I was wondering if anyone knew of any masters swimming competitions in Taipei (indoor with at least some 200m distances). Thanks.
You can take a look here,
[forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … ht=#766636](...a private swim instructor/tutor
[quote=“Anna3341”]You can take a look here,
[forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … ht=#766636](...a private swim instructor/tutor
This information relates to swimming lessons. And while I am, actually, interested in learning better technique for all but one stroke, what I was curious to find out in the original post was whether there are opportunities to compete in swimming races, especially races where you’re competing against people in your age group.
I’m not a great swimmer but competing really helps with the motivation.
My Chinese is spotty, but check out this link:
It looks like there’s a competition coming up at the end of the year.
I’ve done a couple of the open-water events listed here
(the big one is Sun Moon Lake, which draws >10k people every year)
Lots of fun, and well organized too.
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Thanks for the link. I probably will need help from the wife as well to decipher it. I’ve answered your PM. Let me know if you plan on going to any competitions listed on the site.
I’m also really interested in doing some Masters swimming races. Looking at the Masterswim website, I can see that there are some open-water swims, but that’s about as far as my Chinese will get me. I did find a thing in the Taipei Times about an open water swim in Ilan, but it says you need to have a team with at least 5 people.
So, my questions:
Has anyone done any of these competitions?
If so, do all of them require that you have a team? Any suggestions for finding myself a team?
Do they have pool-based meets, has anyone done one?
Also, I don’t suppose there are any Masters workout groups/teams in Taipei? I would really love to find a group to swim with.
I swam competitively for a loooong time, and I’m having trouble staying motivated without people to train with or meets to train for…
Hello fellow Ian THorpies…
I am working in Taichung and finally got myself act together and started swimming because I can’t find wushu and gymnastic at moment around Taichung and I haven’t got my gear to go to Taipei play ice hockey and my mountain bike isn’t available to purchase in Taiwan yet so the only sport that I can take up is swimming.
I am a retired swimming coach (about 2 months ago) and got a new job here so I am trying to do something different out the working hours. I’ve seen some swimming instructors taking lessons and I believed that I can do better than them, in fact I want results, had kids competing, bunch of swimmers competed in Ironman races and many adult swimmers thought I was a very technical coach or may be they thought I talk too much, but I"ll let you decide.
Any one interested in swimming coaching or advice please feel free to PM me or ring my mobile I am free all the time.
Keep on swimming.
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So, I went and competed in the Taiwan Masters swimming championship over the weekend, and just thought I’d report on it in case anyone is interested in future meets.
It was a pretty good meet - very well run, very organized (tons and tons of volunteers). They had touchpads, a nice time-clock, the whole shebang. About 900 people entered total. The mens’ side was much more competitive, as there were twice as many men as women. There were some pretty fast swims by the men, not so much by the women. The age brackets from 40 to 60 (they divide it up by every 5 years) had the most people, while the 20-30s were pretty sparse (all of which made it pretty easy to win if you’re a youngish woman 
). They held it at a pool in Taoyuan, and the pool was pretty nice, with lots of shaded seating area and even a separate pool you could warm up in (although that pool was like two feet deep, which felt very weird). They had a whole range of events, including some longer ones - a 400 free and a few 200s (which made me really happy, since I’m a distance swimmer and think 50s are stupid), but you could only enter two events (to keep the thing from lasting all week, I guess). Most people entered as part of a group (although there were a number of “groups” of one), but you could also enter as an individual (which I did). Everyone was super helpful and nice to me - from the people sitting by me plying me with fruit, to people showing me around and making sure I knew where I needed to be when, to people offering good lucks and good jobs. I didn’t see any other westerners (although there was a group from Japan) - I was the only person entered with a non-character name, which certainly made it easy to find myself in the program . The main drawback for me was that they started crazy early - I had to be there at 7:15 ( 
) on Sunday morning (which meant getting up at 5:30 ( ), about when I’m often just going to sleep).
