How to improve my sprint

Hi, Giampiero, My advice would be to pay attention to how you pace your races. Granted, a 50 should be a sprint the whole way, and your time of 27.5 is not bad. You didn't mention whether this is LCM or SCM, but either way, it's natural to feel that you're dying a little at the end of an all-out sprint. And though you may feel you are slowing down, you might not be losing as much speed as you think you are. The 100, on the other hand, is a different matter. Last year, my best LCM times for the 50 and 100 respectively were 28.3 and 1:01.90. (I was 59.) So you beat me by nearly one second on the 50, but I beat you by almost as much in the 100. Granted, I am more of a middle distance swimmer than a sprinter. Still, I suspect you should have beaten me in the 100, too, given how much more raw speed you have than me. I think the key is pacing. Do you have your splits from your best 100? In my 1:01.90, I went out in 30.36 and came back in 31.54, a difference of 1.18 seconds per 50. Since the dive gives you a 1.5 second advantage, this differential is almost like negative splitting the 100. I don't suggest that you try negative splitting your own 100, but I would be willing to bet that the reason you die on the second half is that you go out way too fast on the first 50. If you followed my approach, you would go out in a 29.5 (about 2 seconds slower than your fastest 50) and come back in a 30.7 (second 50 1.2 seconds slower than first.) This would give you a 1:00.20. The key, in my opinion, is to try to swim the first 50 in easy speed mode--under control, smooth, plenty of breaths, don't overuse your kick. Then build the second 50, bringing in the kick as you go. Chances are you will still die a little, but if you can forestall this and use your kick to compensate at the end, I think you can come close to breaking a minute. Good luck!

Hi, Giampiero, My advice would be to pay attention to how you pace your races. Granted, a 50 should be a sprint the whole way, and your time of 27.5 is not bad. You didn't mention whether this is LCM or SCM, but either way, it's natural to feel that you're dying a little at the end of an all-out sprint. And though you may feel you are slowing down, you might not be losing as much speed as you think you are. The 100, on the other hand, is a different matter. Last year, my best LCM times for the 50 and 100 respectively were 28.3 and 1:01.90. (I was 59.) So you beat me by nearly one second on the 50, but I beat you by almost as much in the 100. Granted, I am more of a middle distance swimmer than a sprinter. Still, I suspect you should have beaten me in the 100, too, given how much more raw speed you have than me. I think the key is pacing. Do you have your splits from your best 100? In my 1:01.90, I went out in 30.36 and came back in 31.54, a difference of 1.18 seconds per 50. Since the dive gives you a 1.5 second advantage, this differential is almost like negative splitting the 100. I don't suggest that you try negative splitting your own 100, but I would be willing to bet that the reason you die on the second half is that you go out way too fast on the first 50. If you followed my approach, you would go out in a 29.5 (about 2 seconds slower than your fastest 50) and come back in a 30.7 (second 50 1.2 seconds slower than first.) This would give you a 1:00.20. The key, in my opinion, is to try to swim the first 50 in easy speed mode--under control, smooth, plenty of breaths, don't overuse your kick. Then build the second 50, bringing in the kick as you go. Chances are you will still die a little, but if you can forestall this and use your kick to compensate at the end, I think you can come close to breaking a minute. Good luck!