The NCAA limits the amount of hours we are allowed to train per week to 20 (all sports have this--which is why 'voluntary practice' is a joke....you have to be there but the coach is not 'technically' allowed to make you).

Because of this, and because we all had years of swimming under our belts (i started at age 4) college training was somewhat easier than club swimming, believe it or not. I swam at a place in Philly called Foxcatcher, and we used to do some sick hours to the point where we got to college and although the intensity increases, the overall volume goes down.

the short answer to your question is...you get used to it.

dave:

i say back off on the swimming and pound the bike this winter - that way you can take more turns pulling at Uni Champs next year and i won't have to drag your ass around 7 laps!

but seriously: i always feel more tired when my swim volume goes up; only thing that rivals it is uni X-C practices. try at all costs to get in a regular nap - it makes a huge difference. and eat like a horse, that helps too.

-mike

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

"Swimmers there will be an optional mandatory practice tomorrow...."haha yeah i rememebr that, but i think the only way i dealt with swimming was to sleep through class... seriously, and eat as much as possible inbetween

Good time management skills help for the classroom end of it. My college athletic department did a couple studies and it turned out that athletes in spring and fall sports tended to have higher grades when their sport was in-season than when they were in their off season. I'm not sure how they handled the basketball and swimming winter teams for research purposes, but the women's swim team mean gpa was always in the 3.2-3.4 range. Theory was that you were more likely to practice good time management when you were in season because you didn't have the time to blow things off.

Physically tired pretty much all the time, yeah. Eating a bit more, and making sure you get enough sleep really helps. When you get past a certain amount of yardage, it becomes just as much about muscle strength and fatigue as technique so right now, your arms and shoulders just aren't used to that kind of demand on those muscles. It will get a little bit better, and then the coach will up the yardage/intensity again so you're back to the usual fatigue level.

you should swim faster so i don't end up lapping you ;)

that was tough, but fair.

-mike

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____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

Don't worry, apparently this winter Craigs gonna make me run AND bike.. gasp! He wants me biking at least once a week, and running 2-3 times AND swimming!! I'm gonna die - I have hardly any class hours, but with my research and keeping my marks up for grad school its gonna be an interesting winter.
And at montreal, that other guy with us really should have being doing more work - i did a decent amount, but I really owe you a beer for the work you did on the last lap... And whats up with that run, do you think it was long? I can't figure out why I was so slow!
- i'm working entering football stats in the athletic department right now - have ST and IM live up.. and i'm bored out of my skull - but i'll be done football soon, and then get to go out drinking :) -!)