Hello,
Are any of you long or short distance swimmers? What do you think the advantages/disadvantages of each are?
During the semester of school I was taking a swimming class and that's what got me back to swimming. One day we were having a fun day and were doing sprints and my instructor told me that I am a long distance swimmer. I understand that most people don't really like long distance swimming because it's more to swim but I don't mind. =)
Hope everyone had a happy new year!!!
Former Member
I'm with you...I swam sprints for the longest time and was never really good at it but now my coach puts me in the distance stuff and im not winnning but im not coming in last like I was before. When I swim distance I fell Like I could Go As far as you needed me to as as long as I could do it at my own pace.
Not everyone can be a sprinter--partly it depends on the number of fast twitch (vs. slow twitch) muscle fibers you have. The type of training you do also makes a difference (anaerobic/lactate production vs. aerobic).
Distance is the race and workout for me. For me a good sprint is a 200 yd free. During a 50 there is just no time to do anything other than move as fast as you can-boering. I like to find a good pace that can be maintained, wether in the 200 or for 2 miles. At the last meet I was in I placed 19th in the 50 free and 2nd in the 1500, need I say more.
In the earlier of days of swimming all I trained was for sprinting. A 500 would nearly kill me, both mentally and physically.
When I came back this past spring, again, I was trying the sprint thing. And, it's ok...still wasn't the greatest.
But, now with the half ironman in August, I'm doing more distance. It really does add to mental toughness, as well as overall cardio condtioning. Plus, it's really cool to swim fast for a longer amount of time. It's been enjoyable and a new challenge.
Happy New Year everybody,
jerrycat
