master's swim classes

cavewoman15

i'm considering joining a master's swim class at my gym but i'm super nervous. what can i expect these to be like? i don't know anything about the coach, but i belong to a gym at a small private university that is definitely more academic- than athletic-oriented if that matters.

the classes are 1h15m long. is it typical for people swim that whole time? i'm super intimated by that.

thanks for any insights!

moritz7588

You will be swimming sets for that whole time. Not continuously. You will have short breaks as long as you are making the pace times set. Some practices you may do stroke development and you will have longer breaks at that time as the coach stops and explains things and then you focus on drills. Sprint practices you will also likely have longer breaks as you are focusing on speed and maximum effort. In distance practices the breaks get shorter as it takes longer to do what you are trying to do.

Does that make sense?

3dogsrunning

moritz7588 wrote: »

You will be swimming sets for that whole time. Not continuously. You will have short breaks as long as you are making the pace times set. Some practices you may do stroke development and you will have longer breaks at that time as the coach stops and explains things and then you focus on drills. Sprint practices you will also likely have longer breaks as you are focusing on speed and maximum effort. In distance practices the breaks get shorter as it takes longer to do what you are trying to do.

Does that make sense?

That's pretty much how mine works.

The lanes are broken down into ability, so faster swimmers in one lane, etc. I'm a slower swimmer so I never end up finishing the workout but it doesn't matter. I'm with people who are the same ability so we just do what we can. If you aren't sure where you fit, just ask the coach.
My master swim club is amazing, it is how I ended up doing triathlon. It's a great group of people and I have learned a lot (although I haven't always put enough effort into the improving as maybe I should have, but I am this year) and met a lot of friends.

cavewoman15

This is very helpful.. thanks! I must admit I am still quite nervous because I don't think my fitness is quite there. I think I will swim for another couple weeks on my own and try to work up my fitness a bit more before diving in (see what I did there?). I am pumped about the class now though. I'm relieved to hear that there are different lanes for ability levels. My endurance is decent but I have always been slow.. even when I was swimming for 70-80 minutes straight training for a tri last summer, my "sprint" 100m pace is like 2m10s. I just started swimming a couple years ago and mostly self-taught (I took 3 private lessons last spring) so I think I have a lot of room for improvement.

I do love group classes and really feed off the friendly competition/support/structure!

3dogsrunning

When I started I literally couldn't swim 25 m. Of course, different groups may not be as "newbie" friendly but there are plenty of people in my group that are around your ability.

Also, whenever I did a workout and needed a break, I just skipped the next set and let the others swim ahead. As long as you stay off to the side of the lane so the other swimmers can come into the wall, it should be fine.

AquaticQuests

cavewoman15 wrote: »

This is very helpful.. thanks! I must admit I am still quite nervous because I don't think my fitness is quite there. I think I will swim for another couple weeks on my own and try to work up my fitness a bit more before diving in (see what I did there?). I am pumped about the class now though. I'm relieved to hear that there are different lanes for ability levels. My endurance is decent but I have always been slow.. even when I was swimming for 70-80 minutes straight training for a tri last summer, my "sprint" 100m pace is like 2m10s. I just started swimming a couple years ago and mostly self-taught (I took 3 private lessons last spring) so I think I have a lot of room for improvement.

I do love group classes and really feed off the friendly competition/support/structure!

Check out the book swim speed by Taormina focusing on high elbow catch, and the book swim smooth by Paul Newsome! I've found them very useful and helpful when working on my technique!

dolcezza72

I am with you, I keep wanting to join and wimp out. I just need to go and get over it! I will do it if you do it, double dog dare you