Masters Swimming Logs
Content description and disclaimer: The documents published on this page represent observational, N=1 case studies based my personal training experiments and logs. These works do not constitute suggestions for anyone else to follow the same approaches or routines, nor are they an attempt to prove or disprove any specific athletic theories. I do not have any significant experience in team coaching, physical training or medical guidance. The observations are shared with the intent of sparking scientific curiosity among athletic performance scientists, as they could serve as a starting point for crafting meaningful hypotheses to be tested using rigorous scientific practices. The views and conclusions expressed herein are solely my own and do not reflect the official position or endorsement of The Catholic University of America.
About my interest in swimming: Since my early years, I followed the regime of my parents, who were long-distance runners, mostly focused on 10K and half-marathon races. I remember my mother knocking on our doors at 5:00 a.m. almost every day to ask us kids if we wanted to go running with them—which we did most of the time. Running nearly daily and competing a few times a year was highly enjoyable, although I never placed well at any significant competition. During most of my teen years, I played in a baseball league, and for a couple of years, I also took part in powerlifting competitions. In my later teen years, I completed a handful of not-very-competitive sprint triathlons, where I was consistently in the slowest 30% of swimmers. My overall place in the race was relatively good, however, as I was able to pass many competitors on the bike and during the run. When our oldest child was seven or eight, my wife, who came from a family of swimmers, had her take classes and join a team. At first, I did not appreciate the extra driving and the long meets, but after a “parent relay” where I swam a 25-meter sprint, I got interested in adult competitions and joined U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS). For some odd reason, I could complete butterfly races with relative ease (although with a not-very-pretty stroke at first). Delighted by the elegance and powerful look of the stroke and intrigued by the mental game of flirting with 'the piano' that can fall on your back during the grueling final meters, I decided to make the 200-butterfly my specialty. At age 50+ and after 10+ years as a competitive USMS swimmer, I am still not a very fast 200-flyer, with personal bests of 3:08 in LCM and 2:40 in SCY, but I love the event. In the past five years, I’ve also completed longer fly events during the summer, including the 500-fly, 1000-fly, and 1650-fly (very slowly, of course, but nevertheless nonstop). Although I very much appreciate the advice of the various coaches I’ve had and still have, I mostly train alone. This allows me to build my programs around my specific event, and it accommodates my very unconventional training approach—which is ultimately what inspired me to share my experiences.
Content description and disclaimer: The documents published on this page represent observational, N=1 case studies based my personal training experiments and logs. These works do not constitute suggestions for anyone else to follow the same approaches or routines, nor are they an attempt to prove or disprove any specific athletic theories. I do not have any significant experience in team coaching, physical training or medical guidance. The observations are shared with the intent of sparking scientific curiosity among athletic performance scientists, as they could serve as a starting point for crafting meaningful hypotheses to be tested using rigorous scientific practices. The views and conclusions expressed herein are solely my own and do not reflect the official position or endorsement of The Catholic University of America.
About my interest in swimming: Since my early years, I followed the regime of my parents, who were long-distance runners, mostly focused on 10K and half-marathon races. I remember my mother knocking on our doors at 5:00 a.m. almost every day to ask us kids if we wanted to go running with them—which we did most of the time. Running nearly daily and competing a few times a year was highly enjoyable, although I never placed well at any significant competition. During most of my teen years, I played in a baseball league, and for a couple of years, I also took part in powerlifting competitions. In my later teen years, I completed a handful of not-very-competitive sprint triathlons, where I was consistently in the slowest 30% of swimmers. My overall place in the race was relatively good, however, as I was able to pass many competitors on the bike and during the run. When our oldest child was seven or eight, my wife, who came from a family of swimmers, had her take classes and join a team. At first, I did not appreciate the extra driving and the long meets, but after a “parent relay” where I swam a 25-meter sprint, I got interested in adult competitions and joined U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS). For some odd reason, I could complete butterfly races with relative ease (although with a not-very-pretty stroke at first). Delighted by the elegance and powerful look of the stroke and intrigued by the mental game of flirting with 'the piano' that can fall on your back during the grueling final meters, I decided to make the 200-butterfly my specialty. At age 50+ and after 10+ years as a competitive USMS swimmer, I am still not a very fast 200-flyer, with personal bests of 3:08 in LCM and 2:40 in SCY, but I love the event. In the past five years, I’ve also completed longer fly events during the summer, including the 500-fly, 1000-fly, and 1650-fly (very slowly, of course, but nevertheless nonstop). Although I very much appreciate the advice of the various coaches I’ve had and still have, I mostly train alone. This allows me to build my programs around my specific event, and it accommodates my very unconventional training approach—which is ultimately what inspired me to share my experiences.
Articles Published in 2026
Solares, S.D.; "The true cost of disrupted practice panic: an unintentionally extreme experiment for the 200-fly LCM race," Masters Swimming Logs, No. 1 (2026). Download
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the degradation of my performance in the 200-fly LCM race, following and 8-day period during which I did not swim, and after which I only swam short remedial sessions over three days to regain the “feel” for the water and the stroke rhythm. The underlying motivation was twofold. First, I suspected that I could still perform the stroke efficiently and complete the race based on neuromuscular memory and previously built endurance, and second, I saw the experiment as an opportunity to boost my mental confidence, by proving to myself that small glitches in my training program leading up the race were not catastrophic. The end result was a relatively comfortable swim, approximately 15 seconds slower than my baseline, during which I did not experience any muscular or cardiovascular failure.
Solares, S.D.; "Training for the 1650-fly with low yardage: 3 x 2,500 yards per week over 6 weeks," Masters Swimming Logs, No. 2 (2026). Download
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate a very abbreviated 6-week training program with relatively low rate of perceived exertion, but high level of mindfulness, primarily designed to prepare for a 1650-butterfly race, along with two other lower-priority races. The 6-week program started after a 2-week full break from physical exercise (following a full taper and a regular U.S. Masters Swimming meet) and a subsequent 2-week re-entry phase. The weekly plan included three days of 2,500 yards of swimming, a slow 2-mile jog, and a low-intensity weight training session. The program stressed mindful swimming, focusing sharply on specific aspects of stroke mechanics during practice. While preparing for multiple races simultaneously made the pacing work ineffective, the author, a relatively experienced 200-butterfly masters swimmer in the 50-54 age group, completed three distance butterfly swims, namely the 1000-, 1650- and 500-yard races (in that order, with one recovery day after each of the first two races), at a relatively gentle pace and with good form. Mental fatigue was noticeable after the three races were completed, which suggested greater-than-usual mental exertion during both training and racing.
Solares, S.D.; "From powerlifting to the 200 fly: Optimizing neuromuscular recruitment and hypertrophy control in masters swimming," Masters Swimming Logs, No. 3 (2026). Download
ABSTRACT: This paper details a multi-decade trajectory of resistance training, tracing its evolution from unguided adolescent lifting to a structured, sport-specific regimen at age 53. The author’s background spans teenage baseball, distance running and triathlon, competitive powerlifting, and a ten-year career in U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS). While early training phases lacked structure and discipline, a recent paradigm shift over the past several months transitioned the routine toward a more objective, systematic, evidence-informed framework. By adopting powerlifting-inspired neural recruitment principles that focus on swimming-related muscular groups and limit excessive muscular growth, the current regimen optimizes force production and fiber recruitment to directly support the specific demands of competitive masters swimming, with a primary focus on mid-distance butterfly.