So... I've incorporated butterfly sprints into my workout. When I first started, about 3 months ago, I could do one 25yd fly sprint about every 3 minutes (because it took me that long to recover). Later on, I was able to do five intervals of 25yd of fly sprint + 25yd back kick (relaxed), with a 60 second rest in between each interval. Now, I can do ten intervals of 25yd fly sprint + 25yd back kick (relaxed) without resting in between each interval. My long-term goal is to increase my fly sprint distance to 100yd per interval (I haven't decided on how many intervals yet). My short-term goal is to increase it to 50yd per interval. My problem is that I still can't break 25yd. Twenty-five yards of fly sprint kills me every time. The only difference seems to be in the amount of time it takes me to recover from each interval and begin the next.
Anyone have any suggestions? I would greatly appreciate them. I know I'm doing something right because I can do more intervals without resting than I could before but I just can't figure out why I'm still near death at the end of each 25yd sprint.
Hi Judester,
It sounds like you're making rapid improvement, if your recovery period after a 25y sprint is steadily decreasing. Your question is how to sustain that 25y pace for more than one length.
Allen is correct to observe that, especially in fly, your pace over two, four, or eight short-course lengths will not ever be the same as over simply one length. In fly, the air is always coming out of the balloon. This is observable in even the most elite flyers in the world.
Here is one technique you might try to have the 50, 100 and 200 fly paces not fall off dramatically from a 25y sprint. The key is to try to establish fairly uniform paces for the different race distances, so that for any given distance, the times per length are quite similar.
To do that, I would start by manipulating the number of fly strokes you use per length, and not worry about watching the clock for right now. For example, suppose you typically use x strokes for a 25y fly sprint. Try getting comfortable using x-1 strokes for a 50y set, then a 75, 100, 125, etc., so that you can sustain a number of consecutive lengths at x-1. For a 200, you might find yourself dropping back to x-2 for some middle lengths. That is not always such a bad thing, as you may be learning how to get greater distance per stroke, with perhaps less exhaustion.
As your x-1 sets lengthen, you can then go back to doing x sprint sets, only now those sets will last longer than one length. Eventually x will become your standard fly stroke count over longer and longer distances.
Another technique to lengthen your fly sprint pace is to practice in a long-course pool. Ande's Austin team probably does plenty of long-course workouts. Learning to sustain a race pace over 164 feet, not 75, before turning around or resting is a total gamechanger. I once heard an elite swimmer refer to short-course as "assisted swimming," and while the expression jarred me at first, I came to see her point: practice long-course wherever possible. It's qualitatively harder, especially for fly, and will make short-course seem a lot easier.
Good luck and have fun. Fly is certainly swimming's "final frontier."
Hi Judester,
It sounds like you're making rapid improvement, if your recovery period after a 25y sprint is steadily decreasing. Your question is how to sustain that 25y pace for more than one length.
Allen is correct to observe that, especially in fly, your pace over two, four, or eight short-course lengths will not ever be the same as over simply one length. In fly, the air is always coming out of the balloon. This is observable in even the most elite flyers in the world.
Here is one technique you might try to have the 50, 100 and 200 fly paces not fall off dramatically from a 25y sprint. The key is to try to establish fairly uniform paces for the different race distances, so that for any given distance, the times per length are quite similar.
To do that, I would start by manipulating the number of fly strokes you use per length, and not worry about watching the clock for right now. For example, suppose you typically use x strokes for a 25y fly sprint. Try getting comfortable using x-1 strokes for a 50y set, then a 75, 100, 125, etc., so that you can sustain a number of consecutive lengths at x-1. For a 200, you might find yourself dropping back to x-2 for some middle lengths. That is not always such a bad thing, as you may be learning how to get greater distance per stroke, with perhaps less exhaustion.
As your x-1 sets lengthen, you can then go back to doing x sprint sets, only now those sets will last longer than one length. Eventually x will become your standard fly stroke count over longer and longer distances.
Another technique to lengthen your fly sprint pace is to practice in a long-course pool. Ande's Austin team probably does plenty of long-course workouts. Learning to sustain a race pace over 164 feet, not 75, before turning around or resting is a total gamechanger. I once heard an elite swimmer refer to short-course as "assisted swimming," and while the expression jarred me at first, I came to see her point: practice long-course wherever possible. It's qualitatively harder, especially for fly, and will make short-course seem a lot easier.
Good luck and have fun. Fly is certainly swimming's "final frontier."
