how to swim a 50m

1) Do you just go as hard as you can and hope you can stay strong till the end? 2) Same thing with breathing (if you can't last a lap without breathing) so do you pace your breathing or do you try to last as long as you can and then breath till the end? 1) No. Start out almost as fast as possible and finish as fast as possible. 2) If you need to breath during a 50 you need a breathing strategy and to be efficient at taking a breath while sprinting. The only time you want to be dying for a breath is right at the finish, so take your breathes earlier than you absolutely have to. Oxygen takes time to get from your lungs to your muscles which would indicate that you should breath earlier in the race and there is no point to breath right before the finish.

All joking aside, I do agree. What a perfect 50 requires, though is perfection: Good analysis, though much of this (60-70%) shouldn't have to be thought about during a race since you only get a thought or two. Most of these can be perfected and nearly completely preprogrammed during practice, thereby making such an ordeal a lot less tiring. "There's no time to think up there, if you think, you're dead." :) I don't want to trivialize some of what you wrote there as they are all valid points, but... There is only 3 points of discretion, I feel, that a properly prepared sprinter has to actively think about during a race. In my experience... the "lost perfection" part of my races has always been one of these three things: 1) WHEN to initiate the start sequence (reaction) 2) WHEN to turn (turn distance from wall) 3) WHEN to take that digging stroke that will be the last, turn on side, and try to break your fingers on the pad (finish). Train properly, prepare properly, and nail this trifecta, and you will have a perfect 50 race. These points kinda digress from what the OP was actually asking though, so I'll leave it there for now.

Don't stretch prior to the event. I recently found that stretching slows me down over a second.

Based on my experience, here's what I do: 1) Relax during the start and focus on a snappy reaction (practice this with dives and jumping), 2) Get a huge breath on the start (while leaving the platform) and hope it lasts at least 35m. 3) Focus on a strong, fast kick. The kick sets my tempo for my arms, the faster I kick, the faster I stroke. In watching elite sprinters, they all seem to have monster kicks. 4) Do my best to keep my head down, when my head is down, my feet stay up. Other points to consider. 50s tend to require more rest/taper than distance events. Training-wise, it's good to swim superfast 15s and 25s to practice swimming at race speed, and swimming with fins will help you find areas of resistance and help with reducing drag. Good luck :banana:

What events are you doing before and/or after this 50 free? How much time will you have between them? While some may argue that breathing during a 50 free has no benefit for it (I am not one), I've found that the more I breathe the better/faster I can recover after, and not suffer too much for other events after it. And if I swam an event within 30 min before, I'll certainly need to breathe more during it. I don't focus on the 50 free, but will do it as filler between other events. In my last LCM meet, I did the 50m free in about 32. I don't have a breathing strategy, I breathe whenever I feel I need to. If I had to guess, I'd say at least 4 times, and probably closer to 8.

Don't stretch prior to the event. I recently found that stretching slows me down over a second. Yes. Avoid static stretching before racing or exercising, since it temporarily hinders your strength and power. Instead, do dynamic stretching.