Would joining the swim team be advantageous for -say- the 800 in track?
Would joining the swim team be advantageous for -say- the 800 in track?
If you live in a backward state that hasn't adopted indoor track, doing a winter sport can't hurt you.
Get in here brojos wrote:
Would joining the swim team be advantageous for -say- the 800 in track?
No. I have had a few athletes swim instead of run indoor (I coach all 3 seasons). They always come into outdoor significantly behind the rest of the crew who trek with me all year long.
I had a decent senior perform pretty good at Cross (16:30) and he chose Swim instead of Indoor. He did this as a freshman, but he wasn't very good at that stage (broke 20 once) and I didn't really have a problem with it. Context: His junior year he had run 4:48 on the track, and then 16:30 in Cross. I run a mod-high summer mileage program 5 days a week. I presented my plan to him and his dad with sub 4:30 as a mile goal for Outdoor. I've done this with similar runners before. The kid really wanted to swim and the dad supported him. I gave him a running plan to keep some miles on his legs while swimming, but he was too tired and taxed and he didn't run more than one Sunday a week. The end result, his best Outdoor mile as a senior was 5:05. He started the season in the 5:20s and he burst into tears constantly. He went from being one of our top seniors to an absolute train wreck. Other coaches would come up and they were dumbfounded as to why they chose to let him swim. This kid lived in absolute regret of that choice every day at practice and in any meet.
The bottom line: swimming will tire you out and you will not run/train the way you need to. There will be an unavoidable loss in fitness and form. Indoor isn't for racing every week/weekend. In CC we race two 5ks a week, so it taxes the hell out of kids. Indoor is for focused training and 2-3 races, only. In the event you do not have an Indoor program at your school, I'd suggest you talk to your coach and teammates and get a training plan. You can also usually enter meets as an unattached runner -- if you know the right people and use these as goals/checkpoints. I'd say running a 1000, 600, and 300 if you're looking to the 800 Outdoor.
Long response...swimming is a bad idea, all day.
Coach Huzza Von Rop III wrote:
Long response...swimming is a bad idea, all day.
What I've seen on my own team is the exact opposite. A couple of my teammates made huge jumps from XC to track after swimming over the winter. One went 19:3x to 4:46, other went 20:xx to 5:06. I don't know that much about the actual training they did on their swim team, but they swam 3000-5000 yards six days a week all winter and competed in events from the 50y all the way up to the 500 free. They developed both endurance and power. My guess is it varies from team to team in terms of training, and also from different event groups. If your runner was focusing on the 50 free, for example, and did mostly sprint training, it wouldn't be surprising if that was the problem. But if he was swimming pretty high volume and racing 500s, you would think he'd be able to stay in shape.
I think more information is needed. Are you going to keep running as well? Is the swim team just something to do? Do you have a swimming background?
I am generally a fan of multisport in high school. You might learn some stuff that makes you a better teammate. Plus the total body fitness from swimming is pretty good from a health perspective.
Two posters above illustrate another point: each person is going to react differently. One coach claims it ruined his (her?) runner. I guess ignoring any other possibilities. One coach saw no or little effect.
A good reason to join swim & dive team versus running indoor is reduction of risk of running related injury. If you do join the swim & dive team don't 100% abandon running. If you don't run at all, you will lose running related coordination during swim & dive season. Run once or twice a week during swim & dive season. During XC and T&F, swim once a week. I've seen high school athletes swim sub-4:50 500 yards freestyle and race 1600 metres sub-4:50 doing what I stated.
I can't speak for the 800m because I just did the 3200m and 1600m. We didn't (and still don't) have indoor track in Texas. My school started a swim team my junior year, so I joined to see if it would help my running. Of course I didn't do it *in place of* running. Swim practice was early in the morning and I ran after school. That track season, I shaved 2 minutes off my 3200m, so I'd say it helped. It's extra cardio without the impact, plus I believe the water also helped my legs recover.
one of my friends ran 2:00 in the 800 as a sophmore and is a really good swimmer. go