Anyone one care to discuss the hows and whys of swim team training? There’s an aspect I just can’t understand. I’ve been swimming most ofmy life. I began just after high school. I graduated in 1979. In h.s. I was across-country and track distance runner. I’ve never been on a “swim team,” and other than the few open/masters swim meets I’ve participated in…my only competitive swimming has been for triathlons and open water events. I did get a bit of knowledge about swim teams when my daughter was on her h.s. swim team. But what confounds me about swim team (in h.s. anyway) is how the longer swims are handled (500/400 freestyle, and to some extent the 200 freestyle). Frequently it seems that none of the swimmers what to swim in the long events. I’ve even seen on several occasions where the 400/500 isn’t even competed due to lack of interest on both teams. Dumb if you ask me! If I was coach I’d just put someone in there that could finish and get the points. And of course the entire team trains the same way at practice. Why? I guess it’s because of my running/track background. A distance runner doesn’t need to hurdle so there’s no need to train at hurdles. Similarly, in my mind, a (h.s.) distance swimmer (freestyle events) wouldn’t need to butterfly so why train at it? Personally, if I coached a (h.s.) swim team, I’d find a couple of swimmers that would want to train only for the longer events. They’d swim a seperate workout from the rest of theteam, and would always swim the long freestyle events. Why don’t swim coachesdo that?
Dan
I also think there's some desire in the sport, especially for young or inexperienced swimmers, to make them "well rounded." You don't really want to take a new swimmer and plunk them into some set role as a "distance swimmer" or "breaststroker," etc.
But why not? Is that a point of contention in swimming? Referring back to my days on the track team in h.s...you were either a sprinter, middle distance, or a long distance runner. There would be runners who'd crossover to either to the next closest group (up or down distance-wise). But 100 meter sprinters wouldn't train with the long distance runners. You would specialize and that's where you would stay...for the rest of your running career. Obviously there are exceptions. But generally you stick with your group.
Dan
I also think there's some desire in the sport, especially for young or inexperienced swimmers, to make them "well rounded." You don't really want to take a new swimmer and plunk them into some set role as a "distance swimmer" or "breaststroker," etc.
But why not? Is that a point of contention in swimming? Referring back to my days on the track team in h.s...you were either a sprinter, middle distance, or a long distance runner. There would be runners who'd crossover to either to the next closest group (up or down distance-wise). But 100 meter sprinters wouldn't train with the long distance runners. You would specialize and that's where you would stay...for the rest of your running career. Obviously there are exceptions. But generally you stick with your group.
Dan
