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
Parents
Former Member
Originally posted by Brad Biddle
...
My impression was that Sickie's program at UCSD was really the only game in town for real top-tier masters swimming (I lived in San Diego for 12 years, but didn't swim there, so I certainly could be wrong). I know that the JCC right by UCSD has a fairly large program too, though -- is that where you are now?
...
--Brad
Right now I swim at JCC.
It has a very good coach, radiant with racing style workouts.
However, the entire program is again just an 'organized swimming' program, not a program for future racing. The coach told me last week that I might need to taper by myself, since she has an all-purpose -mainly fitness- program to run.
Sickie has indeed "...the only game in town for real top-tier masters...", because of competent coaching staff he assembled, trust from the university which allocates him a very good training facility, and plenty of fast swimmers, who ironically don't even compete and don't have their names in the rankings.
Myself I was using Sickie's trainings only in the summer of 2001 and 2002, because he has monopoly amongst coaches over workouts in the 50 meters pool, not because of his coaching abilities.
A coach who trains the distance UCSD varsity team to NCAAs meets, who is also a former distance swimmer in the NCAAs himself, didn't agree with Sickie's handling of Caroline Krattli's nitpicking on me during my taper for the 2002 Long Course Nationals.
He coached me for short course competitions in 2001 and 2002, and just opened now a Masters program at the La Jolla High School, in a 50 meters pool; it is more race specific than UCSD and JCC Masters are.
I am finishing up my membership at JCC at the end of this month, and will join the La Jolla more competitive program in December.
Getting back to a 200 meters freestyle strategy for you, Brad, addressing the facts that you used to sprint it entirely, and took up swimming again at age 34, with a 58 seconds for 100 meters free, I am thinking about this temporary solution:
.) sprint the first 75 meters, in about 45 seconds;
.) ease off slightly for the next 50 meters; this would bring you at the 100 meters mark, in about 1:02;
.) sprint the last 75 meters, knowing that after the 50 meters easy, you won't die.
It is a temporary solution, until you regain -if you regain- the ability to sprint all of it.
Originally posted by Brad Biddle
...
My impression was that Sickie's program at UCSD was really the only game in town for real top-tier masters swimming (I lived in San Diego for 12 years, but didn't swim there, so I certainly could be wrong). I know that the JCC right by UCSD has a fairly large program too, though -- is that where you are now?
...
--Brad
Right now I swim at JCC.
It has a very good coach, radiant with racing style workouts.
However, the entire program is again just an 'organized swimming' program, not a program for future racing. The coach told me last week that I might need to taper by myself, since she has an all-purpose -mainly fitness- program to run.
Sickie has indeed "...the only game in town for real top-tier masters...", because of competent coaching staff he assembled, trust from the university which allocates him a very good training facility, and plenty of fast swimmers, who ironically don't even compete and don't have their names in the rankings.
Myself I was using Sickie's trainings only in the summer of 2001 and 2002, because he has monopoly amongst coaches over workouts in the 50 meters pool, not because of his coaching abilities.
A coach who trains the distance UCSD varsity team to NCAAs meets, who is also a former distance swimmer in the NCAAs himself, didn't agree with Sickie's handling of Caroline Krattli's nitpicking on me during my taper for the 2002 Long Course Nationals.
He coached me for short course competitions in 2001 and 2002, and just opened now a Masters program at the La Jolla High School, in a 50 meters pool; it is more race specific than UCSD and JCC Masters are.
I am finishing up my membership at JCC at the end of this month, and will join the La Jolla more competitive program in December.
Getting back to a 200 meters freestyle strategy for you, Brad, addressing the facts that you used to sprint it entirely, and took up swimming again at age 34, with a 58 seconds for 100 meters free, I am thinking about this temporary solution:
.) sprint the first 75 meters, in about 45 seconds;
.) ease off slightly for the next 50 meters; this would bring you at the 100 meters mark, in about 1:02;
.) sprint the last 75 meters, knowing that after the 50 meters easy, you won't die.
It is a temporary solution, until you regain -if you regain- the ability to sprint all of it.
