Hey everyone,
I am freestyle sprinter and recently I've been trying to improve my 100 free time which I've done (dropped about 5 seconds) but I need help with one issue in particular.
When I swim the 100 I like to swim all out from the start instead of pacing myself at the beginning then trying to turn it on near the end. I find myself starting to drag halfway through the 75 so by the time I'm on the last 25 I am extremely exhausted. I still get good times though!
My question and perhaps there are some sprinters here that can help me with this is..
are there any workouts that can help with maintaining the last half of a 100 freestyle?
I really need to build endurance for this. Also, perhaps my breathing is messed up? I prefer to breath no more than two times the first 25, no more than 3 times the 2nd 25 and I use the 3rd 25 as the length to get whatever needed air I need so I can keep my head down the last 25 as much as possible and bring it home.
Any suggestions would be a great help!
In your mind you are only backing off about 10% of effort. Perhaps more like .8 if you want to be exact. But yes, if you watch the 100 free videos that's how those boys are doing it. It's 90% down 100% coming home. I'm building to 100 before the turn at 50m.
Like I said above .8 on race day rested and tapered.
Some n of 2 stats to think about from the most perfect 100 free I personally ever swam -- when I got to be in the lane next to Rowdy Gaines at the 2009 Rowdy Gaines meet -- provide some interesting comparisons, I think:
50 free times at that meet (SCM)
Me 25.00
Rowdy 23.38
100 free splits
Me 25.86 - 27.26 for 53.12
Rowdy 25.38 - 26.23 for 51.61
So,
I was out 3.4% slower than my 50 time
Rowdy was out 8.6% slower than his 50 time
I split the race 48.7% - 51.3% by 50s
Rowdy split the race 49.2% - 50.8% by 50s
Earlier in that year, in SCY, I had done a 48.12 and split it more like Rowdy (23.69 - 24.43 which is 49.2 - 50.8% by 50 and was out 6.9% slower than my best 50), but the SCM result converts to something like 47.60
So, for me, I'll swim a faster 100 if I go out closer to max effort and try NOT to pace it. However, unless I've got someone faster than me to push me out faster, my tendency is to hold back. I find the same strategy worked well for me in the 100 fly this spring where I went out 0.3 over my best 50 time. Again, I was in an fun heat full of faster guys who pushed me to get out fast. YMMV
In your mind you are only backing off about 10% of effort. Perhaps more like .8 if you want to be exact. But yes, if you watch the 100 free videos that's how those boys are doing it. It's 90% down 100% coming home. I'm building to 100 before the turn at 50m.
Like I said above .8 on race day rested and tapered.
Some n of 2 stats to think about from the most perfect 100 free I personally ever swam -- when I got to be in the lane next to Rowdy Gaines at the 2009 Rowdy Gaines meet -- provide some interesting comparisons, I think:
50 free times at that meet (SCM)
Me 25.00
Rowdy 23.38
100 free splits
Me 25.86 - 27.26 for 53.12
Rowdy 25.38 - 26.23 for 51.61
So,
I was out 3.4% slower than my 50 time
Rowdy was out 8.6% slower than his 50 time
I split the race 48.7% - 51.3% by 50s
Rowdy split the race 49.2% - 50.8% by 50s
Earlier in that year, in SCY, I had done a 48.12 and split it more like Rowdy (23.69 - 24.43 which is 49.2 - 50.8% by 50 and was out 6.9% slower than my best 50), but the SCM result converts to something like 47.60
So, for me, I'll swim a faster 100 if I go out closer to max effort and try NOT to pace it. However, unless I've got someone faster than me to push me out faster, my tendency is to hold back. I find the same strategy worked well for me in the 100 fly this spring where I went out 0.3 over my best 50 time. Again, I was in an fun heat full of faster guys who pushed me to get out fast. YMMV
