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My new sport - track swimmer ... just like track cycling - they stay faster MUCH longer than us swimmers - WHY ???

Erik Hochstein

This is part of my Sprint Journey mission - I have looked into running to see how they train - but then also into a sport where you do not carry your own weight and see how they train and compete and how they compete at an older age - my conclusion -  almost all SWIMMERS train like road cyclists -- or open water swimmers - when we should all train like track cyclists if we compete in "track swimming" as in a pool !! My proof - and yes there are differences in what you need to stay "fast" for swimming vs cycling but the times these folks post are mind numbing for us swimmers !!

Sprint record - 10sec event  65y old is 1.2s slower than 30-50 year olds which btw all have same record - a 50y old is same speed as a 30y old !!!

500m time trial - similar to 75 Free - they lower the distance as people age which I am sure people think is st....d  - but 40y old record is 32,9 vs 60 year is 33.9 --- only 1 second slower !!!

1hr time trial - big event - no difference between age 30 and 50 !!!

Link to records NOT a trick or spam link :) 

https://assets.ctfassets.net/761l7gh5x5an/1oje3ZC4hM2yxZAPSC7iSC/76c9154f86a0abd7c190d7cd51aa63a5/20230202_Masters_Best_Performances_Men.pdf

Another obvious thing - almost all them records are set within last 5 years for cycling .... I think I know the main reason but lets see what others think too ...

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  • I honestly think you are off base in how you think swimmers train.  Sure, triathletes and open water swimmers train - ironically, following more of a cycling Zone 2 heavy model - like you describe.  But the workouts I have followed since I started were definitely heavy into speed training.  And as a matter of fact, when COVID hit and I switched up to open water, my speed fell drastically, though I got pretty good at open water.

    That said, I've also seen speed training help endurance swimmers.  One guy I swim with is incredibly fast.  My last 10K was in 2021.  He beat me by one minute.  That's back when my 1650 was in the 21 minute range.  He switched up his training, and now he is doing 1650's in 18 minutes.  His first 500 of the last 1650 I saw him swim was 5:38.  If I were still going to do the 10K's, he'd be asbolutely destroying me.  He is probably 7-8 seconds per 100 faster than me at practice.  And he is 10 years older than me.

    And FWIW, I also do mountain biking.  The weekly local races are typically in the area of one hour long.  The 50+ age group is faster tahn the 40-49.  The younger group is 39 and under, and yes there are guys in their 20's who are faster.  But for whatever reason, age isn't nearly as impactful on cycling as it is for swimming.

  • in reply to 67King

    Got a pretty good idea how swimmers train - trained wtih "all of them..." it has switched for elite ... college over last 10 years - but nowhere else ... a sprint workout is 4-8x something to the max with at least 5 min break in between - not easy 200 endurance pace - real break and I doubt anybody does this regularly ...

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  • in reply to 67King

    Got a pretty good idea how swimmers train - trained wtih "all of them..." it has switched for elite ... college over last 10 years - but nowhere else ... a sprint workout is 4-8x something to the max with at least 5 min break in between - not easy 200 endurance pace - real break and I doubt anybody does this regularly ...

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