Hello, swimmers! I'm barely a real swimmer... I come from a running background (middle distance, mostly, and a bunch of post-college 5ks) and a series of injuries forced me into the pool. I actually couldn't swim at all until 2013, but seemed to improve fairly quickly (at freestyle).
So here's my question. Can I keep improving without doing super-long swims?
I do not seem to recover or cope well with long swims. I've gone up to 3500 yards in a single workout (took almost an hour), but it basically wipes me out and I don't think I'm good enough at form to keep good form for the whole swim. But when I reduce my workout volume to 1800-2800 yards per workout (but lots of hard sets that a great triathlon coach writes for me) and swim 6 times per week, I do improve! I've brought my 100 yard time from 1:31 down to 1:21 in the past few months and my 500 from 8:00ish, to 7:28. I already have good muscle strength and aerobic fitness from all the lifting and training I did for running so I think mostly it's my form that holds me back in the swim.
So should I keep swimming shorter swims and wait for form to smooth out? Or should I push the distance (maybe even just once a week?). Will I EVER feel good going long?
One of the issues I have is that my health isn't great . I have an eating disorder history and tend to underfuel and that may be an issue too, though I'm doing much better now and am at a very healthy weight. I feel like my body is kind of exhausted, and while I like swimming, I want to get better at it without overexercising.
Also, how do I do a darn flip turn?? I feel like my times would drop if I could do one, but as is, I'm so clumsy at it that they slow me down.
Thanks, everyone. I hope to make swimming 'my' sport, even though I only began in my 20s and would love some input.
I have been able to take as few as 18 strokes per 25 yards, but as soon as I start going fast, I'm back to 20+, essentially muscling my way through the water.
That honestly doesn't sound too bad, especially for someone who only took up swimming in the last couple years. I can do a length of a 25 yard pool in as little as 14 strokes (counting the break-out pull) at a ~1:20/100 pace, but at 500 free "race pace" (1:10/hundred) I start at around 18 and get up to 20 or 21 when fatigued.
FWIW, I took up swimming last year after a 27 year layoff. I had pretty much zero endurance at the beginning. Not only had I not swam for 27 years, I hadn't really worked out for most of that time either. But I did have a reasonable "feel for the water" from all the mileage I swam as a kid/teen so I didn't have the same kind of technique learning curve a newcomer would.
My training has pretty much been only sets of 25's, 50's, and 75's with short rests (USRPT), and my total workouts are typically only 2200-3500 yards. After 6 months of that, 3-5 times a week, I tried a 1.2 mile swim* for time and was able to hold a ~1:20/100 pace to the half way point and then ~1:18/100 on the back half. So I would say no, you don't have to do mega yardage to improve your endurance.
Technique and stroke efficiency matter, but you need conditioning to be able to hold the technique/efficiency together when you fatigue. You can get just as much conditioning, and arguably more, doing short distances at high pace as you can at longer distances but slower pace. If you can do a length in 18 strokes, your technique can't be all that bad. How's your streamline off the wall? When I'm doing a length in 14 strokes, I'm past the flags before I take that first stroke. I'm guessing you probably don't make it that far. That would make your 18 closer to my 14 than the difference might suggest. You always want to be mindful of your technique, but I think you may be ready for more high intensity work within the time/yardage you're already committing to.
*This was an in-pool time trial to give myself a baseline time for an upcoming 1.2 mile open water event.
I have been able to take as few as 18 strokes per 25 yards, but as soon as I start going fast, I'm back to 20+, essentially muscling my way through the water.
That honestly doesn't sound too bad, especially for someone who only took up swimming in the last couple years. I can do a length of a 25 yard pool in as little as 14 strokes (counting the break-out pull) at a ~1:20/100 pace, but at 500 free "race pace" (1:10/hundred) I start at around 18 and get up to 20 or 21 when fatigued.
FWIW, I took up swimming last year after a 27 year layoff. I had pretty much zero endurance at the beginning. Not only had I not swam for 27 years, I hadn't really worked out for most of that time either. But I did have a reasonable "feel for the water" from all the mileage I swam as a kid/teen so I didn't have the same kind of technique learning curve a newcomer would.
My training has pretty much been only sets of 25's, 50's, and 75's with short rests (USRPT), and my total workouts are typically only 2200-3500 yards. After 6 months of that, 3-5 times a week, I tried a 1.2 mile swim* for time and was able to hold a ~1:20/100 pace to the half way point and then ~1:18/100 on the back half. So I would say no, you don't have to do mega yardage to improve your endurance.
Technique and stroke efficiency matter, but you need conditioning to be able to hold the technique/efficiency together when you fatigue. You can get just as much conditioning, and arguably more, doing short distances at high pace as you can at longer distances but slower pace. If you can do a length in 18 strokes, your technique can't be all that bad. How's your streamline off the wall? When I'm doing a length in 14 strokes, I'm past the flags before I take that first stroke. I'm guessing you probably don't make it that far. That would make your 18 closer to my 14 than the difference might suggest. You always want to be mindful of your technique, but I think you may be ready for more high intensity work within the time/yardage you're already committing to.
*This was an in-pool time trial to give myself a baseline time for an upcoming 1.2 mile open water event.
