I am notorious in my own book for producing workout times that are sometimes -not always, but frequently- faster than my competition times, no matter the tapering for competition.
Today was such an example.
One and a half months ago, I switched to a new Masters program, and today without tapering it was asked of us to do a T30 in a 50 meters pool, meaning swimming the maximum distance one can cover during 30 minutes.
I went a faster split at 800 meters than my tapered 800 meters swam in competition in Cleveland two months ago.
Today at the 800 meters mark I split 11:31.
In Cleveland it was 11:45.xx.
My distance covered today was 2,040 meter in 30 minutes, for an average of 1:28.23 per 100 meters.
In Cleveland, my 11:45.xx over the smaller 800 meters, is an average of 1:28.13, barely faster than the one during today's T30.
The fastest swimmer in the workout today, was in my lane, swimming 2,450 meters, for an average of 1:13.06 per 100 meters.
Last December, in the Masters program where I was then, in a 50 meter pool again, I swam 16 x 100 meters leaving every 1:25, so I started hoping to succeed a sub 11:00 in 800 meters in August 2002 in Cleveland.
I guess doing lots of quality swims so that the body remembers at least one of them during competition, leading a peace of mind life allowing for these swims, and tapering well -including carying a feel good sentiment into competition-, they are part of a fragile balance to achieve, and to maintain:
it is 'getting into the zone'.
Former Member
At the risk of sounding like an idiot,
"ya gotta swim fast to swim fast".
Hi Ion,
I suspect you draft during your workouts, even if not intentionally. That fast swimmer in your lane passed you 4 times, if you hung at his feet for 25 m, that totals 100 m of drafting off of a fast swimmer, and will certainly improve your average time. Why don't you swim a T30 in a lane where you are the fastest swimmer and see if you get different results. My experience is that people get out of the way pretty easily and won't slow you down.
Otherwise, you need to work on your mental preparation. I read a quote by a famous swimming coach who said that if a swimmer did not go faster with a taper the cause was mental. You've asserted several times that you have done a proper taper, so I believe you.
I am the opposite extreme as you - if I take 10% off of my workout times (tapered, lots of rest, etc.) I get pretty close to my meet times. That's despite the fact that I hurt much more after the workout swim than the meet swim.
Originally posted by Phil Arcuni
Hi Ion,
I suspect you draft during your workouts, even if not intentionally. That fast swimmer in your lane passed you 4 times, if you hung at his feet for 25 m, that totals 100 m of drafting off of a fast swimmer, and will certainly improve your average time. Why don't you swim a T30 in a lane where you are the fastest swimmer and see if you get different results. My experience is that people get out of the way pretty easily and won't slow you down.
...
I did draft today, off him.
Not as much as 25 meters, less than 20 meters each time he passed me.
Also by the time of my 800 meters, he passed me only once -and inching closer for passing me a second time-, for a drafting distance - that I got off his start and off his lapping me once- of about 35 meters total.
In the lane next to mine, people were undisciplined, jumping in and out of the T30. I didn't want to start it there.
Less than two months before Cleveland, I swam untapered a 300 meter Long Course in the midst of an workout, no drafting -as I was leading the set-, in 3:57, a 1:19 pace per 100 meters, and an untapered 600 meter Long Course in the midst of another workout, starting 10 seconds behind a fast swimmer who took off quickly and didn't lap me -so I didn't draft off him- in 8:27, a 1:24.9x pace per 100 meters.
Tapering well shoud ensure a faster pace in the 800 than in my workout 600.
Note To Bill White,
in an effort to help my teammate bill white reach his full swimming potential, I have decided that from here on out, I will swim right on his feet the whole practice, making sure he thus has no opportunity to draft.
bill, you might also want to mention that pull buoys can provide some assistance to practice times, though I am not sure your 500s were thusly assisted or not.
