The Masters Swimming Thread!

[KSH]

Lynette... cool video!

A 32 second 50 is FAST in my book lady! I don't think I could do that! Although, I have always been a distance swimmer... not a sprinter.

I guess I would ask, how did you fair in the sprint tri on the swim? Were you first... last... somewhere in between? With a 50 that fast, I would think you would be in the top of your AG.

Keep in mind that a lot triathletes come from a running or cycling backgroun. The ones with a swimming background really stand out, because they are decent in the water.

Your "old school" stroke looked pretty good. I saw you doing the "S" underwater. I did notice that your elbows were not too high and your right elbow was lower than the left. From a distance in the video it almost looked like the arm was dragging through the water some to come to the front.

Well, see how the TI works. Maybe you will be faster? Let us know how it works out. I'm curious.

I know for me... I figured if it ain't broke... don't fix it. My "old school" stroke is what my body knows, and it generally places me top 3 in my AG out of the water.

It's really nice too because I can get away with only training one day week. For my Half Ironman I trained once a week around 3500-4000 yards and I did around a 1:50 per minute on the 2100 yard swim. I also came out of the water fresh and feeling good. That's what matters!

[Wahine]

I am very strong through my upper boday and with a more traditional freestyle stroke I was as fast if not a little faster over shorter distances. But with the TI stroke, I can hold my pace for much longer and my stroke count over 50 m has gone down by more than 10. That translates into a lot less effort to go the same distance and in triathlon, that's what it's all about.

[Over50Newbie]

This is a great discussion. Thanks, ladies, for letting me join in!

A 32 second 50 is FAST in my book lady! I don't think I could do that! Although, I have always been a distance swimmer... not a sprinter.

Not a 32 second 50, a 35 second 50. (I wish it was a 32). And, thanks, I'm glad you like the video!

Oh, and yes, I usually finish either first or second in my age group for the swimming section of the sprint tris that I have done, but to be honest, this really doesn't mean a lot, because there are so few women in my age competing.

Wahine, the same thing is happening to me with my swimming. My stroke count is starting to go way down. I like the idea that this might translate to less effort for longer distances. As I said before, TI is all new to me, so we will have to see as time goes on if that is true. Though I know for sure that I am gliding more now than I used to.

Light Saber, yes, TI means Total Immersion. Here is the web site if you want to see what it is all about.

http://www.totalimmersion.net

Goodnight Ladies,

Lynette

[HillSlugger]

One thing TI did work on which I loved, was balance. I float much more easily now and my legs don't sink

Is this explained in the book? I've always been a sinker and I definitely suffer from sinking hips. I'd love to be able to improve this!

[teigyr]

Is this explained in the book? I've always been a sinker and I definitely suffer from sinking hips. I'd love to be able to improve this!

It is in the book. I don't have the book with me but I do have the Triathlon Swimming Made Easy book here. It's all about balance. I know when I practice and start to sink, I remember to lower my head and upper body a bit and my legs pop right back up. I will say that the lessons are making more of a difference than the book just because I may think I am in line or balanced and it turns out the reality is my head is up and my legs are down It's so strange to feel like my head is buried in the water but when I feel the top of my head, it isn't as deep as I think it is. I bet if you search the TI website you will find things on balance. There is also a discussion board there.

Washine, I'm glad you find TI useful. Because the coaching is somewhat expensive and because I'm practicing drills instead of "traditional" swimming, I am/was second-guessing my decision to do this. It's a lot of money and I'm fortunate in that I just have to say I need something and DH agrees but I'd hate to waste money on something useless. Thank you for that

[csh_01]

Mind if I join in as well? I'm taking an intro to master swim class. The Master swim class was a little intimidating to me. We've been swimming about 2200 yards. I'm not sure how much more I can swim in an hour. We've been timing our 100's the last few classes to see if we're improving. A few classes ago it was 1:37 and last night it was 1:30. We've also been working on lengthening our stroke. I started at 21 strokes/25 yards and now am about 18.

I just picked up the TI book from the library. I don't know how fast a 1:30 or 18 stroke per 25 yard is to decide if I should try and change my swimming style.

[Wahine]

This morning:

200 warm up

400 IM with fins done as 25 kick/25 drill/25 kick/25 drill

then 2 sets of:

50 fly
50 fly/50 back
50 back/50 breast
50 breast/100 freestyle

then 200 IM

then 12 50's in various forms

then 200 cool down.

I hate IM day. Yikes. Well if it doesn't kill you....

[Over50Newbie]

Wahine, I am very impressed!

That is quite the workout.

WOW - You go girl!

Lynette

[HillSlugger]

I had my best swim ever this morning; I swam 1000m continuous freestyle for the first time ever and I swam a total of 2000m, my longest workout ever.

[Running Mommy]

Good Job MD!

I had a break through lastnight in masters. I was struggling to keep up with everyone all night. Then Claudio came over to my lane and told me to tuck my head a bit more. I did that and suddenly I was beatng the guy in the lane next to me down the pool! And I did feel the difference when I pushed my big ol noggin down. I felt a lot more balanced.
Now if I can just get down the bilateral breathing thing! UGH!

[alpinerabbit]

Good going both of ya!

I did much better on the back stroke this monday than at butterfly the week before, but incurred some rather sore muscles.

[Kimmyt]

I haven't popped in here for a while, so here's an update. It seems like all yall are doing really well!

We've been doing backstroke in the past few weeks, and I'm starting to hate it. I always like backstroke, but with drills... its really tiring and I really feel it on my run home. Very winded.

I actually took yesterday off from class, stayed home and watched a movie (Farewell my concubine, very good!)

RM, i recently discovered the similar thing. When I drop my head in the water during freestyle, push my forehead down a bit, i almost feel like i'm physically shoving that water around me. It's very odd. It feels really nice though, and powerful, and I think a bit faster. The only problem I'm having with that is that by dropping my head, I have to rotate more to get a breath, and I'm ending up with water in my mouth more often than not. It doesn't go down my throat, but I don't get a really awesome breath in like I used to when my head was further up towards the surface. Any tips on this?

K.

[Wahine]

Good job everyone.

Way to go MD. That is really a big deal!!

I'll spare you the boring details but I swam 3 mornings this week with Masters. I thought I was going to die all 3 mornings. 2 days had a lot of stroke work which tires me out and on the freestyle day we had a hideously hard set. I was even a bit pukey.

Good news is that I feel really good. Like I'm getting enough exercise but not fatigued. I haven't felt like that in a while. I'll start training for real again (ie running and maybe biking) in mid Nov or beginnig of Dec. I'm starting to get excited about setting up a program.

[teigyr]

Wahine - because you've used TI at times, do you do your Master's practice using that form? Since I've taken the TI course and am doing drills now, it's a bit frustrating. Can you effectively go back and forth between forms or do you just use one that you've modified that's all-purpose? There are some swim clinics up here that I'd like to go to but I wonder if that would conflict with the TI lessons. The winter is all about swimming but I want to see progress, darn it!

[Wahine]

I use TI now, pretty exclusively. Having said that, there's always individuality in form and my current form is not pure TI but a blend of TI and my pre-TI form.

From a PT point of view, to make the TI form automatic you have to commit yourself to always practicing it. If you switch back and forth and change your stroke significantly when you switch, you form will suffer at both ends. It have to do with imprinting the nervous system with the right motor commands.

I would try to do all TI, understanding that when you don't concentrate as hard you will be swimming a combination. You will be slower for a while.