killer swim last April dang it!

[crazycanuck]

I swim twice a week with a tri group & love it. Carol(coach) is a cool gal/woman/chick/kahuna..

I might be a bit slow but I try and push myself as much as I can. I try and draft off people if i can.

I'm known to be the strong kid when it comes to kickboard drills I hate pull buoys..

One thing that's made a diff is my new prescription goggles I can see

I bewieve we do about 1.5km total when we swim. I'd like to do an open water swim event this summer and am using the sessions to build confidence.

I'd like to do some open water swimming practice but the water's a bit cold at the moment..that and all the storms have washed ashore some lovely looking jellyfish that i'd rather not encounter at the moment..

C

[rocknrollgirl]

Yo,
I did about 2500 last night. A timed 500, some short sprint intervals and some 100 repeats.

The good news is that the DH started sswimming with me in the pool in May and he is doing great. Two weeks ago he was able to swim all of my intervals on the short distance sets. He is doing so well. It is fun to experience it with him.


We are both worried about the cold water in Tahoe in two weeks, but whatcha gonna do!

[HillSlugger]

I'm paranoid about going to masters, thinking I'm just not good enough yet. I felt this same way about going to open lap swims so I know it's something I just need to get past. Perhaps I can psych myself up for the winter session.

Since my swimming emphasis is on swimming for triathlon what is the value in practicing strokes other than freestyle?

BTW, should we ask TE for a separate swimming forum?

[Kimmyt]

I guess everyone's season has started!

MD, every Masters class is different, so I think you'll have to at least try one session with yours (often the coaches will let you take part in one session to see if you like it or not) to see if you'll like it. For example, RM said her coach is a triathlete, so I imagine her class might have a bit different of a focus from mine, which is taught by an ex-competitive swimmer, and as far as I know he doesn't do tris. In fact, the majority of people in my class are competitive swimmers, taking part in USMS swim meets. There is a growing number of triathlon swimmers in our club, but our season (40 weeks) is broken up into different focus sessions. For the first month we focus on drills and technique. Then we'll start to focus on swim meet stuff, which doesn't really help me all that much with tris, but the speed sets do pay off, and my general fitness level increases alot. Then we go towards distance swims, and finally focus on open water techniques.

We are starting at easier volumes, about 1000 yards a night, reaching as high as 3000 or more during peak season.

I know what you mean about the virtues (or vices) of focusing on other strokes when you only use free. I've found it's a nice cross-training, but I don't REALLY focus, particularly on speed, other than in freestyle. For example, I try and learn all I can about the other strokes during the technique portion of the course, but once we get into the competitive swim season, there's no need for me to throw a shoulder out trying to keep up with the ex-collegiate swimmers who can do butterfly all night. I'll try and get my flip turns down, but won't focus on them later in teh season when we're doing distance, and I only bother with block dives and meet regulations as a way to keep from being bored by the same old. So I'll do any laps that have other strokes if they're slower, but if we're doing say 250 yards of butterfly, I'll do the first one or two of fly but then go on to free. I use my judgement, and the coach is pretty leniant on this stuff, but it may vary depending on your class style. I don't like to do alot of fly because it hurts my shoulders, and breaststroke for me is slower than molasses, so in the end I'll usually replace the majority of these laps with free and not feel too guilty.

K.

[HillSlugger]

My swim coach had me doing free and back. I never asked why back when she knew I was training for triathlon. I think it may have something to do with exercising the opposite groups of muscles. For me, back blows out my thighs meaning I'd be completely toasted for the ride so it's not even good as a fall-off from free in an open swim, etc. I did it when she requested it, but I never practiced it during lap swims (I can't hold a straight line and need a lane all to myself if I want to practice it).

Since I've stopped with my swim lessons I feel I need something else pushing me on. Masters may be a good thing, or maybe I'll look for another coach.

