Returning Swimmers

[Pete]

How do you feel about returning swimmers who are totally unfit coming into your squad wanting to relaunch their swimming. They cannot train with the junior squads or the masters. They train in your lane trying to get fit. Would you tollerate them in your lane? Or would you welcome them hoping they will make the transition back.
Honesty please! My swimmers don't like it. I like to get talent back in the water.:idea: :idea:

[Kaci]

I would have no problem with someone doing that in my lane. Just as long as they respect the people around them, don't try and lead when they know they wouldn't keep up, and make sure they get out of the way when they are lapped.

I don't know what your club is like, but at ours not many people do morning sessions. So when one of our swimmers return they just do morning training for a while to improve swimming fitness then start doing every session. We had a master do that and there were no problems.

Hope that helped! :rolleyes:

[keswick1uk]

I am an improving swimmer who, over the past twelve months, has gone from good stamina but rusty technique on three strokes to a competent, but not necessarily fast, four stroke swimmer. I was fit though, having spent six months with gym work and swimming on my own.

When I joined my masters session I was worried that I would not fit in to the pace. The coach explained the way it should work before my feet hit the water and so I understood fair play and when I should 'give way'. She allocated me to the slower lane until my pace was determined.

Then with her having taken control the other swimmers could forget the politics and welcome me along! Thats the key. Coach to advise and the bodies to then encourage. There may just be a fit fast club swimmer hidden underneath. Remember we all had to start somewhere, and we can all let it go occasionally.

For the swimmers who are not up to even slow lane standard our coach advises they swim in the public side of the lanes(I know all sessions are different and this is not always possible). They follow our programme leaving out the odd set. We find they either flourish and move to lane one eventually or realise they need to put in some extra time on their own first. We are still always welcoming and encourage during rests.

[swimleeds]

Let's look at another scenario.

A world rated swimmer, is returning from injury and he/she is unable to do all the sets in the given time.

Is he/she a disruption in the lane?

[Kaci]

If he can not make any of the times in the set, e.g its 10 x 100's off a certain time and he can't even complete 1 x 100 off that time, then he shouldn't be in that lane. If its just a case of missing every fourth because he can't make it then its not really a problem.

Basically as long as the lane functions as normal its ok, you can't change the time because one swimmer can't make it, another thing is if the leader is on his feet he should let him go.

[swimleeds]

That's not the point, you are put in the lane which your coach tells you to go in.

I was thinking about the effect on the other swimmers who are training with him/her.

That returning swimmer his giving his/her best. If they can't keep up with the sets, how can they recuperate and get back to maximum physical fitness, if other people think that they are dossing.

[Kaci]

We had a master start coming to our sessions, he had never been a good swimmer and had taken on competitive swimming at 30. He missed parts of the sets, but he was keen and tried hard.

Its easy to tell if someone is dossing, I would rather train with a slower person who tried hard than someone who leads but barely puts any efford in.

After a year of training with us, this master basically leads the lane now and he still has that determination he had when he first started, as he makes us go off the quickest times (as our lane is meant to add 5 seconds).

[ktcute]

Duck. Oh dear. As a returning swimmer I have sympathy for both sides of the argument. I'm swimming in a slow lane, in fact thats the one I head for as quickly as possible. I'm not a quick front crawler, which causes a few problems, mainly for me to be honest, and I haven't had a lot of fitness for a while, though that is starting to get better.

I wonder if this raises a whole bunch of other issues, however. Like how we feel about people taking breaks from swimming, and whether swimming clubs are really set up to make swimming an enjoyable, all inclusive sport, or whether we are only interested in the elite? I know it can be frustrating, and I don't want to see people joining clubs to take the mickey, but I also think swimmers should be expected to encourage people who are not necessarily the fittest or fastest. As we increasingly expect our sportsmen and women to behave like "professionals", this would seem the professional thing to be doing.

[keswick1uk]

Since posting here I have joined a running club too witha future aim to do a Triathlon. Of course, with running, the resource is close to endless. That is, the road is long and slower runners can just fall behind without hindering others.