Phil,
The advantages of drafting that you pointed out to Ion also apply to the faster swimmer who is approaching and passing a slower swimmer. The only true test would be swimming alone in a lane. I can regularly beat my meet distance times in practice quite easily by swimming with people that I can pass once or twice during a distance set. Example: I swam a 5:40 500free in a meet and two weeks later in practice swam 2 back to back sub 5:30 500's just using the draft. So, don't take too much stock in times you achieve when using the draft unless the swimmers behind you are right on your tail and are never in danger of being passed.
Bill White
Ion, some swimmers are like that they sometimes do better in workouts. Anyway, I remember when I was using paddles in practice when I was 16 years old. I did 200 meter freestyles under 2:40 and I think the only 200 meter freestyle race I swam in that year I did a 2:42 and I finally swam around a 2:35 or 37 in a 400 meter swim about 2 years later. So, sometimes you do go faster in practice. These days, I don't swim faster in practice.
This is in response to Paul.
By my standards, I was a good meet swimmer from 1986 up to 1996.
In 1996 I went in USMS competitions 58.50 and 58.90 in 100 yards free, 2:10.xx and 2:10.xx in 200 yards free, 20:57.xx in 1500 meters free Long Course while not totally pushing myself that day in anticipation of the next day, and the next day 1:04.77 in 100 meters free Long Course.
Articles in www.swiminfo.com often mention that competing too much doesn't allow the body to train, because there is a recovery after each meet, there are efforts to travel in unfamiliar surroundings -like Tom points out-, that put swimmers doing too many races in bad physical shape.
For example in 2001 you told me that you didn't do anything hard for five weeks, prior to the Long Course Nationals.
When I told people here about this, they said five weeks for Long Course Nationals, five weeks for Short Course Nationals, that's already a lot of easy time, off a season.
So I have to find, my best balance between training, racing in and from Southern California which I am still discovering two years after I came to San Diego, tapering and working for a living.
If there were meets once every month within ten miles radius of where I live, so I wouldn't bother to travel to unfamiliar surroundings, I would train and swim through them, and only taper once a year for a big meet.
Yesterday, the coach of the new Masters program I joined, said that I might have to taper on my own, because she has an all purpose (mainly fitness) program to run.
This is an alarm in my book, because I want the coach to be as responsible as I am about tapering results, and tapering for me is a fragile balance to achieve.
Work permitting, I am considering entering the Las Vegas mid-December meet for a 25 meters competition.
I don't guarantee it, though.
Ion, I was a lot faster 10 years ago then I am now and even faster when I was in my 20s. Truth is we both are getting older and making comparisons to times swam years in the past is not really all that relevant.
As for racing to much, I think you said you swam in two meets last year (SC & LC Nationals), if you think that's to much competing I'll refrain from even debating the issue. For me, I need to swim at least two meets before nationals to prepare both mentally and physically. I also do 100% race pace work with dive starts 1-2 times a week durning mid season training.
Last but not least, you keep emphasizing finding the correct coach. I beleive Karlyn Pipes-Nielson & Caroline Krattli both train with SD and they certainly don't seem to have much of an issue with the quality of coaching. Both swam this past weekend at the ASU meet and broke multiple world records without fully resting.
PS: I actually told you that I tapered 3 weeks prior to nationals not 5. Coming from an elevation of 8000ft takes more time to rest for me than sea level (normally I would rest for two weeks).
Ion:
Keep banging away my friend...you will get the right combination down.
Fisch has a good suggestion… in that...it is essential to work on speed as well as conditioning (my understanding...and mind you...I am not a coach). Keep a balance and I bet your meet times will improve. Lastly, I’ve swam in 4 Nationals and each presented different travel and challenges for my body. Often, swimming at Nations is not a good stopwatch to judge your fastest overall times. Fatigue, unfamiliar food, sleep deprivation and other bits and pieces can negatively impact your performance at Nationals. A few years ago in Michigan where they ran a SUPER MEET, I swam the 1500 LCM free at midnight, or close to it. I was tired before I got in the water and my time reflected my fatigue. I swam 20:26 in the meet...and 20:19 in prep a few weeks before the meet.
Kindest regards,
Tom
