True or false? Masters swim is only for .

fishgutzy

Only for competitive swimmers that are proficient in all 4 competition strokes and flip turns.
That is the impression I get.
I'm not nearly fast enough to even try participating in a masters swim "class."
I can't do flip turns. And I only do front crawl.
Never learned butterfly.
Back stroke is not good now due to limited range of motion in my shoulder.

Am I over thinking this?
I swim a lot. But not fast enough to compete. I've seen a masters swim group once or twice. Those people are fast and are at least former competitors.

girlwithcurls2

I always thought it meant former swimmers, or swimmers too "old" to find a league or team to compete or learn on. HOWEVER, my observations are similar to yours. I too, don't flip turn, know only one stroke, and swim slowly. I can't imagine how I'd bring the team down in a meet... The group at my pool is full of serious swimmers. Not that I'm not serious about it, but my goals are probably quite different from theirs.

lorrpb

We don't have a team or compete. We are a small informal group. Everyone comes and swims and the coach coaches us individually. Some people want a formal structured workout and others just swim the strokes they want.

emmab0902

False to the point of utter bollocks lol. The masters group I swim with are very much predominantly fitness oriented. I am the only one who competes and does all four strokes - and even then I do breaststroke and fly grudgingly! But I'm sure there is massive variance between groups. Here I am the anomaly!

sammitchtime

Masters programs vary so much from program to program. I swam with one masters “team” where it was just a printed workout and we were adults just swimming together.

Now I swim with a group with a coach on deck, who adjusts the intervals and times based on different lanes abilities and we can modify things based on what we feel comfortable with. We have former collegiate swimmers and people who could only swim a 25 freestyle at the start. We have a wide range of speed and abilities, some compete and some don’t. There is a “try out” where coach wants to see what your level is at, and if she feels it’s not safe for you yet she recommends her fitness swimming group which also has a coach on deck, but focuses more on the basics, form, and endurance building to be able to handle the masters workouts.

There’s another masters group in my city that is coached by a former NCAA champion and current masters multiple record holder. She swims with the team as she coaches, so if you can’t keep up with her you’re basically not getting coached.

Masters for me is really like adult swim team with opportunities to compete, so if you have no desire to learn different strokes and do a workout that involves them it might not be for you. We’re all very supportive of each other no matter our speeds because in the end most of us are competing with ourselves and there to have fun and workout together. Our group allows a test week before people commit to see if it suits them.

kayak4water

Our small Masters swim group has a variety: one open water race enthusiast, some freestyle-only swimmers, a triathlete, and me. The open water race has tried to get me to enter the Washington Senior Olympics, which isn't my cup of tea. I've never competed and didn't swim much before 2002. I just want to swim better.
Our "coach" stands on deck, lays tips on us, teaches us drills, and watches each of us perform the drills and will focus on one of us for 25 yd--everyone else pretty much waits their turn. I'm almost the only one with an interest in all four strokes. The coaching and YouTube has helped me immeasurably from when I started this journey in 2009 or so.

I hope you can a for with a Masters group in your area.
Cheers!

kayak4water

I hope you can "find" a Masters group to match your style.

fishgutzy

kayak4water wrote: »

I hope you can "find" a Masters group to match your style.

None that are convenient. So I'll stick with making my own stools that help me with my goals and watch YouTube videos for tips.

jessetfan

I've only visited the Master's Swim group at my facility once, but I asked before I tried because I'm slower than a herd of turtles. I was told that the only prerequisite to join is wanting to be a better swimmer. I'm going to go back this week and try again.

UberClydesdale

Each Masters group is different. I've been part of two different Masters groups and they've both shown open arms to swimmers of all ability and fitness levels. During my time with the second group, we became a member of USMS and I competed with the team for about five years.

Trust me, I was hovering near 400 lbs at that time, and I was very hesitant about doing it. My teammates were particularly supportful and convinced me to do it. How was my first meet? Well, I continued to go. There are a few "snobs", but for 99% of the people out there, they were happy to see me out there doing it.

I now live about 1,000 miles from where I swam before, and there are no USMS teams in my area. Right now I just swim by myself, write my own workouts (using my past coaching experience), and just enjoy the benefits.