Masters Swimming: Expectation versus Reality

cassidy-lavigne-marlon-symnut-masters-start

Photo Courtesy: Cokie Lepinski

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern

After recently aging out of my fun summer age-group team, coming home from school meant that I had to find a new team to stay in shape with. Not just a new team, but a new coach, new pool, new people and new practices. I am one of the many swimmers who cannot motivate themselves to write a set and do it alone. I need to train in the atmosphere of others pushing themselves alongside me.

It was time for me to join U.S. Masters Swimming. After much research on location, practice times, and prices, I found the best option for me was Swymnut Masters. Even though I had done my research, I still had no idea what to expect. In fact, I was pretty intimidated. I soon found out that there was a stark difference between my expectations of Masters swimming and the realities of the organization.

The Team

Photo Courtesy: Cokie Lepinski

Expectation

Walking onto the pool deck was nerve wracking. I was the first one to arrive in fear that I would be late for my first practice. I expected to see swim parents who had been swimming forever, competed in Iron Man races– the ultimate workout fanatics that would put my out-of-shape self to shame. Those people who swam D1 in college and never actually stopped swimming. But I soon realized this wasn’t the case…

Reality

I was completely wrong. I found there were many types of different swimmers with levels ranging from swim parents to casual lap swimmers to post-grads, and even beginning first-time swimmers. Similar to every team I’ve been on, we all enjoy more rest, we all ask questions like, “how many was that?” and go at different paces, even in Masters! Head Coach of Swymnut, Cokie Lepinski commented, “Masters Swimming continues to battle the perception that you need to compete or be a pretty decent swimmer to join your local Masters team. Nothing could be further from the truth! Every level of swimmer can be found on most teams, from the beginner to the ex-collegiate or Olympian.”

The Coaches

Photo Courtesy: Claire Cruise

Expectation

Are there even coaches at Masters practice? Do they swim with us and tell us the set as we go? Do they email the workouts and come to certain practices? Are they super serious about sets and workouts? I had so many questions flood my mind. It’s always interesting meeting new coaches to see what their style is like.

Reality

Coach Lepinski and coaches Susie Powell, Shari Cruse, Buffy Patterson and Marlon Woolf have a passion for pool swimming and open water swimming and are incredibly hands on. They correct your form, they hold you accountable, and they know the value of rest. My stroke was filmed from all angles and later critiqued on Coach’s Eye, an app that helps with stroke analysis. Masters coaches are just like all of the great coaches I’ve worked with– they push me to do my best.

The Workouts

Photo Courtesy: Cokie Lepinski

Expectation

Like any new swimmer on a team, I wondered how I would keep up and fit in with the others. Was I going to be the slowest even though I’m a collegiate swimmer?

Reality

Most of the sets we do are on rest intervals, so there wasn’t an interval to “miss” or keep up with. You push yourself and choose your rest depending on how hard you’re wanting to work. The practices are in a similar in format to club or college sets: the first 10 minutes of practice are for individual warm up, then there is a pre-set, main, and warm-down. Being out of shape since tapering for NAIA Nationals in March and having a few weeks break between off season, the workouts have been a welcome challenge. It’s a personal push. I choose how difficult I want to make each set and which strokes I want to work on.

What I’ve learned from swimming Masters this summer is that it’s no different from any other team. The sets can be catered to the swimmer’s needs/wants– be it shortening their rest time, or working a weaker stroke. The coaches are there to coach, critique, and push their swimmers.

“Most people worry about fitting in when they join a class, a group or a team,”Coach Lepinski commented. “The beauty of Masters swimming is that everyone fits in– all sizes, shapes, experience levels, work backgrounds and ethnicities seem to merge in the water as one. The water draws us in and is an activity that we are able do over our entire lifetime.”

If you don’t know how to swim, check out USMS.org to find a team that operates a certified Adult Learn-to-Swim program. You won’t regret it!

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Nick Gillingham MBE

7 years ago

Masters is great – Nick

Cokie Lepinski

7 years ago

Cassidy – we love your article and are so thrilled that you have had such a great experience with us. We know you are headed off to college again and look forward to your return. Can’t wait to get you at a swim meet with the other NUTS!