Taper

"Roger McMillan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

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Does anyone have any good articles or advice on tapering for big meets?

I'm

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a 48 year old masters swimmer with Nationals coming up at the end of

April.

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Last time I competed at a big meet I was setting PBs two weeks AFTER the meet.

Do you keep a log of your workouts and yardage. If so, you could go back and see what you
did last year.

Other than that, all I know is that you should cut your yardage big time before a big meet
and probably do some short sprints to keep up your speed.

Good luck to you.

Hi Roger...

The taper is obviously one of the most important parts of the season if you actually intend to "do
something" at the Championship meet. Of importance other than what you do in a taper, is how long
you taper. Unfortunately (which is what I have been struggling with in my first year of Master's
swimming) you pry don't swim anywhere as much as you did in College or High school and so you don't
have as much to taper off of. This will be a key factor in deciding how much and how long to taper.

What to do while tapering has to do with your stroke and your distance and your time. What I would
say that is always reccomended is taper off slowly. Don't rush into doing minimal yardage right
away. Cut off a few yards every time you swim for about 2-3 days until you get to a constant on the
4th, 5th or 6th day. I say 5-6 days because you may only get about a week to taper when you are in
Masters. For pure sprint, taper more. For stroke taper moderately. For distance taper less and work
on pace work.

I hope that helps.

Thanks, LM

"Roger McMillan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have any good articles or advice on tapering for big meets?

I'm

Quoted message said:

a 48 year old masters swimmer with Nationals coming up at the end of

April.

Quoted message said:

Last time I competed at a big meet I was setting PBs two weeks AFTER the meet.

Also, any advice on how long before the meet I should stop weight training would be appreciated.

Many thanks

--
Roger McMillan Margaret River, Australia Ph (08) 9757 9314