As a mid-distance to distance guy, I want to side with the argument that training for and competing at a high level in the 400/800 is harder than the 50/100. My own experience racing this summer across the three events I swam best in --
200 fly -- was 5.8% off lifetime best
400 IM -- was 8.6% off lifetime best
1500 free -- was 10.9% off lifetime best
-- is anecdotally in that direction. If I go back to when I was wearing my bodysuit, when my 50 was a lifetime best and my 100 was close to a lifetime best, my 500 was 7.2% slower than a lifetime best.
As a counterpoint to my personal data, though, it should be noted that, on average I swim about 25% of the weekly volume now versus what I did when I was a teenager and in college. I'm pretty sure that, if I could raise my training to 75% of where I used to be, with some smarter addition of strength work and race pace, my distance times could be closer (on a percentage basis) to my best than my shorter distance times. I just don't have the time to do that ... but I imagine Janet's making that kind of time in her quest.
So, I really want to say that it's harder to do what Janet's doing than what Dara's doing, I don't think it actually is. I think they are two very different sides of the same coin. If you look at Dara these days versus Dara back in the 80s, she is way more ripped and muscular now than then -- she's had to amp up her dryland and strength as a 40-something in a manner she didn't have to do as a 20-something. That doesn't require hours slogging 10K or more workouts, but it is very different (I believe) than she trained when she was younger. Janet will undoubtedly need to train more yards/meters, but she'll also need to figure out what she needs to do differently now with a 40-something body to compete. Neither of them would probably want to train like the other, but I think it's wrong to think that either of them has an 'easier' road than the other.
As a mid-distance to distance guy, I want to side with the argument that training for and competing at a high level in the 400/800 is harder than the 50/100. My own experience racing this summer across the three events I swam best in --
200 fly -- was 5.8% off lifetime best
400 IM -- was 8.6% off lifetime best
1500 free -- was 10.9% off lifetime best
-- is anecdotally in that direction. If I go back to when I was wearing my bodysuit, when my 50 was a lifetime best and my 100 was close to a lifetime best, my 500 was 7.2% slower than a lifetime best.
As a counterpoint to my personal data, though, it should be noted that, on average I swim about 25% of the weekly volume now versus what I did when I was a teenager and in college. I'm pretty sure that, if I could raise my training to 75% of where I used to be, with some smarter addition of strength work and race pace, my distance times could be closer (on a percentage basis) to my best than my shorter distance times. I just don't have the time to do that ... but I imagine Janet's making that kind of time in her quest.
So, I really want to say that it's harder to do what Janet's doing than what Dara's doing, I don't think it actually is. I think they are two very different sides of the same coin. If you look at Dara these days versus Dara back in the 80s, she is way more ripped and muscular now than then -- she's had to amp up her dryland and strength as a 40-something in a manner she didn't have to do as a 20-something. That doesn't require hours slogging 10K or more workouts, but it is very different (I believe) than she trained when she was younger. Janet will undoubtedly need to train more yards/meters, but she'll also need to figure out what she needs to do differently now with a 40-something body to compete. Neither of them would probably want to train like the other, but I think it's wrong to think that either of them has an 'easier' road than the other.
