200m Freestyle

Originally posted by sandu I'm not sure if I was over analyzing things but I didn't feel like I was swimming faster than before. Depends what you mean. For me, I "feel" how fast I am going by the amount of water resistance I am generating. The problem with that is, with good technique you are reducing your water resistance. :) Don't be discouraged by the fact that you feel like you are not as fast, right now. That is probably true. An optimized "bad" stroke can be faster than a new "better" stroke. The key is that your new learning curve has the potential to be much faster than where you were a week ago.

Update... Thanks for all the great advice I've been getting. I continue to improve and I'm now in contact with a club coach. As a matter of fact, he took a look at my stroke today and we are working on correcting a few things. He pointed out my arms are too high up in the air, I do not roll enough on my sides and my kick is a bit erratic. I swam 5x50m and a 100m with my new improved technique. I'm not sure if I was over analyzing things but I didn't feel like I was swimming faster than before. My 50s ranged from 37 to 34 and my 100m was 1.20 with open turns. Flip turns are still a near-drowning-experience every time I take one past the first 25. How do you people hold your breath when you're already out of breath? I used to swim for a couple of years (*** stroke and IM) when I was a kid in my native Romania. But my last competition was in 1979! I'm 35 now, and after so many years of concentrating on running, swimming feels very hard. I'm sorry if in my previous posts I came across as a stubborn runner with complete disregard for the technical importance of this beautiful sport. I never meant that I was going to muscle my way through a 100m crawl. If anything, I'm very much aware and I'm praying that my improvment will eventually come from the technical side. I watched more swimming than track during the olympic coverage (maybe because I was bitter about not making the team myself) and world class swimmers look smooth and efficient more than they look fast and furious. After the advice I got today from the club coach, I came home and looked at a video I took of myself yesterday. I could see the problems and I'm anxious to work on them as soon as I start swimming tomorrow. I also have to say that I did get swimming lessons when I started training three months ago. I also swam and got advice from some superstar triathletes (between the two of them they had 11 world championship titles - one of them is my friend so I won't mention his name). The message I got from these people was " get your butt in the pool and swim; when you can swim more a couple of laps w/out stopping, then you start working on your technique!". I guess, now I can swim more than a couple of laps, but not very fast and time's up. My test is next week and the coach I saw today predicted I will be swimming about 2.40 but also that "I could surprise myself", especially after I taper from both swimming and running. We shall see! Matt S, the 10 -12 miles of running are done mostly on the trail behind my house or on the track across the street. The coach I saw today was an hour away. I may shop around for something closer and also less expensive. As far as my run is concerned, I can't afford to cut back at this point. I have to run 8.25/3k at 6000ft of altitude. They will give me an altitude adjustment of about 15 seconds. In pentathlon points that equivalent to about 1.55/200m probably. Now I've run 7.58 for 3k but at sea level, in the summer and with world class competition. You see what I'm saying? I'm already maxed out here and I can't cut back. Hopefully they won't make me run if I have to test again. This way I'll be able to have more time for swimming and driving around to get coaching advice. *I have footage of myself. I'd love to upload it somewhere where it can be viewed on the net, if anything like that exists. JPEGs can also be e-mailed if I'm not mistaken. Thanks again for all the great advice!

Sandu, If I can, I'd like to expand on one of Rob's points. Please tell me again why you, a novice swimmer, cannot find time for regular swim coaching when you do have time to run 12 miles a day? Let's talk a bit about the pentathlon. It's a multi-discipline event. We have similar events in swimming; they're called individual medleys, where a swimmer does all four competitive strokes. The winner is usually not the person who holds the world record in one stroke. The winner is usually the person who is excellent to outstanding in each of the four strokes. The key for getting better is NOT squeezing the last fraction of a second out of your best stroke, it is making leaps and bounds improvements in your weakest stroke. Let's cut to your event. You already can run your goal time. Missing a few long runs probably will not change that. Consider spending some of that time on quality coaching to learn the fundamentals of your weaker event. Learning good, solid mechanics for the starts and turns can lop-off a second or to--for each length of the pool. It would probably take only a few sessions with a coach who really knows her craft, and best of all, it need not be physically taxing. If you need to recover from a long run, just schedule a swimming technique session. At any rate, good luck with your event. Please let us know how you do. Feel free to blow doors on the swim and make all of us self-proclaimed experts look like fools. I would proudly wear egg on my face in your behalf. Matt

