OK, before the flaming starts (and it will, I’m sure), I’m NOT fast, and NOT a fish, by any stretch!
Now that’s out of the way, here at the YMCAs that I swim at, so it’s always some sort of circle swim with the average speed at 1:50-2:00/100yds even in the fast lane. If I swim my typical 1:25/100 pace, it’s fast enough that I have to stop on almost every length (not lap).
Rather than waste all that workout time, I’ve contemplated wearing a loose T-shirt, possibly adding baggy shorts, or even a drag parachute to get me to the slower speeds while I can still try decently hard without having to stop every length on these darn circle swims. Swimming with a loose Tshirt on seems really annoying but I’ll do if it means everyone in the circle swim is more similar in speed.
Just curious if anyone has preferred any of the above (or anything else) to slow your swim speed by 10sec or even 20sec/100 for a slow circle swim until enough folks leave so it becomes a reasonably paced swim again.
I think you’ll find the shirt will chafe you, so maybe not the best. I have used the parachute and similar items, but the issue is avoiding it on your turns.
Yeah, best answer is to find a pool or time that works better, join masters where you are going to find people your speed or faster.
That said, I wouldn’t swim with a t shirt on. If you want to add drag, for pull sets you can tie a towel around your ankles. Other good options are to wear board shorts or one of the “super drag suits” with pockets.
Swim a few laps with them on, then take them off and feel like you are flying. They have also helped me find a better body position (eg - get my damn butt and feet up!)
When our coach pulls them out in masters, we all wince - we call them the “anti-fins.”
Note - unless you have a really strong kick, get the 30" (shortest)
Serious answer: change pools or find the time of day when the pool isn’t as crowded.
You’re right, but sorry, not gonna happen with my schedule. It’s lunchtime pool swim or zero water time on weekdays.
I actually do the bulk of my ‘true’ swim training on a Vasa at home, which works fine, but I’m trying to squeeze a little bit more quality out of my lunch sessions if I can. I already sometimes run/bike for 30-40 mins at lunch instead of swimming that crappy circle swim and do hard bike/run intervals for quality, but getting a decent 30-40min swim 4-5x/wk on top of my Vasa work would probably squeeze out a little more from my already limited swim time.
Again, I’m never going to be a fish - it took me a lot of hard work even to get to this mediocre level of swimming - it’s always amazing to me how the gifted folks on this forum can go from zero swimming to this speed in <1 yr - it took me 1.5 yrs of serious work to even get to 2:00/100yds!
Another serious answer: Talk to the YMCA. There’s no reason the fast lane has to be that slow. Just because there are 6 people there to swim doesn’t mean the lane has to be split into 3 and 3. If 5 of the 6 are all 1:50-2:00, they should share a lane and you should have your own. They will be able to circle much more effectively.
My times are right between you and the1:50 swimming crew. I would be very uncomfortable sharing a lane with you because I’d be constantly worried about messing with your workout, I’d neglect mine. My wife is significantly faster and when we share a lane she tells me it’s her problem to get around me or pass me underwater on a turn. Fine. But she’s my wife not a stranger.
Another serious answer: Talk to the YMCA. There’s no reason the fast lane has to be that slow. Just because there are 6 people there to swim doesn’t mean the lane has to be split into 3 and 3. If 5 of the 6 are all 1:50-2:00, they should share a lane and you should have your own. They will be able to circle much more effectively.
My times are right between you and the1:50 swimming crew. I would be very uncomfortable sharing a lane with you because I’d be constantly worried about messing with your workout, I’d neglect mine. My wife is significantly faster and when we share a lane she tells me it’s her problem to get around me or pass me underwater on a turn. Fine. But she’s my wife not a stranger.
Sounds reasonable, but trust me, not gonna happen. If I’m the only one consistently faster than 1:30, and the 3-4 others are all clustered at 1:50-2:05, I’m the outlier, and it would be reasonable to expect ME to be the one changing my swim speed/behavior to better align with the group.
If there were 3 of us at 1:20-1:30 and 1 person at 2:00, I’d have no problems having the lifeguard move that person, but that’s rarely the case. (When it does occur, the slowster leaves on their own pretty quickly.)
I’m about as cooperative as it gets in terms of sharing lanes because I’ve seen a few verbal fights break out over little things like tapping someone’s toes (‘how rude!’) and passing on the left in a circle swim in this Y (also how rude!). Unfortunately, serious swimmers are totally absent at the noontime swim here, and recreational folks often feel like you’re bullying them if you suggest some circle swim chances to them, especially with the older folks (no offense to them, but it’s true.)
Another option is to treat that session as a day to work on kick or other strokes. It doesn’t have to be all freestyle, all the time.
LOL - you know me already as the Vasa guy - I don’t ever kick drill and I can’t swim breast/fly or others at all! I’ve long resigned myself to the fact that those other strokes just aren’t going to happen given my limited commitment to swimming in a pool.
I gave them a decent try awhile back, and realized pretty quick that given my true craptastic talent level (I’m not exaggerating, unlike most folks in ST who say 18min 5ks with no training runners are not talented!) meant I’d have to spend almost as much time as I did on freestyle just to get my fly/breast/back to subpar levels. Remember,it took me 1.5 yrs to even get to 2:00/100yds on freestyle!
Another option is to treat that session as a day to work on kick or other strokes. It doesn’t have to be all freestyle, all the time.
LOL - you know me already as the Vasa guy - I don’t ever kick drill and I can’t swim breast/fly or others at all! I’ve long resigned myself to the fact that those other strokes just aren’t going to happen given my limited commitment to swimming in a pool.
I gave them a decent try awhile back, and realized pretty quick that given my true craptastic talent level (I’m not exaggerating, unlike most folks in ST who say 18min 5ks with no training runners are not talented!) meant I’d have to spend almost as much time as I did on freestyle just to get my fly/breast/back to subpar levels. Remember,it took me 1.5 yrs to even get to 2:00/100yds on freestyle!
Just thought I’d throw that out there. BTW, I do think that working non-freestyle strokes has a very positive carryover to freestyle. The catch phase is exactly the same…
Another option is to treat that session as a day to work on kick or other strokes. It doesn’t have to be all freestyle, all the time.
LOL - you know me already as the Vasa guy - I don’t ever kick drill and I can’t swim breast/fly or others at all! I’ve long resigned myself to the fact that those other strokes just aren’t going to happen given my limited commitment to swimming in a pool.
I gave them a decent try awhile back, and realized pretty quick that given my true craptastic talent level (I’m not exaggerating, unlike most folks in ST who say 18min 5ks with no training runners are not talented!) meant I’d have to spend almost as much time as I did on freestyle just to get my fly/breast/back to subpar levels. Remember,it took me 1.5 yrs to even get to 2:00/100yds on freestyle!
Just thought I’d throw that out there. BTW, I do think that working non-freestyle strokes has a very positive carryover to freestyle. The catch phase is exactly the same…
That was exactly why I started with the other strokes, but honestly, I’m not seeing it at my low level of other stroke skill. As is, I’m like 2:10 pace in all the other strokes and 1:25 or below at free. I was hoping my decent free would make me improve in the others faster, but it quickly became apparent that wasn’t gonna happen - it looked like the same learning curve of 1.5+ yrs compared to my freestyle learning curve.
Swim a few laps with them on, then take them off and feel like you are flying. They have also helped me find a better body position (eg - get my damn butt and feet up!)
When our coach pulls them out in masters, we all wince - we call them the “anti-fins.”
Note - unless you have a really strong kick, get the 30" (shortest)
