Hello all,
I train at UC (Cincinnati), and I train hard every day. The problem is (at least I think it's a problem) that long course is only available three days a week out of the seven that I swim. My question is, what kinds of swims do I do in yards that could condition my body for the stresses of long course races? I swim all breaststroke distances (prefer the 50 and 100, but the 200 is probably my best), and sprint freestyle (just the 50 at nationals). I am doing a lot of sprint work and kick work which I think will benefit my 50 and 100 breaststroke and freestyle, but I am a little worried that I won't be aerobically ready for the 200 when it is time to race. Simply speaking :P, there are just too many turns in a 200 yard breaststroke to mimic one set in LCM. If anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate it! Thanks!
Alex M.
For a long time, SCY training for LCM competition was considered to be suboptimal and a real hindrance to American NCAA swimmers. Then in the early 2000's, this one guy in Maryland decided to embrace SCY training, and everyone said he was wasting his swimmers' time and talent. Turns out, the guy in Maryland was Bob Bowman and it turned out okay, to the tune of 18 olympic gold medals. Why did 2008 Phelps kick everyone's tails off the walls? Because his days in SCY had him doing double the turn work of anyone else.
In all seriousness though, mixing SCY with 3 LCM sessions per week is a good training strategy. My advice would be to do a lot of 25's working on maintaining technical excellence when you're in the short course pool and use the long course pool to do most of your aerobic base work.
If you absolutely feel you need to simulate LCM work when you're in a yard pool, try doing a few sets where you turn shy of the wall, not making contact. Using only your stroke to power yourself back up to swim speed will be a somewhat reasonable simulation of a no-turn 50.
www.youtube.com/watch
For a long time, SCY training for LCM competition was considered to be suboptimal and a real hindrance to American NCAA swimmers. Then in the early 2000's, this one guy in Maryland decided to embrace SCY training, and everyone said he was wasting his swimmers' time and talent. Turns out, the guy in Maryland was Bob Bowman and it turned out okay, to the tune of 18 olympic gold medals. Why did 2008 Phelps kick everyone's tails off the walls? Because his days in SCY had him doing double the turn work of anyone else.
In all seriousness though, mixing SCY with 3 LCM sessions per week is a good training strategy. My advice would be to do a lot of 25's working on maintaining technical excellence when you're in the short course pool and use the long course pool to do most of your aerobic base work.
If you absolutely feel you need to simulate LCM work when you're in a yard pool, try doing a few sets where you turn shy of the wall, not making contact. Using only your stroke to power yourself back up to swim speed will be a somewhat reasonable simulation of a no-turn 50.
www.youtube.com/watch
