I took my 1500 m time in a 50 m pool 12 weeks before, and it was 31'42". Afterwards the 50 m pool I use closed for annual maintenance.
In these 12 weeks, I joined a squad and did 2 sessions per week, swam open water with a group every weekend, and also swam intervals on my own in a 25 m pool, with about 12 - 15 km total per week.
The 50 m pool I use reopened this week, so the first thing I did while returning was to take my time again, but the result was 31'13" - only 29 seconds improvement over 12 weeks! In contrast, I improved for 45 seconds in the preceding 6 weeks, from 32'27" to 31'42", and those 6 weeks were the weeks I newly joined the squad and I normally did only 1 session per week, and no intervals on my own.
I was targeting 30' and attempted to swim at an aerobic intensity which I thought I could sustain for 30 lengths, but I could only sustain my form for around 400 m. Afterwards, I felt my teres major were so tight that I couldn't perform my stroke well, my arms simply failed to execute my desired stroke even I reduced my stroke rate a bit, and the stiffness even persisted in the cool down after completing the set, and for another few hours.
According to my wearable, I was taking 31 - 32 cycles at the beginning, and 34 - 35 cycles at the end per 50 m length, while my stroke rate remained mostly the same. I was swimming at around 59" / 50 m in the 2nd to 4th lengths, then deteriorated to around 62" / 50 m in the middle, and about 65" / 50 m by the end.
The cumulative time as recorded by my wearable was follows:
250 m: 4'52"
500 m: 9'59"
750 m: 15'19"
1000 m: 20'31"
1250 m: 25'56"
1500 m: 31'14"
I'm very disappointed that, even after a few months of intense training, I still haven't reached 30' / 1500 m in long course yet. I'm taking a very expensive 1-1 professional analysis tomorrow, and hope that afterwards I can know all my technique problems and target them in the coming month in my own training, and get a jump in my speed.
Something is not right - based on your description. Making technique adjustments might seem awkward, but you should not be out of breath unless you are doing something wrong or at too high an intensity. Technical changes need to be made at slow speeds to understand how the muscles, limbs, and body need to move together. They should NOT be done at a high intensity level until you have mastered the skill at a slow pace. Only after you get it all together should you try to increase the intensity.
Good technical swimming should feel like a "sweet spot" - it will be far different than what you were doing, but it should not feel harder than what you were doing before. This is why I said you need constant feedback during this time of change.
Forget about the clock and time - focus entirely on what your coach told you to do and get constant feedback. Your heart rate should not be anywhere close to 100 bpm at this point. If it is higher than that, you are doing something wrong.
Another stab in the dark - describe your body position in the water (extreme detail: head, shoulders, hips, feet, and their position in relation to each other).
Windrath
Windrath
Once I remove the toys while trying to incorporate the changes, I feel completely out of balance if I do it slowly. I relied on the TI way of pressing down the head and chest to keep balance in the past, but as shown in the analysis it actually created a large dead spot, disturbing that balance.
In the analysis, the coach told me that:
- my head was too low
- my arm was overreaching, such that the upper arm entered first, and the hand last
- my arm was pressing down the water instead of doing a proper catch, that lifted up my head for breathing but made my hip and legs sank
- I was overrotating to nearly 90°, creating cross-over and scissor legs
The coach told me to do a drill, which break the stroke such that I hold the catch position, and use a snorkel to see if my hand entry is clean.
The analysis was done on Friday evening, and on Saturday morning I immediately went back to the pool and do the drills taught, and got that kind of awkward feeling, and on Sunday morning open water group social swim with my club I needed to stop and rest every few hundred metres. I returned to the pool afterwards and continue to do the drill, and I was feeling my shoulders tired, lats totally fatigued, and even some neck pain afterwards, probably due to those unnatural movement I needed to pick up. (My shoulder dropped a lot in the past, and now I have to keep it up)
Something is not right - based on your description. Making technique adjustments might seem awkward, but you should not be out of breath unless you are doing something wrong or at too high an intensity. Technical changes need to be made at slow speeds to understand how the muscles, limbs, and body need to move together. They should NOT be done at a high intensity level until you have mastered the skill at a slow pace. Only after you get it all together should you try to increase the intensity.
Good technical swimming should feel like a "sweet spot" - it will be far different than what you were doing, but it should not feel harder than what you were doing before. This is why I said you need constant feedback during this time of change.
Forget about the clock and time - focus entirely on what your coach told you to do and get constant feedback. Your heart rate should not be anywhere close to 100 bpm at this point. If it is higher than that, you are doing something wrong.
Another stab in the dark - describe your body position in the water (extreme detail: head, shoulders, hips, feet, and their position in relation to each other).
Windrath
Windrath
Once I remove the toys while trying to incorporate the changes, I feel completely out of balance if I do it slowly. I relied on the TI way of pressing down the head and chest to keep balance in the past, but as shown in the analysis it actually created a large dead spot, disturbing that balance.
In the analysis, the coach told me that:
- my head was too low
- my arm was overreaching, such that the upper arm entered first, and the hand last
- my arm was pressing down the water instead of doing a proper catch, that lifted up my head for breathing but made my hip and legs sank
- I was overrotating to nearly 90°, creating cross-over and scissor legs
The coach told me to do a drill, which break the stroke such that I hold the catch position, and use a snorkel to see if my hand entry is clean.
The analysis was done on Friday evening, and on Saturday morning I immediately went back to the pool and do the drills taught, and got that kind of awkward feeling, and on Sunday morning open water group social swim with my club I needed to stop and rest every few hundred metres. I returned to the pool afterwards and continue to do the drill, and I was feeling my shoulders tired, lats totally fatigued, and even some neck pain afterwards, probably due to those unnatural movement I needed to pick up. (My shoulder dropped a lot in the past, and now I have to keep it up)
