Meade said:
I haven’t done a flip turn in 20 years!
It’s like riding a bike!
When you’re doing a hard set, you can just skip an interval if you don’t feel like doing it!
Get out of the water and go to the bathroom whenever you want!
lol dude nice post. I’m an AG coach currently and I should (or shouldn’t) show this to my kids.
Wait until you learn about masters minute and bonus 10. I train for competition in a masters group. Fairly serious. Coach puts all sorts of stuff in the practice, from hypoxic breathing to 2000 yard sets with 2 min total rest. Right when the going gets tough and you need to bear down and endure 'cause it’s gonna pay off yada yada yada, third in the lane goes ‘masters minute.’ And we pretend we got lost in the set and dither for a minute. Coach knows, we know she knows, we know she knows. Nothing is said, no judgement.
Also, I found out I was the only one in the whole team who even tries hypoxic shit. It’s all for fun.
I took a 10 year break from the sport then got back into Masters. I’m happy with my relationship with it now. But I’ve noticed that I don’t get more or less out of it than people who didn’t go through the grind that I did. They swim for fitness, they compete, they work to improve, they enjoy being in a team/community, and hell some of them are faster than me. So it’s made me wonder if the huge amount of time I spent on swimming in my younger years was actually worth it in terms of opportunity cost.
Personally, I will encourage my kids to maintain a diversity of activities, even multiple seasonal sports. As they get older, they can choose if they really want to take a crack at excelling at something through focused time/effort investment, but in swimming that tends to happen way too early in my opinion, blocking out even the opportunity for kids to try other activities.
-Multiple state champ from ages 10-14 who predictably burned out by the end of high school and couldn’t even consider the possibility of not swimming until I was a senior in college.
I joined a master’s team 15 years after my last competitive league and everyone hangs on the lane lines and it gives me a n x i e t y
What the hell is turtle breathing?
Amari said:
What the hell is turtle breathing?
Instead of breathing to the side, you lift your head forward and breathe in before the flip turn. Major no no in racing, but as OP said, who cares?
I have it up after high school, 20 years later swam in a for fun meet, remembered after my first swim that I was done racing and very happy for it. Now I do 1600 yards a couple times a week. Hold myself to an interval most of the time, but do what I want. And I enjoy it. That’s all that matters.
Me af I have swum 3 times since retiring from college… so burnt out every time I try and convince myself I might enjoy it I do the exact same thing. Lol
Took me 20 years to find the love again. D1 swimming has a way of making you hate it 
:male_sign:
Great post. If I even saw a whiteboard on the deck I’d gtfo.
You should get some fins to feel like a god again every once in a while.
For me, not doing circle swimming has made swimming a joy. No longer am I trying to time a pass or worry about whether I should let someone pass me at the wall.
Huge difference. I have no issues splitting a lane but I will get out and wait if I have to circle swim.
I swim laps mostly, decades after high school team. Some days I just kinda free swim though.
Although I never swam competitively - I’m slow AF - I feel you. Even in a busy pool there’s a certain zen.
I burned out my second season in college and decided to stick with diving. Best decision I ever made. I had been forced into club competitive swimming at 5 years old. I had a knack for it and my parents wanted to relive their youth through me. I loved diving and was not encouraged to make it a priority.
Once I quit swimming I broke the majority of the rules just because I could.
I go swimming daily for around an hour’s set. At least a few times a week I get asked what I’m training for or to join a masters team. I quit swimming for over 10 years due to burn-out from competitive swimming. I swim as I enjoy it now, and do whatever the hell I want, when I want. That’s it. Joining a team would be hell for me now.
I pretty much exclusively swim breast but do flip turns as I enjoy doing them. Is it correct and competition approved? No. Do I care? No. Let me get on with my swim in peace.