What is the average stroke count for a 25 yd free swim? Assuming no block start? I'm trying to count mine and was wondering where I should be aiming for.
What is the average stroke count for a 25 yd free swim? Assuming no block start? I'm trying to count mine and was wondering where I should be aiming for.
I'm in the 12-14 range, depending on how "together" my stroke is (not all that much lately). I suspect the elite swimmers here will be in the 9-10 range.
S
What is the average stroke count for a 25 yd free swim? Assuming no block start? I'm trying to count mine and was wondering where I should be aiming for.
There's no one-size-fits-all answer for your question, to be honest. There are many factors that will change the answer- are you sprinting, doing DPS, just swimming regularly, what's your stature/gender/how long have you been swimming?
For example, I'm 5'11", in the women's 30-34 age group, with 24 years of swimming in my tank. When I'm just swimming, I'm usually around 12 strokes. If I'm sprinting, I'm more like 15 or 16 strokes. When working on DPS, I can get down as low as 9 (but it's slow and not a comfortable way to swim, for me).
So my final answer is, it depends.
Pardon my ignorance but what is DPS?
Distance per stroke. And that's exactly what it sounds like- get the most distance you can with each stroke.
With that kind of layoff and being that early in your comeback, 18 strokes isn't anything to sneeze at! I swim with a girl who is in better shape (both in and out of the pool) than probably the rest of our team, and she takes 21 strokes a length. But she's all of about 5'2" and has a crazy high turnover speed for a distance swimmer. So you'll get it lower, just from being back in the water.
Well.... I don't feel as bad now.... I'm 6'2 255, I have done 6 pool workouts in the last 2.5 weeks after a 25 year break. I am currently 36. I am weak cardio-wise. I haven't done much running since college and my core is weak at the moment. Fairly strong upper body. People think I played football in college with the way I'm built...they laugh when I tell them I was a 175-180 lb triple/long jumper!
Primarily I will be doing short events 50 free, 50 br. As I build endurance I'll pick up 100 free, 50 bf and eventually 100 IM. Its amazing how after each night in the pool I feel better and better about my stroke and my breathing. The first night I went I did 400 yards TOTAL and wanted to die.... Last night I did 1400 yds and was tired but no where near as bad as 2.5 weeks ago.
I work my walls, so unless I'm sprinting, I'm hitting anywhere from 9-12 strokes per 25. I'm 5'9" and have a slightly longer than average wingspan. I know I take more strokes per 25 when I'm sprinting, but have never counted. If I'm explicitly working DPS, I've gotten down to 8 strokes, but my normal aerobic count is usually around 11-12. I'll hit 9 or 10 on the first 25 of a set, then settle to 11-12 for the rest.
I can really ramp up the power I get from each stroke, so my count stays the same up till about 85% effort or so.
orca, I'm counting each arm pull as a separate stroke. Can't speak for anyone else.
Usually about 8. Often on longer swims, the first length is 8 strokes, and then subsequent lengths are 9 strokes. When I get tired, 10 strokes. I'm 6'3" and have a pretty good wingspan.
-Rick
