The Masters Swimming Thread!

[Over50Newbie]

KSH,

Very interesting points.

And, I have to tell you that I feel the same way. Especially when you say that immersion swimming is a good technique to help people learn to swim, but is not that helpful for those of us that consider ourselves more "accomplished" swimmers. But I have this coach that is an immersion swimming nut. He feels that it is the "end all" to swimming. So, I have decided to give it a try to see if it helps me be a faster swimmer. But I'm not really convinced that it is going to help me at all.

I also swam competitively as a child. I learned to swim through the American Red Cross swimming program. I have always swum freestyle staying completely on my stomach. I also swam freestyle with my arms swinging out without a great deal of bend in my arms.

I actually have a videotape of me swimming the 50 yard freestyle in a swim meet last year (my very first swim meet as an adult) and you can see my old form.

This is what I looked like.

http://s97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...=Freestyle.flv

My time for the 50 yard freestyle was 35.5 seconds. Not extremely fast, but not that slow either - for an old lady.

I am going to be in another swim meet next month and I am also going to do the 50 yard freestyle again, trying out my new form. This will mean more bend in my elbows and trying to rotate more from side to side.

I am pessimistic that my time is going to improve, but I am going to give it my best shot!

How is all of this going to transfer to swimming in triathlons? I have no idea! Right now I am only doing sprint tris. I did my first one last year and I plan on trying some more next summer.

I have now been working on changing my form with immersion swimming for about 4 months. I'm really hoping that it will help me be a better swimmer. I guess I'll find out soon. But I must admit, I am having lots of fun exploring this new stuff. I guess that you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Lynette