I signed up for the 200 fly next Sunday and am wondering if anyone has some advice on how to swim this. My twin brother told me he swam it in college, and by the last length, he felt he was actually moving backwards. I'd like to avoid that if at all possible.
To get into shape for this, I've been doing a lot of 25's fly with 10-15 seconds rest. I started doing 8 at a time and have worked my way up to 40. Yesterday, I did 20 x 25s then 10 x 50 on a minute.
Questions:
Pacing--reason would say to go out slow so you have something left for the second hundred, but I wonder if this is right. After all, you get tired either way, so maybe going out reasonably fast means you will end up with a better time (albeit a greater feeling of misery on the last length or two.) I'm not talking a sprint pace, but a reasonably fast clip. Or is this a recipe for disaster?
Stroke mechanics--does the fly need to be modified for a 200--i.e., not pulling all the way through, gliding longer, hand entry a bit wider than usual, etc. I've read that some people can swim a continuous mile butterfly, and I wonder if they are swimming the same stroke I do. It's hard to imagine...
I have only swum the 200 fly once--last year--and got a 2:30 on it. My 100 fly has improved this year (a 59.59 , the first time I've broken a minute since high school 31 years ago), and I am in better overall shape this year, so I am hoping to lower the 2:30 to at least a 2:25 (which would give me the Y age group record in our league.) Any advice from 200 flier veterans would be truly appeciated.
Thanks in advance for your words of wisdom.
Parents
Former Member
I don't know how many 200 fly races I have swum in my life, but I think it would be over 100, including age group and USMS.
I even finished all but one of them legally (that one is another story).
Here is my advice...
1. Train a lot of legal fly. Do legal, two armed fly, and legal turns. Or if you are not going to do it legal, do it very illegal so you don't confuse yourself. (I need to take this advice). There is a lot of room for drills, but differentiate between the drills and whole stroke.
2. Train shorter distances fly until you can do longer distances. In college I would do lots of 200 flys in practice because I could. Now I don't think its that important to do 200's in practice, but 100's should be in you training mix. An occasional 200 in training is important to let you know you will make it in a race.
3. As for pacing, most people die in the 200 fly. Somehow you have to find out how you can do the first 100 easy and quick without expending too much energy. I find that I tend to over-exert in the first 100. You may find that going "easy" for the first 100 may only be a second slower, and that energy you save may make your second 100 much faster. This you will need to experiment to figure out.
4. The second half of the race depends on what kind of shape you are in. Try to keep your stroke together on the third 50, and then give it all youve got on the last 50.
Steve
I don't know how many 200 fly races I have swum in my life, but I think it would be over 100, including age group and USMS.
I even finished all but one of them legally (that one is another story).
Here is my advice...
1. Train a lot of legal fly. Do legal, two armed fly, and legal turns. Or if you are not going to do it legal, do it very illegal so you don't confuse yourself. (I need to take this advice). There is a lot of room for drills, but differentiate between the drills and whole stroke.
2. Train shorter distances fly until you can do longer distances. In college I would do lots of 200 flys in practice because I could. Now I don't think its that important to do 200's in practice, but 100's should be in you training mix. An occasional 200 in training is important to let you know you will make it in a race.
3. As for pacing, most people die in the 200 fly. Somehow you have to find out how you can do the first 100 easy and quick without expending too much energy. I find that I tend to over-exert in the first 100. You may find that going "easy" for the first 100 may only be a second slower, and that energy you save may make your second 100 much faster. This you will need to experiment to figure out.
4. The second half of the race depends on what kind of shape you are in. Try to keep your stroke together on the third 50, and then give it all youve got on the last 50.
Steve