Anyway, very positive experience overall, I will definitely do it again next year if I’m around, and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s interested in getting in a bit of competition. Oh, and I found out about it and got the entry form, etc. from the masterswim website linked some posts back.
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Do you remember the time in the mens 100’s. Butter back breast or free??
Sorry 
I didn’t see the 100 free, back, or breast (they were Sat, and I swam on Sun), and I don’t remember the 100 fly times.
I do remember that in the 50 free there were some guys down around 25-26 seconds - they were close to the meet record, but just missed it. In the 400 free there was a guy around 5 minutes, 200 breaststroke there were a number of guys around 3:00 to 3:20 (I was just paying attention to how many of them beat me 
). That’s all I can come up with. Maybe the results are posted online somewhere though.
Any news on competitions for 2013? I checked the website http://www.masterswim.org.tw/ but I don’t see anything there. After about a year of swimming and getting my freestyle down I’m ready for a little competition.
08月3、4日(六、日)
2013年全國成人分齡游泳錦標賽暨國際邀請賽
東區分會
It’s on August 3,4 in Yilan.
[quote=“bigsyd”]08月3、4日(六、日)
2013年全國成人分齡游泳錦標賽暨國際邀請賽
東區分會
It’s on August 3,4 in Yilan.[/quote]
Thank you for that, bigsyd! My search brought me right back to the Masters Swimming website: meworks.net/meworksv2a/mewor … ?no=234245
So do we keep checking the site a month or so before the event to see how to register?
Not a bad list of events coming up, by the way. Will need to try one of the open water swims sometime.
What are good times for 50, 200, and 400-meter freestyle for a guy in his mid 40s (for the competition here, anyway)? I need some goals!
PM me with you email address and I will send it to you when I get it. It is usually up about two months prior to the meet.
Here are the results from last year’s meet: http://www.masterswim.org.tw/userfile/41606/2012%E5%85%A8%E5%9C%8B%E6%88%90%E4%BA%BA%E5%88%86%E9%BD%A1%E6%B8%B8%E6%B3%B3%E8%B3%BD%E6%88%90%E7%B8%BE%E5%A0%B1%E5%91%8A%E6%9B%B8.pdf You need to scroll down to about page 12.
Are you in the 40 - 44 age group or the 45 - 48 age group? What are you current times for the 50, 200 and 400 Free? Keep in mind you can only compete in two events.
[quote=“bigsyd”]PM me with you email address and I will send it to you when I get it. It is usually up about two months prior to the meet.
Are you in the 40 - 44 age group or the 45 - 48 age group? What are you current times for the 50, 200 and 400 Free? Keep in mind you can only compete in two events.[/quote]
I’m in the 45-49 (it’s 49 and not 48 right?) age group. I actually have no idea what my times are. I really just started swimming freestyle laps last year. I’ve always been around pools and lakes but never really did this as an exercise until recently. Most of the time now, I swim in 25-meter pools and swim for 40 minutes (almost all freestyle). When I timed myself for 1500 meters in the middle of the summer last year (in a 50-meter pool), this took me 34 minutes. I feel I’m in better shape now and that my form is better. I’m going to start swimming in a 50-meter more often this year and my goal is to get that to just under 30 minutes for 1500 meters. Back to the times for the shorter distances…I feel strong when I go balls-out for 25 meters or at about 80-90% for 50 meters (with a not-so-great turn in the 25-meter pool), but I have to see what my times are when I get the chance.
Thanks again for the info. I’ll PM you with my email address.
[quote](it’s 49 and not 48 right?)[/quote] Yes, you are right. Sorry, my mistake. If you can do a 30 minute 1500, then you are swimming at a 2 min/100 m pace. Last year the 400 m was won in about 6 mins which makes that a 1:30 min/100 m pace. That should give you some idea of how much work you need to do. I am no expert on training for the 400 (I prefer the 200 and shorter distances myself) but instead of training just laps you could perhaps think about doing some timed sets. At least try to incorporate a set such as: 4 x 100 @ 2:00 mins aiming to do 1:30 for each repeat. That is something you could work up to. You will need some sort of a pace clock or, at least, a waterproof watch. A really good online swimming resource is the the United States Masters Swimming site (USMS). You will find plenty of good advice and workouts posted there.
