mine are very slow i think..32 mins fastest so far i think or there abouts,would like to hear your methods of better times/or worse!!!!i would really like to improve this year..
Parents
Former Member
I'll say a word in support of Mattson. You can use training to overcome mediocre stroke technique in the middle distance events, 200-400. But for a mile, you can't get away from your technique. Eventually, you will no longer be able to flog yourself into going faster than your sustainable speed (in his book Fitness Swimming , Emmett Hines calls it your "cruise pace"). Improving that means improving technique.
As far as that is concerned, there are lots of good articles out there. Some of Emmett's best are available in the Training...Technique section of this web site. The key concept is reduce drag, and go father for each stroke you take, i.e. use fewer strokes per lap. I know I sound like a broken record on this, but I have used Total Immersion with good success. Mark V, if TI comes through your area in the U.K., you may find their weekend seminar useful, if not cheap.
I would also agree with Mattson that making permanent stroke improvements will take months of consciously working on fine points, but the good news is that you do see initial progress much sooner than that. I have been using TI drills for over 2.5 years now, and their are some drills that I think I mastered only a couple of months ago. Really dialing in these improvements takes much more than a one weekend seminar, but it is far more interesting than just pounding yardage.
I last did a pool mile about a year ago, a 1650 SCY, in about 22:08. However, I did the Big Shoulders 5K open water in about 1:05:and-something. (The race organizers did admit towards the end of the race that they might have missed a bit laying out the course, so...we have the usual imprecision that makes open water swimming so delightfully unpredictable.)
Matt
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Former Member
I'll say a word in support of Mattson. You can use training to overcome mediocre stroke technique in the middle distance events, 200-400. But for a mile, you can't get away from your technique. Eventually, you will no longer be able to flog yourself into going faster than your sustainable speed (in his book Fitness Swimming , Emmett Hines calls it your "cruise pace"). Improving that means improving technique.
As far as that is concerned, there are lots of good articles out there. Some of Emmett's best are available in the Training...Technique section of this web site. The key concept is reduce drag, and go father for each stroke you take, i.e. use fewer strokes per lap. I know I sound like a broken record on this, but I have used Total Immersion with good success. Mark V, if TI comes through your area in the U.K., you may find their weekend seminar useful, if not cheap.
I would also agree with Mattson that making permanent stroke improvements will take months of consciously working on fine points, but the good news is that you do see initial progress much sooner than that. I have been using TI drills for over 2.5 years now, and their are some drills that I think I mastered only a couple of months ago. Really dialing in these improvements takes much more than a one weekend seminar, but it is far more interesting than just pounding yardage.
I last did a pool mile about a year ago, a 1650 SCY, in about 22:08. However, I did the Big Shoulders 5K open water in about 1:05:and-something. (The race organizers did admit towards the end of the race that they might have missed a bit laying out the course, so...we have the usual imprecision that makes open water swimming so delightfully unpredictable.)
Matt
