Chapter 12 Racing. It’s Just Training with a Twist

The beloved running philosopher and cardiologist Dr. George Sheehan was once asked the difference between a jogger and a runner. His reply was a model of medical brevity: “A race entry form.”

A trifle elitist, to be sure, but a clever and necessary distinction in a sport that has its own class system and a vocabulary to match. We don’t. In the pool, everyone is a swimmer, period.

But that’s not to say swimmers who race aren’t a little different from those of us who just do our workouts week in, week out. There’s something about putting your training on the line, side by side with your peers and in full view of the timers, that focuses you as nothing else can. I recommend it. And with the hundreds of all-comers Masters meets held around the country at practically any time of year, you don’t have to be an especially accomplished athlete to feel good about your results when you’re done.

If you’ve already got a meet or two behind you, you know what I mean. If you haven’t—or if you’d like to do your next one better armed with a little Total Immersion strategy—please read on.

Lifelong swimmers, by the way, probably have a racing advantage over lifelong competitors in practically any other aerobic sport: Many can actually do better as adults than they did on their high school or college teams. The triumph of middle age over youth? Not at all. Nobody is suggesting that swimming repeals the laws of aging. What we are saying—again—is that so much more of your success comes from good technique instead of sheer fitness, and the Total Immersion program gives you the tools to keep improving your technique—and your times—for many years. So whether you’ve never raced before or are aiming to topple the personal bests of your youth, the odds of continued improvement are very high.

Don’t race for medals. Not at the beginning, at least. Do race because simply entering a competition well in advance creates an anticipation that inevitably gives purpose and focus to all your training. And do race because an event swum well, an event you’ve given your best, is more deeply satisfying than any practice. And do race, above all else, because it’s the ultimate test of how well you have practiced.

And as we said in chapter 9, there’s no such thing as “generic” race training. You target your event, and you ready yourself specifically for it. Lots of endurance work will make you the world’s worst sprinter, and vice versa. Just as in road running, you’ll find event lengths to suit any personality—short and sharp speed contests to long tests of endurance and staying power. And the training mix for each is a little different. So pick your “size” (short, medium, or long), read on to find out what you need to do to prep for it, and get started.