November marks 3 months that I have been swimming now. I have been swimming an average of 5 times a week and have just recently got my 800 yd. free down to 16 minutes and my mile down to 45 minutes. My question is how long should it take me to get my miles down to 30-35 minutes and my 800 down to about 10? I was involved in zero physical activity before I started swimming so my cardiovascular health was not at its peak. When I started I was doing good if I could swim 400 yards in 45 minutes. Perhaps I am being overeager or impatient but what sort of timeline should I set for the goals I mentioned above? If it matters I am 30 years old, stand rougly 6 feet tall and weigh about 165. This swimmer carries no extra bulk!! BTW, all of my swimming is done in regular boxer type swim trunks with pockets. When I switch to a jammer or brief will I notice a big difference in drag? I feel a lot of drag when doing my pushoffs especially. Thanks for any input.
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Former Member
I did not mean to stir such controversy over swimsuits. I do think that my body position is quite good but I do notice drag from my suit and I suspect that swimming with reduced drag would allow me to concentrate more on form than on overcoming drag. As Terry Laughlin said in one of his articles, swimmers such as Michael Phelps and Hoogie do not swim thousands of yards every day in search of some immortal level of fitness. They do it to practice perfecting their stroke mechanics and forging them into their muscle memory. My point you ask? 2000 yards of smooth easy practice is better than 1500 yards of practice with excessive drag causing you to possibly lose sight of your real goal; stroke perfection.
I did not mean to stir such controversy over swimsuits. I do think that my body position is quite good but I do notice drag from my suit and I suspect that swimming with reduced drag would allow me to concentrate more on form than on overcoming drag. As Terry Laughlin said in one of his articles, swimmers such as Michael Phelps and Hoogie do not swim thousands of yards every day in search of some immortal level of fitness. They do it to practice perfecting their stroke mechanics and forging them into their muscle memory. My point you ask? 2000 yards of smooth easy practice is better than 1500 yards of practice with excessive drag causing you to possibly lose sight of your real goal; stroke perfection.
