Broken 200 free interval

If you were to do a broken 200 freestyle swim (scy) as 4 x 50 on (X) interval in a practice setting and add the total time for each of the four 50s, what interval would give you the best approximation of your 200 race time? The interval would depend on your speed, so perhaps I'm asking how much rest you should have between each 50. I recently did 4x50 on 0:45 and went 29, 30, 31, 30. I'm wondering how close I'll be to 2:00 in a race. Consider this: warm up easy do a few race pace 25's dry off put on a racing suit. Rest 15 minutes arrange for someone to time you and get your splits do 4 x 50 free fast at 200 race pace, 0 REST BETWEEN 50's, flip your turns, swim your 1st 50 easy speed, breathe a lot, & save your legs. try to keep your next three 50's around the same times. you'll find out how close to 2:00 you'll be. any rest between 50's just leads to self delusion

Back when I was coaching (HS age) we'd go :05 rest between 50s. Usually lined up about right. I've never coached Masters, but I have been swimming for years, and that formula holds up pretty well for myself, whether I was in my 20s or 40+.

I've always struggled with these. I don't think I could take only five seconds rest and go as fast as a meet time. For me I'd need more like ten seconds rest between 50s. Was your first 50 from a dive or push? I suspect if it was from a push you've got a good shot at 2:00 if those times were to your feet. If to your hand I'd say you'll have a hard time breaking 2:00, but you should be under 2:05 for sure.

First off, I agree with Ande's way of doing it. One change however, if you have a digital clock and can see it easily while swimming, you can get the splits yourself. If you do it from a push, you can subtract an extra 2 seconds because of the start and subtract another 1 - 3 seconds at least that you will get for the extra rush you get from being in a meet. So, take your time from the straight 200 from a push and subtract up to 5 seconds and you will be very close to what you can do in a meet.

I've always struggled with these. I don't think I could take only five seconds rest and go as fast as a meet time. For me I'd need more like ten seconds rest between 50s. I am with Kirk. In practice 5 seconds between 50s on a broken 200 seems too little. We typically are going from a push and to our feet at all 50s except the last with 10seconds between 50s. We also do another version of a broken 200 where we go 50,100,50 with 10 after the 50 and 15 after the 100. Both hurt. Since I have been doing more race pace work I have been working on 16x50s at my desired 200 race pace on :50 and this has helped enormously with being able to pace my 200 in a race. I know this is a little off topic but have found this to be a good indicator of how I am going to swim the 200. I hope this helps.

I'm pretty skeptical that you'll be able to replicate those four 50's you did with ~15 seconds rest in a race where you replace those three rests with three more oxygen-depriving turns. I do USRPT which advocates training for the 200 with 50's at the 200 race pace. The general rule of thumb would be that you can expect to hold a particular pace in a 200 race when you can do ~16 consecutive 50's at that pace on 20 seconds rest. To break 2:00 in a 200, you'd need to be able to do that many 50's at :30 or less on a :50 interval. That seems a long way from four on a :45 interval. I'm with knelson, I'd expect somewhere in the 2:05 range based on the little data we have. But you never know, sometimes the environment of a meet gets you jacked up and you outperform any pre-event indicators you looked at in practice.

^^ Reason #1 every time I pop into read these forums I ask myself "Why did I bother?" ande, you're an awesome swimmer, no one would dispute that. But that's not the question he was asking. Not everyone has the chance to do a meet warm-up and have someone time them for a 200 time trial and take up the lane for themselves in the process. There is something to be said for doing broken 200's in practice.

For me, 4x50 with 8-to-10 seconds rest between 50s gives an add-up time that is a reasonable estimate of meet performance for 200 bk and 200 br. I haven't raced the 200 free often enough to know for sure. 15s rest definitely gives an overly optimistic add-up. Oh, and if I do several of these in a short time I am in a world of hurt.

I do similar broken 200 times when tapering for a meet with no drag suit, no dive and plenty of rest. The only difference is that I do them on :40 instead of :45. I've never broken 2:00 but I've been close. The thing is that what works for one person may not for another. The only way to know if this works for you is to try it. It may be a stretch but I do think you are in the 2:00 - 2:05 ballpark. With a shave/taper and mistake free swim, I think 2:00 definitely possible.

Thanks for all the feedback. The times were all from a push and to the hand (no flip turns at the end of each 50). I'm swimming this Saturday at the Sunbelt meet in Charlotte this weekend. I'll let you know how I did.