The fact is though, they don't! Its not just my club if you read the runners world forums the majority are the same. Faster runners encourage, jog back and help slower runners pace. Not always the same people, it varies. Those that were slow once remember and don't patronise.

Now, I do appreciate the restriction of pool size and availability times have a large effect on the ability to do the same in swimming. I do think when returners return though a bit less selfishness is in order.

[Bootie]

Wher do I start!

I think I might be the Masters swimmer referred to by Kaci and even now I make sure that I get in nobody's way and stop when I do to enable them to go through. I find it keeps for a happy and efficient lane. I were very apprehensive at first in this lane as I didn't want to feel that I were "jumping the que" as it were and did not want any noses putting out of joint. After 18 months in the lane the younger swimmers and one in particular will immediatley let his feelings be known if I am in his way which is good, he is only 15 and I'm 39! I respect him for this and hope that everybody just sees me as another swimmer with a desire to improve. In this respect I would like to thank Kaci and the others for their patience as I strive to catch up on the many years of training they have had.

As for going off quick times, I will lead on quick times because if you don't at least try to achieve them you are never going to improve. If you are unsuccessful then add 5 secs and continue to push yourself.

I wont lead a set unless I am confident of it being within my capability but will always give it a go. Lastly swimmimg should befun but not at the expense of the session, sessions can be hard but fun.

[Aussiebabe]

Bootie (& the rest!!) - you should go off the times set 'cos you may be surprised how much effort has gone into setting the session and if your lane are going off the slower times than the top lane then there is a reason. I had a long held belief that if I could make the times for the quicker set then I should go off the quicker times, but that is laregly not the point of the session. With longer rest you can swim quicker in the set, and as I know you mostly do shorter races Bootie, this is especially true for you (less so for 800/1500 swimmers)

Also, as someone who was often last in the top lane being the only girl in there both at home and out here, I am very prickly about the subject of the fastest swimmers going off times that suit them and not giving a monkeys about the slower people who might be hard trainers & fast swimmers (for age or sex) but just not able to keep up. I think people should be more considerate and life in general would be simpler!!

Anyway, slightly off topic but hey

[Bootie]

Aussiebabe, totally agree, on reflection my attitude may be a little selfish in connection with times and the slower people in the lane. As you know I can only hack it where breast and free are concerned, the slower guys in the lane wipe me out when it comes to fly and back, it kind of makes of even!

[nsswimmer]

aussie!!! i totally hear ya!! thank ya from all us "non-lane leaders" out there~ ;D

to bootie... i dont think it should matter if they can "wipe you out" because i believe it's quite unfair to the rest of the guys. would u like it if they did it to you? and if they DO leave early in fly and back, they are in the wrong, too. cuz the coaches set times for a reason and they know how to structure sets to get the most out of them ya know? lol i'm sorry if i sound preachy here i didnt mean to!! =]

[Bootie]

Nsswimmer, slight misunderstanding, I go off the quick times for free and breast, the slower ones struggle, the slower ones go off the quick times for back and fly and I struggle (bigtime!)
Fortunately nobody in the lane excels at every stroke, we are good at a few, thats what I meant when I said it sort of evens things out.
Believe me I don't find any session easy no matter what time I go off but I always give 100%.

[nsswimmer]

ohh lol sorry bout dat~ ;)

[super_fish88]

Originally posted by Pete
How do you feel about returning swimmers who are totally unfit coming into your squad wanting to relaunch their swimming. They cannot train with the junior squads or the masters. They train in your lane trying to get fit. Would you tollerate them in your lane? Or would you welcome them hoping they will make the transition back.
Honesty please! My swimmers don't like it. I like to get talent back in the water.:idea: :idea:

If the swimmer really wants to get back into training and works hard to keep up with everyone else i don't mind. But If the swimmer moans, doesn't put effort into training and sees it as a fitness class i think they should get chucked out of the club or at least told that unless they change their attitude to swimming they'd get kicked out!