The curse of long course swimming
Long Course Attention Deficit Disorder
Occurs annually during the transition from short course training to long-course training in late spring. Sprinters are known to be more susceptible to this disorder than distance swimmers.
Symptoms:
- Swimmer forgets workout mid-way through the pool, due to shortened attention span
- Swimmer gets bored out of his/her mind half-way through the 50m stretch and can’t continue to keep up the desired level of intensity
- Swimmer swims workout thinking that one length of the pool equals 25 yards.
- Swimmer is irritable and unable to focus on the workout
Treatment:
- Total immersion therapy: prescribe practice every day until swimmer has adjusted to long-course.
- If symptoms persist for longer than one month: suggest the swimmer train in the teaching pool.
Prevention:
- No preventative measures have been employed successfully. Mental preparedness training is currently being tested but has shown a very limited success rate.
Right on! LCADD is what I had yesterday.