Top 10 Training Tips for Masters Swimmers

Peter Reaburn PhD

Peter Reaburn is an Associate Professor in exercise and sport science at CQUniversity. He was the founder of Miami 

Masters in Queensland, Chair of the 1990 National Swim Organising Committee, spent two years as State President 

of AUSSI Queensland and 10 years on the National Coaching Panel. He has won national distance swimming 

championships and was world‐ranked in 1500m freestyle as a younger master swimmer. He still swims open water 

including Byron Bay last year and was winner of the Australian Ironman Triathlon (50‐54 years) in 2005. He has 

recently written the definitive book for athletes over 30 years of age titled The Masters Athlete now in its second 

reprint and available at: www.mastersathlete.com.au. A great Xmas present too. 

Peter will be writing regular Bridging the Gap articles for us. 

Introduction 

As an athlete, I have always had a passion for understanding my body and how it responds during exercise and 

adapts to training. As a sport scientist with a research interest in older athletes, I am lucky enough to be able to stay 

on the pulse of research, limited as it is, that is undertaken on aging athletes.  

Below are the top 10 tips for masters swimmers. These are based on 46 years of high‐performance competition in 

sport and 25 years of reading and conducting research. I hope the suggestions help you. Biased as I am my book The 

Masters Athlete discusses in detail each of these tips with examples and specific suggestions on how to turn them 

into action. 

1. Train using the principle of specificity 

In a nutshell, this scientific principle of training says that if you want to improve your 50m sprint freestyle, it won’t 

happen doing big sets of 200m swims. Conversely, if you want to do a PB in the 800m, you won’t get it doing 25m 

sprints with long recoveries. You need to analyse the event(s) you want to be good at or do a PB in and work with 

your coach to develop that capacity. I see way too many masters athletes wondering why they aren’t getting faster 

when all they do is train slow. 

2. Progressively overload your body 

Just as I see too many masters swimmers training incorrectly for speed or endurance, I see too many either doing 

the same thing year in, year out, day in day out, week in week out. I also see some former swimmers coming back 

into masters and hammering themselves as they did as 15‐20 year‐olds and overtraining or getting injured. The 

principle of progressive overload means just that ‐ progressively overload your cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and 

nervous systems by gradually increasing how often you train, how hard you train and how long you train for. Build 

these slowly with emphasis on intensity last. 

3. Train with intensity 

Once you have developed your cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and nervous systems progressively, the absolute key 

to better performances and PBs is intensity of training. Research has shown that masters athletes tend to train with 

lower intensity as they age. Equally, research as shown that those that train with intensity, slow down at half the 

rate of those masters athletes who drop intensity from their training. You need to train fast to race fast. Sprint sets 

develop speed, high heart rate sets develop endurance. No short cuts, just hard work. But if you do these too often, 

too hard and/or too quickly for too long, you will overtrain or injure yourself. Rely on a coach and listen to your body 

– and progressively overload! 

4. Recover even harder than you train 

Anecdotal evidence fromallthe older athletesI know, combined with research on aging non‐athletes as well as

exercising  rats have allshown that as we age, we appearto need longerto recover and longerto adaptto training.

Thus, we need to be aggressively using the recovery strategies research has shown work. Those rated very highly are 

contrast water therapy (hot/cold showers), compression garments (yep, they work!), ice baths, stretching and 

nutrition (especially high glycemic index foods and carbohydrate‐protein drinks after training). Other recovery 

strategies science has shown work are active recovery (easy swims), massage, spas, and sleep – now I like that! I 

have a whole chapter in my book on the specifics of how to use these recovery strategies most effectively. 

5. Do flexibility and core training 

Research has shown that as we age, we get less flexible. Yet swimming is a sport that demands good range of 

movement around the shoulders, hips, knees and ankles. Poor flexibility, particularly when combined with poor 

technique, can lead to injury. I stretch before and after every swim session. I also do 2‐3 15‐20 minute flexibility and 

core stability sessions a week at a gym or while watching the news on TV. It’s kept me injury‐free – fingers crossed! 

6. Do strength training 

One of the major declines as we age is a decline in strength as a result of a decline in muscle mass. This begins at 35, 

drops steadily till around 50, drops a little more quickly from 50‐65, then plummets after 65‐70 years. Thus, the older 

we get, the more important strength training becomes as we age. It keeps us strong and supple and helps maintain 

speed. The older you get or the more competitive you are, the more important strength training becomes. Speak to 

your coach or age‐group coach at your pool about who to go to about this. You may have to pay for it, but it’s worth 

it depending on your goals. 

7. Train consistently 

Stay active for life! In my game we call it training age. The longer you’ve been at training, the quicker you adapt, the 

faster you recover, the better you become. Sure take a break from hard training, but always try to swim at least 

twice a week. Get to the gym more often in the off‐season, get stronger in the tummy and lower back, get more 

flexible and keep the heart and lungs moving by cycling or walking, jogging. Stay active for life and remember 

Exercise is Medicine. 

8. Warm‐up and cool down 

Warm‐up enhances performance and cool downs enhance recovery. Yet I see too many masters swimmers doing 

neither before training or racing hard. Warm‐up as close as possible to the event, use stretchy cords if you have to. 

Do the same with cool‐down. Do it for not only performance and recovery reasons, but health reasons. 

9. Periodise your training 

Fancy term but simple in its meaning. It means working hard at times, medium at times and easy at times. It means 

having hard days followed by easy days in a week. It means having hard weeks followed by easier weeks. I have 

whole chapter on this in my book that can help you realise you can’t train hard day in day out, week in week out. You 

need to alternate and manipulate how hard, how often and how long you train for. Crucially, you must allow time for 

your (aging) body to adapt. 

10. Listen to your body 

The bottom line. Listen for the little joint or muscle ‘niggles’, the signs of tiredness such as grumpiness of lack of 

interest, falling asleep at the desk. Have you recovered hard enough, long enough? Do you need more rest? A day off? 

I hope the above help you achieve your personal goals. Stay active and exercise for life!