How to Get Back into Competitive Swimming After a Long Break

If you swam competitively in high school, college, or even as a kid on a local club team, getting back into the pool after years away can feel super intimidating. All the old insecurities return, from worrying about whether you’re wearing the right suit and goggles to how your body has changed, to even how far your times have slipped as life has intervened. It’s enough to make plenty of people give up and find another activity that makes them feel less vulnerable or less aware of the passage of time.

But the thing is: Swimming is a lifelong activity and it’s one of the most forgiving of sports because it eliminates most of the relentless pull of gravity and is kinder to your joints than most weight-bearing forms of exercise.

It’s also a great way to find a new community and connect with other water lovers.

Plus, leaving the pool for years—decades even—is a common storyline in Masters Swimming. Thankfully, many of us eventually find our way back in our 30s, 40s, and beyond. If you find the water beckons, here’s some advice for how best to navigate that transition back into aquatic creature later in life.

Be patient

I’m not gonna lie—when I arrived at Masters Swimming some five years after I’d swum my last college meet, I was scared. And those first several workouts were extraordinarily humbling. I was sore in places I’d forgotten I had for the first few weeks. Making it through a whole workout that first week was all but impossible. And I was not the swimmer I once had been. But I kept at it, and within about a month, I was feeling much more comfortable in the water and my body. Your return to feeling like you’re back where you belong may come faster or slower, but the key is to just keep showing up. You will find a new normal if you’re consistent about putting in the effort.

Set realistic expectations

Especially in the first few weeks of getting back into swimming, it’s important to set attainable goals to help reestablish a routine and pattern. Don’t expect to lead the fast lane on your first day back or to swim your best times from years ago straightaway. In fact, you may never match those past performances—with time, the body’s abilities change and that’s entirely normal. But what’s cool is, the things you’ve done when you weren’t swimming have made you who you are today, and you’re bringing all that additional knowledge and experience to the pool with you. Recognize that your performance might be different, but the same joy remains.

Start slowly

One of the worst things you can do is hop right back into where you left off and end up injured. Instead, ramp up slowly. Start by swimming two or three times a week at a slower pace than you once did. Connecting with a Masters club workout group can help you ease in and build up over time.

Focus on technique

Your range of motion and flexibility may have changed depending on how long you’ve been out of the pool and other factors. Spending time focusing on good technique can help you avoid injury and reestablish a good base upon which to build. A certified Masters Swimming coach can help you fine-tune your technique to ensure you’re swimming the right way for how your body works now.  

Set a new goal

Instead of mourning the swimmer you used to be, set a new goal. For example, if you were a state champion in the 100 fly in high school, why not try a mile open water race now? Or if you were a long distance swimmer in college, sign up for the 50 and 100 free in a meet and see how you do. You might be surprised how the time away has shifted your ability to excel in new ways and the fun you can find in trying something new.

Connect with a teammate

One of the best things about Masters Swimming is the ready-made social community that comes with it. These folks apply positive peer pressure to keep you coming back to the pool week after week so you can keep swimming and meet your goals. Find a lanemate or training partner who will help motivate you and make a plan to meet them regularly to help support you on your journey back to swim fitness.

Warm up, cool down, recover

Aging bodies need more time to adjust to intense exertion, so be sure to warm up properly before a tough workout, cool down afterward, stretch, refuel, hydrate, and rest to allow your body the time it needs to integrate the work you’re putting in. A consistent, measured approach will rebuild strength and endurance while reducing the risk of injury.

Strive for balance

Most adult swimmers have a constellation of demands on their plate from work and parenting to caring for older loved ones, and trying to maintain a social life. It can be a lot to juggle, and sometimes life gets in the way and you can’t make it to workout as planned. That’s OK. The pool will be there tomorrow. The key is to keep your various responsibilities in balance and make time for your swimming because that’s an important way of caring for yourself so you can stick around longer for your loved ones who depend on you.

Be gentle with yourself

Time, like the tide, waits for no one, and we’ve all grown and changed from who and what we once were. That’s not a problem, it’s the miracle of life. Embrace that your circumstances, your body, and your abilities have changed, but don’t let that alter your willingness to try, to work hard, to make new friends, and to enjoy being back in the water.

Remember your why

For many Masters Swimmers, a sheer love of swimming is the innate motivator that draws them back to the water and keeps them there. Keep this at the center of your practice and you’re bound to thrive in short order in your return to swimming.