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.
I thought I would post back to say I've managed to drop 5 seconds by swimming a 1:11 short course metres
I've implemented stroke advice that radically changed the way I swim 100m freestyle – much flatter hips with less body roll, little or no 'extension' out front, just high elbows (or so I try). This seems to suit my body build much more than trying to extend and reach far on each stroke. Reaching appears to throw my alignment off balance and create wiggling and lots of frontal drag.
In addition I've done a good number of USRPT sets that allowed me to swim at ever faster stroke rate without getting swamped by lactate. In video of my personal best I maintain around 110 spm. With USRPT comes a lot of controversy (especially in the topics of drills, aids and kicking) but I have to say it worked well for me. In particular the fact that most of my sessions took 20 intense minutes during which I would do 100 warm-up, 10-20 x 25 short rest race pace and 100 cool-down (and job done).
The dream is still 59 seconds (short course is fine), so while it's great to drop 5 seconds, there are still 12 more to go. My raw speed per 25 has increased somewhat to 16 seconds push to feet. I suspect this really needs to be 14 seconds.
My stroke above and under water now looks like this:
www.youtube.com/watchwww.youtube.com/watch
Any thoughts beyond what's already been said that would help me get from 16 seconds per 25 to 15 and 14?
Thanks!
Thank you, these are useful comments
I may have caused some confusion. The two videos above are my recent attempts at 'tidying up' the stroke by pulling longer and slower. They are from a local 12m pool where I go to film myself.
The 105-115 spm I mention is referring to my 100 free race a couple of months ago. A rather different, much shorter stroke. For reference, I attach the video below.
www.youtube.com/watch
The notion that stroke rate is highly individual reflects my experience. I struggle to sustain a 'muscling' stroke whereas a shorter choppier stroke seems to come more naturally to me. Would be interested to hear any more thoughts on this topic you guys might have.
The way I measure stroke rate is by tapping to a mobile app
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.
Your video looks to be about 80-90. Hard to say, I can only see about 6 strokes. I dont know what a good rate is, to be honest. I imagine it depends on the individual. Maybe try some USRPT sets. Goal time is 15 seconds, play with stroke count to find what works best. For me, a sprint will be around 19 on a 25 yard pool, for a 13 second lap (I figure 4-5 seconds of that are UDK). So I'm guessing that will put me close to your 120 SPM? I cant quite hold that for a 100, just throwing a benchmark at you. And again, my figures are yards.
Stroke rate is very dependent on the individual. I'll take myself as an example.
There's another guy on my team who is about the same height and we are proportionally pretty similar, though I carry an extra 30 lbs or so that he doesn't...and less of that extra weight is muscle than I'd like, but that's a whole 'nother topic...
We're both about a 24.5 for a 50y free, but he has a much higher tempo than I do. We got a video of us both on a 200 free relay last year and I counted our strokes from the same point on the surface. For the 2nd lap of the 50, from the same point I was 15 strokes to the wall, he was 18.
Admittedly, I'm by no means a drop dead sprinter and my technique turns to utter crap on anything shorter than a 100, so a 50 might not be a great example for me. In a 100y free, I normally do 5 butterfly kicks off the wall, then take 14 strokes per lap. My time is about 54.5, but I'm not sure what my stroke rate comes out to, given the amount of time I spend underwater. I believe the other guy I mentioned is about 18-20 strokes per lap in the 100 with less time/distance underwater than I do and about the same time, but I haven't watched him do that race in a while.
EDIT: I went back and watched a video of a 100 free from last spring--I took 57 strokes and was on the surface for 39 seconds, giving me a stroke rate of 88 per minute.
The 105-115 spm I mention is referring to my 100 free race a couple of months ago. A rather different, much shorter stroke. For reference, I attach the video below.
The two things I see are your underwaters and your catch. Your first turn you didn't go very deep. Your UDK's at the start and first turn were at the surface, so you really didn't get much from them. Try to go deeper. You subsequent turns looked like you had a slow UDK, only took one on the second turn, couldn't tell on teh third. But I think you have some room for improvement there.
Looks like you are dropping your elbow, which prevents any sort of early vertical forearm. WHen your hand enters the water and you start your catch, make sure your fingertips get below the wrist, wrist below elbow. Imagine wrapping your forearm on top of a shelf and trying to pull your body up from there.
Fascinating thread. Thanks to all for the suggestions/info for Larrycz, because they help inform this 57yr old newbie also.
Larrycz, what is your 50m time, currently?
I'm surprised that you can do 1:11 100m, but "only" 16sec 25m. I'm currently 1:20 100m, but 16.8 for 25m. (36.5 50m.) I know I will never touch 59sec 100m with a 10ft pole, but I'm passionate about improving, as you are.
I'm clearly no expert, but as you say, 14sec for 25m might be a first benchmark in this journey??
I think the answer to your question is that I time it push to feet, ie it includes a flip turn. From push to hands (ie to touch) I should be able to repeat 15 mid to 15 high on moderate rest. This becomes 18 when I rest 15-20 seconds.
Regarding the 100 SCM fr video above: Respectful swim, very respectful considering areas of form that could be corrected. Dropping 5+ seconds just with a better start and 3 turns seems realistic (to me). Also a few things on the surface, but need to see what’s happening UW for commenting that. Take my interpretation for what it is, I also learned as an adult (@40) and my feedback is just that.
The start: Try to get the legs straight, feet together, and pointed before entering the water and hold that solidly to the UW kicking.
Breakouts: Looks like you might be dropping excessive momentum while surfacing to stroke (4x with turns). Breakouts should be a transfer of maximum UW momentum to stroke. UW video can help you see what you are doing.
Turns: Never hesitate into the turn. Think of it as just a change in direction with added boost from the wall.
Try to recover your arm more relaxed. Enter the fingernails first, then hand, then elbow - this will set you up for a quicker, more efficient catch.
Minimize moving head from centerline during each breath. I need to work on this one too.