Sandu, I acknowledge your appreciation for swimming technique. And hey, from the splits you discussed, 1:20 for 100m, making your goal time for the 200m would be a stretch, but not outside the realm of the possible. As I said before, please feel free to dish out a helping of crow for me, and I'll eat with a smile on my face and compliments to the chef. I understand now the disconnect between our approaches to swimming. You asked triathletes for advice on swimming (ACK!) Put it this way, asking a triathlete for advice on a 200m swim, is like asking a tug boat skipper for advice on building a formula one race car. Yes, they both have combustion engines, but the similarity ends there. Without trying to be tedious, let me list some of the reasons why triathletes would be a poor choice of coach: 1) Their event involves three disciplines, and the scores are not normalized, i.e. the swim does not count as much as the bike or run. By sheer dint of effort, and the fact they make most of their time on running and biking, they can get away with oh so many stroke discrepancies that would eat you alive in a 200m swim. 2) The swims they perform are at minimum 1000m, and often longer than that, a lot longer than that. This is a distance swim. In contrast, a 200m is at the upper end of a sprint. Totally different animal. And oh BTW, the swim is only part of their race, so they are training for races that take 2-3 hours, or 9-12 if they are iron manners, and you are training for a race that is less than 3 minutes. I say again, ACK! 3) These folks, as good as they are at what they do, are athletes, not coaches. Your world-class tri-guy is probably an excellent swimmer, who could kick my opinionated butt at any distance. But, he is also probably a natural who does not give to much thought to exactly how he does it, or what to tell someone else. His advice to just get to the point, however you get there, of being able to finish 50 meters, then we'll talk, suggests someone whose approach to training is more yards, always more yards. Fine for 3K races; it won't get you to your goal for a 200m. If you have video footage of yourself swimming, go straight to Emmett Hines' web site: www.h2oustonswims.org Hit the "Project VDO" link, and see if that make sense for you. Emmett is an outstanding coach, and a real stroke guru. He can fix you up. As far as turns are concerned, a good flip turn is an asset, but a lousy flip turn can be a big waste of effort. Please go to the discussion thread on this very web site that talk about a breaststroke turn or a butterfly turn (I can't remember which), that Wayne McCauley started. Even though the title is *** or fly, he is really talking about an open turn, which as Wayne pointed out, you can polish to the point where it is faster than most of the half-assed flip turns you see in mediocre swimmers (I include myself in this category). Best of all, it is ALOT easier to learn for a beginner than even the aforsaid half-assed flip turn. Good luck and keep us posted. Matt

How do I taper off and what should I do the days before competition/test? Day before? I've been doing some 50y (7-8). I feel confortable swimming 32/33 with about 20 sec recovery. I pushed the last one in 29.6 and I felt strong. I've been running less so I may feel energized because of that as well.

Keep your speed up and your reps down. You want to rest your muscles. - That's pretty much the concept (as you already know). If I were in your shoes my taper would be: 400 warm up. Very slowly, meditative concentrate on body position. 1 x 100 strong, but not fast. 4 x 50 nearly race speed with a good rest. 200 warm down. Slowly. Stretch out. I wouldn't swim much more than that. If I did it would be very slowly, making sure not to strain. Tapering is not about working out. It's about reminding yourself how you must swim for the event. You're transitioning to a healing phase. It's a balance between keeping your speed up with good technique, and resting your muscles. For simplicity reasons I tend to keep the same workout the entire week I'm tapering. Other people have more complex tapering routines. I really have to fight the urge to swim more or faster when I'm tapering. I tend to feel really good and want to go more. It's only natural. Remind yourself to save it for the day.

To me it sounds like you have been tappering since you started swimming. I would keep going until the day before the meet. The day before a nice 500 m warmup, a few sprints of 50 with 1 min rest and a 300 cool down swim. with all of your turns push off hard making sure you are steamlined. Have a good warmup the day of the race and keep your body and head covered, wear wool socks with runners to keep your feet warm until you get on the block. Don't do the prezel streaches I have seen everyone doing, just keep loose. Good luck, May The Force Be with You, George

At my first masters meet 2 months ago I did a really great belly flop on my 50 fly. My stomach was purple for hours. Talk about a badge of honor. :) ... It was my first dive from the blocks in 20 years, but when stuff like that happens the only thing you can do is laugh about it.

I took my test today and I swam 200 LCM in 2.37. With the 2 sec altitude conversion, I was given 2.35. That's about what I thought I may be capable of doing and I'm sort of pleased with the result. It was good enough for a little more than 900 points. I ran 8.28 for 3000m which gave me about 1450 points. I just missed the 2400 point qualifier, but coaches were pleased so there is a good chance I may be accepted into the program based on today's performances. They said my swimming technical flaws can be fixed and I can swim much faster in a relatively short period of time. If I were to sumarize my own performance I'd say I swam like a little school girl. I thought I was a seasoned athlete, but today I got real nervous. I guess it's hard to be confident when you're inexperienced and unprepared. At the start I lost my footing and I barely pushed off the starting block. Somehow I made it in the water head first. After a pathetic flip turn at the 50m, I reached the 100 in 1.14 which didn't feel too bad. Soon after that my form fell apart and I went from feeling all right to real bad and it was all downhill from there. If I make the cut I will be training at the OTC for the next few years and I'm sure I will be getting professional help. Thanks a lot for your support and advice. I like this board, and I will post updates with the occasional "dumb" question. Thanks again!

Congratulations! I hope you are accepted into the program. If/when you are accepted and working under OTC training staff you will be amazed at how quickly great coaching will take that 2:35 down to 2:20 or 2:10 or 2:00. Good luck and keep us posted.