Competitive swimming for adults can be a fun, challenging activity whether you are a former college competitor, a triathlete or a novice swimmer. Organizations such as United States Masters Swimming, or USMS, provide workouts, clinics, swim meets and open water competitions for adults 18 and older.
Workouts
As a competitive swimmer, you should perform challenging workouts and include a variety of strokes and drills appropriate for your upcoming competition. For example, a competitive butterfly swimmer should focus on dolphin kicking and butterfly stroke technique, whereas an open water swimmer should focus on freestyle endurance. An organized adult swim team with a certified coach can be useful for providing instruction for your competitive goals, and USMS has more than 500 teams nationwide to help you succeed. You will probably meet other competitive swimmers to train with, which can encourage you to swim harder in workouts.
Clinics
Swim clinics and workshops often focus on specific areas of your swimming, such as stroke technique, navigating open water swims, or dry land strength training. Some last a few hours, while others may last up to a week. If you have hit a training plateau, swim clinics can refresh your swimming and provide you with new training tips, which may help break your plateau. Clinics can also be helpful if you are struggling with a specific technique, such as making it past the waves at the start of an open water swim.
Swim Meets
Swim meets for adult competitive swimmers allow you to track your progress at the local, state and national levels among others in your age group. Most swim meets have several individual and relay events with varying distances of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle and individual medley. Many of the meets between May to November take place in 50-meter, long-course pools, while the majority of meets between November and May take place in 25-yard or 25-meter short-course pools. Age groups in swim meets are typically in five-year increments.
Open Water Competitions
Open water competitions provide specific challenges to you as an adult competitive swimmer. They are typically longer than most events in pool swim meets --- some extreme swims exceed 20 miles, but the majority range between 1 and 3 miles. You may encounter obstacles such as waves, currents, sea animals and other competitors. Most events take place during the warm summer months. Nevertheless, cold water may also present a challenge, especially if wetsuits are not allowed.
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