Best,
bigsyd
[quote=“bigsyd”]If you can do a 30 minute 1500, then you are swimming at a 2 min/100 m pace. Last year the 400 m was won in about 6 mins which makes that a 1:30 min/100 m pace. That should give you some idea of how much work you need to do. I am no expert on training for the 400 (I prefer the 200 and shorter distances myself) but instead of training just laps you could perhaps think about doing some timed sets. At least try to incorporate a set such as: 4 x 100 @ 2:00 mins aiming to do 1:30 for each repeat. That is something you could work up to. You will need some sort of a pace clock or, at least, a waterproof watch. A really good online swimming resource is the the United States Masters Swimming site (USMS). You will find plenty of good advice and workouts posted there.
Best,
bigsyd[/quote]
I used to be a big runner so this all sounds familiar to me. My feeling is that my 400 might not be as far off as it sounds. In running terms, maybe this would like comparing the 10K to something like a 3K (if there was such a thing), and my pace for the 3K would be significantly faster than that for the 10K. Anyway, thanks again for the information. I’ll most likely see you in Yilan!
To bigsyd or anyone else (and I’m writing this here instead of in a PM in case others are following this discussion). So are the races conducted according to regular (Olympic) regulations- started with a dive at the beginning, etc.? I’ve read that with the dolphin kick, the head must break the water surface after 15 meters. Is this correct? If so, is the pool at Yilan deep enough at the end you dive in at to do a few dolphin kicks? Sorry for all the questions but I’m so excited about all this!
As far as I know the competition is run according to FINA Rules. I have only competed in three and all three were held in pretty decent pools with starting blocks and touch pads for electronic timing. How strictly the rules are enforced depends on the meet director and officials. I don’t remember there being any disqualifications at the meets I attended but it may be that I wasn’t paying attention. I wouldn’t say that there is too much emphasis on rules but I think on the night before the competition starts they hold a meeting where people who attend are reminded of the more important ones or ones that have recently been amended. I say “I think” because I haven’t attended any of those meetings but I seem to remember someone telling me something about it.
Anyway, here is the relevant rule from FINA regarding when to surface during freestyle:
SW 5.3 Some part of the swimmer must break the surface of the water throughout the race, except it shall be permissible for the swimmer to be completely submerged during the turn and for a distance of not more than 15 metres after the start and each turn. By that point, the head must have broken the surface.
So the head should break the surface before or on 15 meters, not after. It would be better to be safe than sorry.
Not sure about the pool in Yilan. I live in Kaohsiung so have never been up there. All the previous pools that I have swum in were all good for diving in and doing some underwater dolphin kicks.
best,
bigsyd
[quote=“bigsyd”]As far as I know the competition is run according to FINA Rules. I have only competed in three and all three were held in pretty decent pools with starting blocks and touch pads for electronic timing. How strictly the rules are enforced depends on the meet director and officials. I don’t remember there being any disqualifications at the meets I attended but it may be that I wasn’t paying attention. I wouldn’t say that there is too much emphasis on rules but I think on the night before the competition starts they hold a meeting where people who attend are reminded of the more important ones or ones that have recently been amended. I say “I think” because I haven’t attended any of those meetings but I seem to remember someone telling me something about it.
Anyway, here is the relevant rule from FINA regarding when to surface during freestyle:
SW 5.3 Some part of the swimmer must break the surface of the water throughout the race, except it shall be permissible for the swimmer to be completely submerged during the turn and for a distance of not more than 15 metres after the start and each turn. By that point, the head must have broken the surface.
So the head should break the surface before or on 15 meters, not after. It would be better to be safe than sorry.
Not sure about the pool in Yilan. I live in Kaohsiung so have never been up there. All the previous pools that I have swum in were all good for diving in and doing some underwater dolphin kicks.
best,
bigsyd[/quote]
Thank you again, bigsyd!