Swimming : Why no pure sprint event?

Former Member
Former Member
Full disclosure: I am a pure (i.e. "drop dead") sprinter :)] Watching Track & Field, I'm always struck how they offer what can truly be described as "pure" sprints: the 100m dash (and in indoors, the 60m). These are races that time sub-10 and sub-7 seconds at the elite level. Yet swimming's shortest race is 21 seconds (for the rest of us, quite a bit more than 21 seconds ...). I was speaking with some sprint swimming coaches who agreed that even our "splash & dash" 50 free is not a true sprint ... it's close, but the best sprinters actually back off a tiny fraction from their absolute max to maintain a greater speed overall. At my USMS level, the winning times are in the low 25's. There's no way that's a true sprint -- 25 seconds is not entirely ATP-fueled. And while it's mostly anaerobic, is it entirely? Certainly a sub-10 or sub-7 race would be. Time-wise, our 50 parallels Track & Field's 200 rather than their marquee sprint, the 100. In my fantasy world, I imagine a 25m race at the international level (swimming through the finish like Track & Field athletes) ... fastest reaction, fastest acceleration, fastest underwater & surface, fastest ABSOLUTE speed. Before 1988, our "shortest" Olympic race was the 100m!
Parents
  • Even without record/top ten, though that would not concern me, I believe it would be a fun event to have available once or twice a year. Recent meets in database with all-out events: SCM 2012 Rowdy Gaines Masters Classic IV (Florida LMSC) NAC Masters Sprinting Turkeys Classic (Southeastern LMSC) 4th Annual UVAC Leaf Peepers Masters Meet (New England LMSC) SCY 2012 and 2013 Sun Devil Masters Invitational Sprinters Spectacular (Arizona LMSC) Mission Viejo Masters SCY Meet (Southern Pacific LMSC) Skaneateles Masters Meet 2013 (Niagara LMSC) 2013 Wenatchee Winter Invitational (Inland Northwest LMSC) Bath YMCA Sprint Meet (New England LMSC) Ballston Spa Holiday Classic Swim Meet (Adirondack LMSC) Rocky Mountain Senior Games (Colorado LMSC) Pasadena Senior Games (Southern Pacific LMSC)
Reply
  • Even without record/top ten, though that would not concern me, I believe it would be a fun event to have available once or twice a year. Recent meets in database with all-out events: SCM 2012 Rowdy Gaines Masters Classic IV (Florida LMSC) NAC Masters Sprinting Turkeys Classic (Southeastern LMSC) 4th Annual UVAC Leaf Peepers Masters Meet (New England LMSC) SCY 2012 and 2013 Sun Devil Masters Invitational Sprinters Spectacular (Arizona LMSC) Mission Viejo Masters SCY Meet (Southern Pacific LMSC) Skaneateles Masters Meet 2013 (Niagara LMSC) 2013 Wenatchee Winter Invitational (Inland Northwest LMSC) Bath YMCA Sprint Meet (New England LMSC) Ballston Spa Holiday Classic Swim Meet (Adirondack LMSC) Rocky Mountain Senior Games (Colorado LMSC) Pasadena Senior Games (Southern Pacific LMSC)
Children
No Data