This topic has come up peripherally in a few different threads recently, but I thought I'd try to revisit it directly. What race strategies are people using in connection with the 200 free (or any 200 for that matter)?
I recently swam in my first meet in 16 years. Historically 200 free was one of my favorite events, and I swam it essentially as a long sprint. That strategy failed miserably in the recent meet, however: my second hundred was six seconds slower than my first (1:03/1:09 SCM) and felt even worse than it sounds -- I was barely able to rotate my arms on the last 25 meters.
The issue for me may simply be conditioning: I've just been back in the water since July, and it's been hard to get as much training in as I'd like. But I'm also wondering if at age 34 my days of treating the 200 like a sprint are over, notwithstanding Henry Clark's experience to the contrary.
It was interesting: after my experience in the 200 I was spooked a bit and ended up taking my 400 out too slow -- unlike in the 200, I had a lot left at the end. My 100 free, an event which historically I wasn't particularly good at, turned out to be my best event (58.3 SCM, felt very good).
The meet was a lot of fun--and, boy, there were some incredibly fast swims--but it did highlight for me how practicing racing is as important as general conditioning.
If anyone is willing to share how they race 200's, I'd be interested.
--Brad
