It’s clear by now that swimming isn’t necessarily my strong sport.
However, since I’ve been sidelined from running and cycling until my knee gets its act together, the pool and I have become quite familiar and I’ve been swimming about five days a week. Before this increased swimming stretch, I was swimming maybe two to three times per week and this quantity was just fine with me. I’ve grown to like swimming, but nothing will every replace running’s spot in my heart.
I’ve been hearing for a while about the benefits of Masters swimming. What is Masters? Think of it as an adult swim team, open to all levels, but you don’t necessarily have to compete. You can just go to the coached swim workouts however often you want.
Knowing that I train harder and stronger when I’m with other people, I thought I’d take Masters up on their one-week free trial offer. Let’s see what all the hub-bub is about.
I arrived at the same pool I usually go to, but earlier than I had ever been before. The pool only opens its gates at 5 a.m. for Masters. Once again, I found myself feeling like the new kid going into sixth grade. It was pitch black, I didn’t know anyone, nor did I know how this whole Masters thing would even turn out.
But of course, I made my way in, introduced myself to the coach and instantly said, “I’m new and have no idea where to go.”
The coach couldn’t have been sweeter and asked me about how fast I swim. In Masters, the lane lines are arranged from slowest to fastest and the lane eight people looked FAST. Broad shoulders, no butt, 2 percent body fat. I’ll stay in lane one thank you very much.
I don’t know why I always get so nervous about being the new kid. I jumped in and was immediately greeted and welcomed by the other swimmers in my lane. We began our warm up and about half way through, the coach told me I needed to move up some lanes – thank you for the confidence boost!
The workouts last about an hour and a half (much longer than my other swims) and include a variety of drills, main sets, stroke work and more. Speaking of stroke work, apparently I’m doing freestyle all wrong (CHIN TO SHOULDER, PEOPLE!), but the coaches have been great about providing constructive feedback that is quite welcoming.
Oh, and don’t ever ask me to do butterfly. It’s horrifying.
I swam with masters four times last week to get the most out of my free week and it was fantastic. The time sped by, I met really nice and encouraging people and I pushed myself more than I would have alone. My coach and I decided that I would swim with Masters twice a week and then have workouts by myself focusing on endurance.
After tweeting about some of my first successful Masters workouts, Peter tweeted this gem to me and it makes more sense than ever:
I’ve excited about Masters and what this means for my swimming!
Tell me, have you swam with Masters before? What was your experience like?
Happy Running (& Swimming)!
Thanks for writing this post. My new gym has a Masters Swim program and I’ve been toying with the idea of joining.
So glad you have found Master’s! I swam competitively in High School and since I started about 6 months ago, it definitely has the feel of being back on a swim team again. The chatting/camaraderie helps so much with how boring swimming can be 🙂
Yay!!! I’m so glad you like Masters! Masters changed swimming for me completely. I went from dreading it to semi-liking it (or liking it at times). I made friends with my lane-mates (swimmers are very consistent in their training apparently) and now I actually miss them since I haven’t been back Post-Ironman. I saw extremely huge gains in my endurance during Masters Swim – I went from not being able to complete the entire 1 hr 15 minute workout to staying later to finish up additional yards. Can’t wait to see how you progress as you continue to swim with a group!
I’m so happy you posted this! I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to go to the masters swimming workouts at my gym. There is one tonight and I think you’ve convinced me to finally go. Thanks for the boost of confidence 🙂 glad to hear it went so well for you!
I am that scared little sixth grader too! And everyone who knows me doesn’t understand how I can possibly get shy!
And– Peter is SO right.
Glad you loved Masters and hooray for moving up lanes!
I like the idea of Masters swimming but I’m so slow and so scared! I should probably get over that if I want to get better, though.
I’m too scared to try our master swim. They seem so intense and all business. I am new to swimming and can only do freestyle and I have no idea how to do the drills (zipper/sweet spot/etc…). I would love to try it but I never see anyone talking or helping others. You are brave for trying. I did two tri’s for the first time last month and would love to learn the other strokes. I’m actually off to the pool now to swim freestyle alone. No drills. Just 30 minutes back and forth. Ugh. I would like to take it to the next level but don’t know where to start..
Don’t be scared! I don’t know how to do any other drills or strokes either! If they assigned one, I literally told the coach, “I don’t know how to do that stroke.” They were completely nice and welcoming about it and told me that I could either do freestyle, or they would be more than happy to teach me the stroke. Good luck!
No, but I think I’d be way in over my head, unless they have beginners masters. I do think it would help me though…if I swam, which I do not. But, wish I did so when something flares up then I can go swim and still get a good workout.
I absolutely love Masters Swim. Yes, I’m in lane one, and yes, it was intimidating as hell to make the decision to join, but I’m so glad I did. I now go at least once or twice a week and have met a great swim buddy through the class!
Glad that masters swimming has been working out for you. I swam at a high school pool some last year when I was rehabbing my injuries, and masters swim was in 2-3 of the lanes. Seemed like it would be a good idea for someone who is already good at swimming who wants to get better. All of the swimmers seemed to be going really fast. So in order to attend masters swimming, I would need to likely take lessons or coaching or something in order to be good enough for masters swimming.
Anyways, I guess I didn’t like swimming that much because I sucked at it, and didn’t to try to learn the proper technique from someone else or a coach. So now I don’t swim at all.
I try to go at least 1x/wk, and I am always in THE SLOWEST lane. They actually don’t even have a lane for my pace…That’s how slow I am! I like that it pushes me, but sometimes I have to take a step back and remember to keep my form when I’m pushing that hard. Maybe one day I’ll move up a couple lanes too! 🙂
That advice from Peter makes a lot of sense!
Glad you had a good taste of Masters. I love swimming with my team!
When I started Masters, I could not swim the other strokes. In fact, one time at band camp, I mean, swimming on my own, the Lifeguard stopped me and asked “Sir, are you in distress, do you need help?”. “No, I replied, that’s just my butterfly”.
Yeah, I know, it’s a year later and I’m commenting… But I am in exactly this same position now regarding joining a Masters swim program (training for a Triathlon). I am coming from a running background and stink at swimming so it’s very intimidating to join these uber swimmers. This post helps me to have more confidence to jump in. Thanks!