Hello Swim friends! Back in 2007 Ande posted the below Swimming Tip to his blog. It concerns split differentials in the 50 yard freestyle. As you can see, among top swimmers, the first 25 yards is roughly .5 faster than the second 25. Remove the dive, and in many cases the second 25 is probably faster than the first among the elite swimmers
My 50 yard free is far more lop sided - usually the first 25 is roughly 1.5 seconds faster than the first. It never really occurred to me that I was doing something wrong. I'd like to access your wisdom...how do you swim the 50? Are the first 4-5 strokes sub-maximal, and then all out the rest of the way?
Thank you for your help, and thank you to Ande for his challenging posts!
Ande's Swimming Tips:
Swim Faster Faster
Tip 172 Split Differentials for the 50 Free Short Course
I've written about the importance of correct splitting in other swim faster faster tips, but let's drill down and take a close look at how to correctly split the short course 50 free.
Study the 50 free split differentials of each swimmer
You calculate split differentials by
subtracting a swimmers 2nd 25 time from his first 25 time
2nd 25 time - 1st 25 time = split differential
Here are the final results for the 50 free finals in the
2007 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming & Diving Championships
1 Joyce, Kara Lynn 21.71 10.63 11.08 diff = 0.45
2 Jackson, Lara 21.73 10.64 11.09 diff = 0.45
3 Nymeyer, Lacey 21.80 10.62 11.18 diff = 0.56
4 Silver, Emily 21.99 10.82 11.17 diff = 0.35
5 Bishop, Brooke 22.17 10.85 11.32 diff = 0.47
5 Aljand, Triin 22.17 10.90 11.27 diff = 0.47
7 Bradford, Jenny 22.23 10.60 11.63 diff = 1.03
8 Denby, Kara 22.41 10.79 11.62 diff = 0.83
Here are the final results for the 50 free finals in the
2007 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming & Diving Championships
Event 4 Men 50 Yard Freestyle
1 Cielo, Cesar 18.69 9.14 9.55 diff = 0.41
2 Targett, Matt 19.08 9.29 9.79 diff = 0.50
2 Wildman-Tobriner, Ben 19.08 9.39 9.69 diff = 0.30
2 Subirats, Albert 19.08 9.30 9.78 diff = 0.48
5 Goodrich, Scott 19.29 9.35 9.94 diff = 0.59
6 Weber-Gale, Garrett 19.33 9.49 9.84 diff = 0.35
7 Tsagkarakis, Apostol 19.48 9.32 10.16 diff = 0.84
8 Lundquist, Bryan 19.49 9.54 9.95 diff = 0.41
Ideal Split Differential
It looks like around 0.30 - 0.40 of is the ideal split differential for the short course 50 free.
Swimmers should target their 50 free splits in the a range of 0.25 - 0.60.
If a swimmer has a differential of 0.60 or more, she probably worked her first 25 a bit too hard or maybe had a bad turn or push off.
Sadly enough, even in a 50, you may not swim your fastest time by
going all out from the get go, you need to be swimming close to all out, hit a great turn, have an excellent streamline breakout
When Fred Bousquets went 18.74
His splits were 9.26 9.48
so his differential was only 0.22!
When Cesar Cielo went 18.69
his splits were 9.14 9.55
so his differential was 0.41.
One excellent swimmer told me that when he races the 50 free
the first 2 strokes in his breakout are at about 80% effort,
since he's already going fast from his dive.
You're welcome.
I only asked this because the 50 free was one of my events in college. I took one breath which was four strokes right after the turn. As an old man now :) this strategy is a recipe for a drop-off as you pointed out. That's why it might be best to stay 'oxygenated' by sneaking in one breath before you make the turn.
Thank you, that's an interesting idea. I will give that as shot - I've been working lately on "sneaking" the breath.
Hi Mike,
what were your times 50, 1st 25, & 2nd 25
Hello Ande! Thank you for the suggested reading. Regarding the splits, last summer I did a 50 SCM from a push in 28.6. Splits were 13.8/14.8. That's actually pretty good for me. Often goimg from the blocks in a 50 yard pool my splits are closer to mid-11 to 13-ish, or low 11 and high 12.
I appreciate your help!
Former Member
Interesting topic.
On the subject of whether or not the pace should be "all out" I think that's a red herring. Of course, for someone in reasonable shape, the entire 50 should be at full pace.
