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.
Larry,
Unless I missed it, you have not mentioned what your training program is like – frequency and volume/practice. If you are NOT practicing 3-5x per week and swimming at least 2,000 yds/meters each time, you are probably not putting enough time in.
Having said that, no amount of swimming with inefficient technique is going to make you faster. You have reached a threshold that only technical improvements can change. Swimmers with inefficient technique are like “dragsters on ice.” Adding more horsepower only spins the wheels faster – there is no increase in speed.
There is a theory in speed boat design that applies to swimmers: “The longer the boat, the faster the boat.” In swimming, this translates to techniques that reduce drag. If you look forward when you swim, your legs will drop and you increase drag. If your arms are mostly straight when you pull, you increase drag. If you have poor ankle flexibility, you increase drag. More drag = slower swimming.
Try these two tests: a) using a kick board and flutter kicking, how many kicks does it take you to go from one end of the pool to the next and how fast? and b) how far can you glide when pushing off the wall? Glide as far as you can – on or under water – holding your breath the entire time.
The “a” test is a measure of foot size and ankle flexibility. Poor ankle flexibility adversely affects everything in swimming. The “b” test is indicative of how streamline you can make your body which also affects everything in swimming. Better streamline = less drag = more speed.
These are just the beginning steps of determining what is holding you back. Looking forward to the results :)
Paul
Once again, thank you all for your comments. In particular, thanks to __steve__ for his detailed private response.You are welcome. Glad to help some. I’ve received so much collective assistance and help from this forum that resulted withincredible improvements in my race times. Posting videos for review and reading training accounts of others are also key. I still have significant improvements to make, it’s ongoing for all swimmers, but that’s what makes it worth while.
The kick time trials and glide tests are crucial for sprinters, good tip
Hello larrycz,
there is a similar thread
theswimforum.palstani.com/t30-challenge-50-100-m
about the more basic challenge, for *late starters*, to swim 50m in 30s (and, easier, swimming 100m in 1:10).
I don't know whether you have already started master's races. I think at some point this serves as a good focus point / motivation.
I am also in the UK. One could meet at some events there, and discuss stuff (master's swimming seems, at least in the UK, an excessively anonymous undertaking, which perhaps comes from its being derived from club-swimming, where only the club exists -- no individuals).
If you have been really serious for 5 years now, it could be tough. Over the course of the next 5 years or so, maybe you can get there. You are young, so you can get much better before age starts to slow you down. I started at 40 with zero youth swimming and got down to a 57 SCY in about 4 years or so and a 1:05 ish 100 SCM. I think I could have done it if I really wanted. I’m 53 now and my feel for the water has gotten so much better. Maybe I could get close now, but I don’t have the time.
A hint to do this is to get proficient in all the strokes. It will help your freestyle.
Windradth, you asked about distance per practice. I would average 1,500-2,000m per hour depending on stroke.
However, a glide of 7 mtrs suggests there is room for considerable improvement in your streamline position. I am about the same height and weight as you and could glide almost 20 yards when I was your age. I am down to 15 yards or so now - leg strength has dropped over the past 28 years.
Paul
15 yards to glide off a push is a surreal distance to me. Definitely an area I should look into. Maybe a high resolution video of me streamlining will tell me a lot. Thank you for the hint.
Thank you. What sort of rate for a 100 free would you say can work better for my build? I actually go out at 120 spm in my PB video and drop to 105 or so towards the end. Obviously would like to pace better. 16 seconds is push to feet, that means including a turn. The turn takes between 1.0 to 1.5 from last stroke to feet planted.
