by finolino » Fri Nov 14, 2014 12:45 am
been on my 11th year of usa, and i can honestly say that even though i haven't gotten faster at all in the past few years (went into high school with a 5:12, am now swimming 5:10's as a senior), being with a club team all year has helped keep me in shape more than training on my own ever would. it's definitely worth it, even if you're just doing it for the physical benefit.
the thing about club, though, is it also lets you stay consistently fast throughout the year, meaning you'll never feel out of shape. this in turn will allow you to keep getting faster and pushing boundaries unable to be pushed if you only swim during high school season. my soph year, i consistently split <5:20's in my 500 at dual meets while swimming club beforehand. my jr year, though, i had taken a break from july to late november when club started up again, and i started the season back up splitting 5:40's (blegh).
imo the 500 is the perfect race. you start out going easy and then, as the adrenalin and testosterone really start flowing, you can start hammering it out faster and faster until you're swimming like an absolute monster for that last 100. the warm down after (which my hs refs usually let 500'ers do because they know the race is probably the most tiring on the hs meet program) is satisfying, and you just overall feel great. keep swimming that; you'll inevitably get faster as you learn how to pace yourself more.