However, the question is how best to swim at full pace. I have real trouble with this, particularly on breaststroke (my main stroke). Of my fastest 50s, the fastest swim is from a 50m event but the next few are all first 50 of the 100 and for quite some time these were my PRs.
This is about technique and swimming freely from tension. To do that takes trust. 80%+ of my 50m races I don't trust the process enough, and bash something out as I'm not a 'natural' sprinter. Occasionally I do -most often when I'm not trying too hard.
But, and back to my original point. This doesn't mean that you should go out at 90% and come back at 100%. It's about doing all 50m at the optimal tempo, technique and effort. That might actually be 99% of perceived effort (or 100, or 90, say).
I think that what sets sprinters apart, apart from physiology/anatomy in itself, is that (probably because of it) they can hit their maximum speed without compromising technique. Most of the rest of us are, in some way, forced to compromise to some degree. If we do perfect technique we might lose some effort. If we max our effort, we might lose some technique.
I know that when I do 50 free, it's to hell with technique. My best time spinning the arms is a good second better than I've been trying to do 'good' front crawl but I can't afford to take this approach on *** (or fly, for that matter). 'Them's the breaks'.
I know that when I do 50 free, it's to hell with technique. My best time spinning the arms is a good second better than I've been trying to do 'good' front crawl but I can't afford to take this approach on *** (or fly, for that matter). 'Them's the breaks'.
I have observed the same thing! I actually have nice high elbows when swimming freestyle at a moderate pace. I can even go under :30 from a push in 50 yards holding this "pretty" technique. But to go a :26 or so I have to rear back and throw all that out the window. I sacrifice technique for speed. Everytime I try to maintain "classic" freestyle I find myself unable to sprint to maximum. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong.
Very interesting discussion, especially since my workout partner, coach Mark Johnston of the Swim Dogs team, just did an analysis of my 50 free from Atlanta in 2010. He has this new software that is very cool. He normally does the recordings at his own pool and can do a simultaneous split screen of above and below water. He can also do a nice printout analysis and compare you to other swimmers. Unfortunately, he compares me to a swim by Ian Crocker. My analysis is very low tech as he had to get it off a youtube video.
BTW, I don't breath during the 50 and my second 25 was .52 slower than my first (10.79 / 11.31). I go all out from the begining, but on my way back I keep trying to accelerate by kicking as hard as I can and keeping my head down.
Check out the video.
VRA Rich Abrahams 50 Free in Atlanta - YouTube
If you're interested in getting an analysis like this you should try to contact Mark directly at swimdogs.net
Rich thank you for that video and your discussion.
Former Member
Very interesting discussion, especially since my workout partner, coach Mark Johnston of the Swim Dogs team, just did an analysis of my 50 free from Atlanta in 2010. He has this new software that is very cool. He normally does the recordings at his own pool and can do a simultaneous split screen of above and below water. He can also do a nice printout analysis and compare you to other swimmers. Unfortunately, he compares me to a swim by Ian Crocker. My analysis is very low tech as he had to get it off a youtube video.
BTW, I don't breath during the 50 and my second 25 was .52 slower than my first (10.79 / 11.31). I go all out from the begining, but on my way back I keep trying to accelerate by kicking as hard as I can and keeping my head down.
Check out the video.
VRA Rich Abrahams 50 Free in Atlanta - YouTube
If you're interested in getting an analysis like this you should try to contact Mark directly at swimdogs.netThat is a cool video and of course an amazing swim. Your turn seems to be where you gain the most against your competitors.
Former Member
Agreed on Rich's video contribution. What a great performance. Talk about a blow out.
Interestingly, his race strategy is consistent with the no holding back approach. It's "full power Scotty" the whole way through.
Former Member
I have observed the same thing! I actually have nice high elbows when swimming freestyle at a moderate pace. I can even go under :30 from a push in 50 yards holding this "pretty" technique. But to go a :26 or so I have to rear back and throw all that out the window. I sacrifice technique for speed. Everytime I try to maintain "classic" freestyle I find myself unable to sprint to maximum. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong.
Probably not. Your mum and dad maybe didn't give you enough fast twitch muscle fibre.
Probably not. Your mum and dad maybe didn't give you enough fast twitch muscle fibre.
To be a great swimmer, it is vitally important to choose your parents well:bolt:.
To be a great swimmer, it is vitally important to choose your parents well:bolt:.I made the wrong choice there, so it is a good thing I waited 40 yrs. I'll settle with trying to swim better, there will always be room for that, even if it means perusing ability to complete a 50 unpaced at full speed, and no breathing untill I touch
