I'm 35 years old 175cm 64kg male self taught swimmer starting from zero 5 years ago. I swam laps for a while, but soon developed interest and passion in swimming fast over short distances and relentless daily practice.
I have times in all strokes, but use freestyle as main benchmark. First time I tried to swim short course 100m freestyle I timed around 1:40. Over time this improved to 1:35, 1:27, 1:17 and reached a plateau there.
So I went through a year or so of the Starting Strength program, deadlifted 100kg in sets of 5 and squatted 80kg. I began to feel like my body line, explosiveness, starts and push offs improved. Freestyle time didn't improve dramatically, only down to 1:15.
At that point I felt I knew plenty about training of energy systems from Olbrecht, so I decided to only focus on improving my pure speed. I take 17 seconds for a push 25 in 18 strokes at 90-100 spm.
I followed Boomer's Freestyle Reimagined and took my stroke apart 4 weeks ago. A stroke change is clearly going to take 4 months or years to happen, not 4 weeks, but I am beginning to lose the enjoyment. I am hugely motivated to see myself break the 15sec 25m and ultimately the freestyle minute, and have no idea whether it is possible with no youth swimming background.
I posted on the UK Swimming Forum, but had no reply and thought I would post here too in search for tips or similar experiences. Would appreciate any comments!
I've seen an adult successfully join an age group program, and haven't tried that myself. I swam with a masters club for 2 years, which was a lot of fun, but these seem to be geared towards fitness and training rather than focused development of speed. Moreover, I am not quite so fast and fit to join some of the higher profile clubs. I've been to see a number of coaches/swimmers for advice, including Swim Smooth, who all had valuable input, but nothing seemed to really point me towards some a big area of improvement. I feel like I might be missing an obvious one. There are definitely areas like "feel for water" and "stroke efficicency" that remain mystical to me despite having read volumes.
Hi Larry
A few thoughts/suggestions:
1. Difficult to make specific suggestions without seeing you swim. That's why working with a good coach (who trains swimmers for speed and competition) is important. Go join one of those "higher profile clubs" - your goals and attitude should fit right in and you will probably learn a lot, from coaching and from team mates.
2. As an "adult onset" swimmer, you are of course at a big disadvantage compared to age groupers. On the other hand, you may be less "set in your ways", and thus quite able to steadily improve. I have a friend who is an adult onset swimmer. I saw him (from an age early 40s start) over 5-7 years of patient work become a world class ultra endurance swimmer, much of his training working alone. His technique is excellent. And don't think he isn't fast - he does zero sprint training but he'll comfortably cruise/repeat 100m in workout (from the wall) at 1:20.
3. Swimming fast essentially boils down to maximizing propulsion and minimizing resistance. Both are very much based on technique. Swimming technique tends to develop slowly (as you observe) but cumulative gains can be huge with patient practice of good technique. Slow down on reaching your goals, focus on the process and enjoy the journey. As an aside, the great sprint champion Alex Popov was known for do a lot of slow swimming with good technique. Of course you have to practice swimming fast as well, but don't underestimate the importance of practice at slower speeds/intensities. Read stuff like this www.yourswimlog.com/.../
4. Have you looked at Ande's excellent thread "swimming faster, faster"? You'll find no end of good tips and advice. A coach will help you prioritize those that could help you the most. forums.usms.org/showthread.php
5. As a sprinter, don't underestimate the importance of kicking. Can you kick 50 free in under 40 seconds? Improving your kicking could help both your streamline body position and your propulsion. Almost all of the good sprinters I have known have been very good/fast kickers
6. Have you been to any clinics or camps?
If not, try to find a one or two that are focused on speed rather than distance/endurance/tri. For example, I went to one run by the famous Karlyn Pipes. It was simple, focused, actionable advice on how to swim faster.
7. "Feel for the water" is somewhat mystical. But there are ways to gain more of it. As an example, do you do sculling drills? Are you a good sculler?
8. Plateaus happen, plateaus suck, get over it and get back to having fun with the process.
There are a million ideas and nuggets of advice on these forums from some really great/fast swimmers on how to improve. Dip in from time to time for a little inspiration and training ideas to have fun with. I hope some of this is helpful :)
Hi Larry
A few thoughts/suggestions:
1. Difficult to make specific suggestions without seeing you swim. That's why working with a good coach (who trains swimmers for speed and competition) is important. Go join one of those "higher profile clubs" - your goals and attitude should fit right in and you will probably learn a lot, from coaching and from team mates.
2. As an "adult onset" swimmer, you are of course at a big disadvantage compared to age groupers. On the other hand, you may be less "set in your ways", and thus quite able to steadily improve. I have a friend who is an adult onset swimmer. I saw him (from an age early 40s start) over 5-7 years of patient work become a world class ultra endurance swimmer, much of his training working alone. His technique is excellent. And don't think he isn't fast - he does zero sprint training but he'll comfortably cruise/repeat 100m in workout (from the wall) at 1:20.
3. Swimming fast essentially boils down to maximizing propulsion and minimizing resistance. Both are very much based on technique. Swimming technique tends to develop slowly (as you observe) but cumulative gains can be huge with patient practice of good technique. Slow down on reaching your goals, focus on the process and enjoy the journey. As an aside, the great sprint champion Alex Popov was known for do a lot of slow swimming with good technique. Of course you have to practice swimming fast as well, but don't underestimate the importance of practice at slower speeds/intensities. Read stuff like this www.yourswimlog.com/.../
4. Have you looked at Ande's excellent thread "swimming faster, faster"? You'll find no end of good tips and advice. A coach will help you prioritize those that could help you the most. forums.usms.org/showthread.php
5. As a sprinter, don't underestimate the importance of kicking. Can you kick 50 free in under 40 seconds? Improving your kicking could help both your streamline body position and your propulsion. Almost all of the good sprinters I have known have been very good/fast kickers
6. Have you been to any clinics or camps?
If not, try to find a one or two that are focused on speed rather than distance/endurance/tri. For example, I went to one run by the famous Karlyn Pipes. It was simple, focused, actionable advice on how to swim faster.
7. "Feel for the water" is somewhat mystical. But there are ways to gain more of it. As an example, do you do sculling drills? Are you a good sculler?
8. Plateaus happen, plateaus suck, get over it and get back to having fun with the process.
There are a million ideas and nuggets of advice on these forums from some really great/fast swimmers on how to improve. Dip in from time to time for a little inspiration and training ideas to have fun with. I hope some of this is helpful :)
