Competitive Swimming/Swimming team?

Question

What exactly do you do? I might start with my YMCA.

I need info on:

-what you do on land

-what you do in water

-what you wear

-how much do you practice

-and any hints/tips.

Thanks!

Answer 1

What do you do on land?

It depends on the team. Some teams do nothing. Some just do stretching. Some run laps. Some do crunches, push-ups, pull-ups, jumping jacks and other kinds of dryland exercises.

What do you do in the water?

Swim! Basically it's a lot of swimming back and forth. Sometimes it's fast and racing your teammates. Sometimes it's slow practicing your stroke. Sometimes it's in between speeds working on building your endurance. Every now and then you get to play games like sharks and minnows or even water polo. You may also practice doing starts and turns in the pool to get ready for races.

What do you wear?

A basic swimming checklist is suit, towel, cap, goggles. If you've got those things, you have the bare essentials for competitive swimming. As for what you wear to the pool, usually something easy to take on and off. Like a t-shirt and track pants or sweat pants. If you do dryland work you can bring shorts too, a lot of people do that kind of work in a swim suit and shorts.

How much do you practice?

Well, it all depends on what your team offers and how good you want to be. If you're joining swim team just to have some fun, then three or four times a week is probably all you need to go to stay fit and make some progress. If you want to be really competitive, you'll need to go at least six times a week.

Answer 2

I was on a swim team once. Swim Teams have A LOT of practice. Even if you only practice for like an hour or two a day, I'll tell you that it is tough. I loved swim team though just because I enjoyed the sport.

I don't really understand what you mean what you do on land. On land you have to dive. And you may learn the hand motions of new strokes on land, but other than that I'm not sure what you're asking for.

In the water you do different strokes. You do freestyle, breast stroke, back stroke, and butterfly (which I still can't do properly! LOL).

To wear you have to purchase a swimsuit and you wear goggles and a swimming cap (I forgot their actual name, but it's the rubber ones that go over the hair). You should also have the obvious-a towel, sun block if the pool is outdoors, a bag to hold it all, and something to change into after practice.

Depending on the swim team you may practice for multiple hours a few days a week, or like for my swim team, you may practice every day for one hour to two hours.

As for tips, try and still have fun. I do recommend swimming as a sport because it provides good exercise, it's not very strenous, and it's fun. I hope you alawys practice well and don't goof off during practices simply because if you try something you should be serious about it. But don't worry too much because even if you're not the fastest, it's still a great experience. It always helps to have friends with you just because it makes it as little more fun.  

It's never too late to join a swim team, no matter your age. Just do your best and have fun.

GOOD LUCK!

Answer 3

i dont think YMCA is competitive...more like recreational

Answer 4

i was on a swim team my whole life and it is a lot of work. if your ready for a huge commitment then i say go for it!

on land usually there's a lot fo running, push ups, tons of crunches, jump excercises,

in the water you do endurance sets, set that focus on breathng, sprints, cruises, you'll def be goin home tired

to wear, you would ahve to figure out your size, a 22 is the normal size. swimmers always want their suits very tight to reduce drag. so be preparedf for a very tight suit that you can barely breathe in. on the up side it makes you look really skinny and fit haha!  and then you'll also want to get a swimmng cap and someone wil help you get them on.

practices are abut 3 or 4 hours a day plus dryland and 6 days a week.

yea its a huge commitment

hints: make sure you hae a great coach that you can trust.

watch some training videos, they help a lot