[Wahine]

I would echo what Kimmy said. You should make yourself go out and do it for 1 week then decide if you want to continue. All groups are different. I love my masters group but we're on a hiatus right now while the pool is getting maintainence.

As for the different strokes, I like Kimmy's approach. It is good to try the others. Backstroke helps to each some of the aspects of roll and body position in the water and that translates to a faster freestyle. Butterfly really works your catch at the top of the stroke and your abs, also good for your freestyle and breast stroke improves your pull through the top half of the stroke. But you also don't want to wreck your season by doing butterfly when you might be hurting your shoulder.

[teigyr]

What IS Masters? The OW coach I had swam Masters and he said I should go. I know they do some OW swims and some pool swims. There's a pool right near my house that does Masters swimming at a really convenient time to me but the group says they are gay/lesbian so I'm not so sure they'd want me.

How does one go about finding a group near them? Is it an organization (ie you are a member) or is it a group and you pay them? I never even knew it existed until about 4 weeks ago but now I want to keep up on swimming. Is there a website that lists all Masters groups? I tried to look and couldn't find one.

[mcoleman]

Masters is really just a swim team for adults. There is a national organization with a website that can help you find practices in your area as well as swim meets, ets-http://www.usms.org.
I am officially the slowest swimmer at our practice, but everyone including the coach is very supportive. I only really learned to swim 4 years ago for triathlons and I am still learning. My biggest accomplishment lately is breathing on both sides. We are still working on little things like butterfly & breast-I am just not coordinated enough. DH is a swimmer, which is why I started, and his theory is that the better all around swimmer you are, the easier your tri swims will be.

[Torrilin]

My swim coach had me doing free and back. I never asked why back when she knew I was training for triathlon. I think it may have something to do with exercising the opposite groups of muscles.

IME, you a better workout by swapping strokes. Less risk of a repetitive motion injury, and more muscles get worked. Also, working on form on a stroke that you'll "never use" tends to pay off. You get a better feel for how your body moves through the water under a variety of circumstances. No big deal if you're only ever in a pool, but a very big deal in open water.

I actually wish more instructors taught things like somersaults and other basic underwater gymnastics. Good way to get a "this end up" map into your brain.

[light_sabe_r]

WOW! I swam 2.5km this morning! We were set to do 2.8k!

I still got double lapped at one stage... But that's okay... The two people who double lapped me had been doing squad for many seasons.

I'm SOOOOOOO SLOW! and SOOOO unfit. My couch is trying to build up my water endurance so we go as far I can and when I really start to drop off the back... he makes me stop and rest. I've been told to put flippers on for the second half of the main sets because to try and just finish. To build up the base level so I can start swimming fast and keep up.

I really enjoyed it this morning though. I got to do over 300m backstroke which is my favourite. It was a fast 300 for me too. Why can't my freestyle be as fast as my backstroke eh??

I know we're supposed to do different strokes to work different muscles... But breaststroke is damn terrible! I'm trying my best... I just dunno how people do it!

Torrilin YUP. I agree. I'd love to learn turns! And somersaults are a part of that.

[crazycanuck]

I had a great swim this morning but i still struggle with the recovery breast stroke lap..I just go so slow that i often just do backstroke(we're told during whatever drill we might be doing that the recovery lap can be stroke of our choice.)

Our main set was 8X 100's, timed. I went too hard out on the first 2 100's but managed a time of 2:02. It went downhill from there and the next 2 100's were 2:10.. The last 100 i can't remember It was suggested to try and aim for 2:10, which i shall do on MOnday.

Kicking drills werreeee grrrrrreaaaat! Have i told you i love kicking drills (without a board i'm a bit wonky..)

C

psst Light-did you watch The Chasers war on everything last night?? Hhaaaaa haaaaaa

[light_sabe_r]

psst: CC... BF and I were in stiches... Got hooked last year! BF was a big of CNNNN and he got me into it!

By the way I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person who struggles with Breaststroke.