Master's Swim? Really? This is helpful?

[Kimmyt]

Keep in mind that most masters coaches are just that, coaches. They are not instructors. They are there to take someone who swims passably well and perhaps make them a bit faster. As others said, they tend to provide a structured workout environment for those who want to train in that manner. Perhaps some of the snottiness of your coach is because he is 1)not paid very well (this is likely, at $22/person!) and 2) you are expecting more of him than he is willing to give.

Here is a way to think of it, imagine a college professor and a first grade teacher. Both are intelligent and adept at making the young mind learn. However, one is particularly suited to helping children in the formative years learn to do very basic skills but skills that require huge leaps of the mind, i.e. learning to read. Whereas the other teaches very highly developed skills and knowledge to people who already have the rudimentary skills down pat. I think of a Masters coach as similar to the professor. They might be really good at shaving seconds off of someone's IM time and explaining how to do a very fast flip turn, but ask them to teach a screaming, scared 5-year old how to swim (or for that matter to teach a person who doesn't have a competitive swimming background how to do an efficient open water stroke), and they'll struggle. Or just not want to do it.

It seems like this Masters team is not what you're looking for and maybe you should look elsewhere. With a tri coming up in a month you should be focusing on what you want to focus on, not a workout that is not necessarily geared towards tri's.

I belong to a Master's team, but if I only had a month to go before a tri I would not be taking part in Masters, unless they were very geared towards tris. I would be in the pool just logging yards.

In the off-season, however, Masters is a good way to get stronger and build skills (and alleviate off-season boredom).

K.

[MartianDestiny]

Perhaps some of the snottiness of your coach is because he is 1)not paid very well (this is likely, at $22/person!) and 2) you are expecting more of him than he is willing to give.

I can almost guarantee his salary is subsidized by the rec. program at the University in addition to what we pay, and he was snotty from the second I walked in the door (before he even knew I was a) a triathlete or b) a not-so-great swimmer). IMO, he's "snotty" (honestly I just think it's poor social/coaching skills) because he's a college undergraduate male...

I do understand what you are saying, and I agree it's not the class for me and that is not entirely his fault. In my defense here is the class description:

Master's Swim is a program designed to provide a structured workout environment for different types of swimmers, ranging from those individuals looking to work out for general fitness, to individuals looking to refine their strokes, and also to competitive athletes. Workouts vary from emphasizing endurance and building fitness, to speed work and stroke development. All levels are encouraged to join.

This seems not very accurate in hindsight, especially that last part. It also seems different (on paper) than most Master's programs, but not different in practice.

[MartianDestiny]

Colby, I certainly wouldn't scoff at a $25 or so difference if I could find private or semi private lessons/instruction instead of a class. Even if it was once a week. That to me would be a good deal. Unfortunately, even the very reasonable $85 you quote is over $60 more than the classes.

[tulip]

What about just getting a tri-training book out of the library and doing the swim workouts on your own?