If one of the kids I coach wanted to swim a 1:58 200 free, and is in good health and can swim a :54 flat 100 free, what splits should they target for their 4 50's? I know that the 200 is the longest sprint, but how does :27, :30, :31, :30 sound? Thanks for the input.
Joe
Joe,
Those times look fine, depending on the sprint/distance ability of the swimmer. My only suggestion would be NOT to drop a whole second on the third 50 and maybe hold back a touch on the first 50. I would have him shoot for something like: 27.5 ; 29.9 ; 30.4 ; 30.1 for a 1:57.9
I based these splits on some statistics I pulled from the Georgia USA-S state meet of the top 20 times in the boys 200 free, with times ranging from 1:36 to 1:50. And a couple of interesting observations about the top 5 swimmers – the second 50 was slower than the third 50 for 3 of 5 and the final 50 for each was slower than the third 50 for all 5. Which gets back to something my coaches used to tell me, work the third 50, that’s where races are won or lost.
Joe,
Those times look fine, depending on the sprint/distance ability of the swimmer. My only suggestion would be NOT to drop a whole second on the third 50 and maybe hold back a touch on the first 50. I would have him shoot for something like: 27.5 ; 29.9 ; 30.4 ; 30.1 for a 1:57.9
I based these splits on some statistics I pulled from the Georgia USA-S state meet of the top 20 times in the boys 200 free, with times ranging from 1:36 to 1:50. And a couple of interesting observations about the top 5 swimmers – the second 50 was slower than the third 50 for 3 of 5 and the final 50 for each was slower than the third 50 for all 5. Which gets back to something my coaches used to tell me, work the third 50, that’s where races are won or lost.
