If you're not getting better, you're getting worse, is what I was raised with. Better can change. Nice article. I'm on the right track.
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From our college's first swim alumni / ae reunion: "the older we get, the faster we were." More true every year.
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"And suddenly I was 18 years old again." To me, that says it all.
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Can I ask those of you who understand aging bodies: what companies do you recommend for women's swimsuits that have options for larger, aging bodies?
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As a 50 yo female I have found the Ocean brand suits to be generously sized and durable. Check them out.
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As a 57 year old avid swimmer (pool and open water) and type A personality, I try to balance watching my times - and also letting them go. I am very slow (2500 meters in an hour), which I know because everyone passes me, and because I do time my swims. While I don't like it when my time on any given day is slow (for me, that is), I try to focus on how good swimming makes me feel. I can do a few sports pretty well, but am utterly lacking in any grace, and swimming makes me feel like Grace Kelly! I wish more people would swim, whether fast or slow!
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At 4 months shy of my 55th birthday I finally signed up for swimming lessons. Fear-inducing experiences as a child kept me from ever properly learning to swim, or from feeling confident in the water, but I always LOVED to be in a pool.The water was always soothing, meditative, sensual...seductive, but just out of my grasp.
Through these lessons, I have fallen in love with swimming. The pain of fibromyalgia and arthritis take a break and watch from the sidelines as I learn to actually swim freestyle laps, without fear. What a joy! I only wish I had jumped in sooner.
Through these lessons, I have fallen in love with swimming. The pain of fibromyalgia and arthritis take a break and watch from the sidelines as I learn to actually swim freestyle laps, without fear. What a joy! I only wish I had jumped in sooner.
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I read this with a grin! I swam middle/long-distance at Michigan State in the 80's, then Masters & triathlons through the 90s before leaving the sport burned out and nursing a blown-out shoulder. Over 15 years later (and 20+ lbs heavier) I got back in the pool (October 2016) at 55 yrs old. It wasn't pretty ... everything jiggled and every breath was a desperate gasp for air. I started out slow too (didn't want to re-injure my shoulder) ... and dropped the extra weight. Now I am back to a 3,000 yard workout in an hour a few times a week and And I FEEL GREAT! At 12 yrs or 55 yrs ... that post-workout hot shower is still positively divine!
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I love the story. I joined a masters team back in November and swimming 3x/week. I swam in high school and my first triathlon last summer got me back in the pool and I wondered why I ever left it. I am competing in my first meet this weekend. Cross your fingers.
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I swim an hour 4 to 5 days a week and, thanks to my Fitbit, I can track my progress. I generally swim, backstoke, an average of 2300 yards. I am considered fast, her pace is incredible. Let me mention, I'll be 66 in May.
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You are awesome!
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As an aging athlete (61) I have found it more satisfying to attempt things I did not do in my prime so that I'm not always experiencing "clock shock" I can't run a single mile at the pace I once ran a marathon so I took up the javelin. I could get a PR every month or so because I had no previous point of reference.
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Such a good idea!
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Dennis: Me too. I never did weight training as a mid and long distance runners in my 20s and 30s. I'm 64 now and have been doing weights the last ten years or so. Not only do I not have a point of reference for this new activity, the weights have added muscle strength such that I now enjoy doing short sprint reps and hills, such as 8 x 200 meters (walk down the hill). All untimed to avoid stopwatch shock, of course! :)
Welcome back. I hope you find that this time around it can be (almost) entirely on your own terms. Well, if you don't count kid's carpool schedules.
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I am a masters swimmer too. I am 65. I swim in the Grandma lane (the slowest). I never competed as a child. I did synchronized swimming in college. I love masters. It's such a great workout and it's nice to swim with other people.
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Best thing I ever did for myself as an adult here in New Jersey was to join US Masters. I'm a proud member of local chapter, Garden State Masters. Been with them for 14 years now.
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She mentions she swam 3000 yards in one hours. I am and have been swimming for 15 years. There is no way she could have gone that far in one hour, no way!!
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I can!
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3k yards is a pretty standard middle-lane Masters workout where I swim. With lots of socializing with like-minded grownups!
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3,000 yds in 1 hr is actually quite slow, actually. Sorry to break it to you, Jim :) .
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Inspirational. Thank you.
I smile as I read this. I find myself in a similar situation. Four years ago, I reentered the pool 40 years after a speedy grade school to high school swimming career. By the time I was a senior, I hated it.. But love it now....I don't race but I swim 3,000 yards a day also and practice as hard as I can. I've gotten very fast again. I'm maybe as fast as I was at 15. Nancy's story inspires me to take the plunge and start racing again.
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NANCY!!! You are a rock star in the VT waters - so glad you have jumped back in! It was an honor to swim with you last weekend - and we hope to see you more often! Cheers!
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Welcome to masters swimming and your new passage in life called Fun, Fit & Friendships were you become personal friends with Olympic "Gods" of your era, sharing family photos over a beer after the meet... It is a Master's Thing! David McIntyre, 79 year old Gold Coast Florida Master Swimmer.
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I understand what you are saying Ms. Bercaw. The water can be a very welcome place to be whether it's for relaxation or for competition. Good luck and I hope you enjoy yourself more the second time around.
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Beautiful peace, inspiring for those with Master's aspirations...
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