Frustrated

hello, 20 seconds per 25 yards IS totally out of reach for SOME people but probably not for you. Meaning you have the potential to swim at that pace. BUT I'd need to know more about you and watch you swim before I offered a complete opinion. Hopefully you're just making equipment and technique mistakes and when you correct them, you'll immediately swim faster. Conditioning improvements take longer. Most importantly do you believe that 20 seconds per 25 yards IS a. totally out of reach for you? or b. totally with in reachfro you? and if you chose "b." Are you willing to work hard enough, smart enough, and often enough to make it happen? my swim faster faster tips might help you. browse through 'em. forums.usms.org/showthread.php good luck, Ande Originally posted by fireguard Having kept swimming daily for almost one year and done some interval sets during the past 2 weeks, my cruise time is about 23-24 seconds per 25 yards. My goal is to refuce my cruise time to 20 seconds per 25 yards. I don't know if I can reach that goal or not. I feel my techniche is not perfect, but pretty ok. I have poor kick, but kick is the hardest to improve. Maybe I can improve my condition, but how much I can improve? Will swimming condition make so much difference that I can reduce my cruise time from 23 seconds per 25 yards to 20 seconds? Or maybe 20 seconds per 25 yards is totally out of reach for some people whatever they try?

Originally posted by Rob Copeland Conditioning doesn’t have a huge impact on 25 yard times, but technique does. Maybe I was not clear. I didn't mean sprinting 25 yards. I mean the averaged speed for a long didtance is 20 seconds per 25 yards.

Originally posted by fireguard Maybe I was not clear. I didn't mean sprinting 25 yards. I mean the averaged speed for a long didtance is 20 seconds per 25 yards. It would be helpful to know whether you can sprint 25 yards in 20 seconds (i.e., is your problem that you can't propel yourself through the water that fast, or is it just that you can't maintain that speed over long distances?). Bob

Originally posted by Bob McAdams It would be helpful to know whether you can sprint 25 yards in 20 seconds (i.e., is your problem that you can't propel yourself through the water that fast, or is it just that you can't maintain that speed over long distances?). Bob Yes, I can. If I just push off from the wall, I can finish 25 yards in 16 seconds. I can't maintain 20 seconds per 25 yards over long distance.

Conditioning doesn’t have a huge impact on 25 yard times, but technique does. If your technique is pretty okay, then make it real good. Work with your coach or if you don’t have one now, get hooked up with a local Masters team. And yes there are a lot of folks out there who can’t and likely never will swim a 20 second 25 pace. It all depends on lots of factors, including commitment, which it sounds like you have.

You might find it interesting to look at the USMS meet results database: www.usms.org/.../toptimes.php The name "top times" is a bit misleading, all results from submitted meets are included. It might help you get a grasp on the range of speeds people swim. 3s/25 is 12s/100 which is quite a lot, which is to say you might want to set some intermediate goals to work toward in the shorter term so you don't get frustrated. Probably the most important step you can take is to get a good coach to evaluate your stroke and tell you what to work on.

Originally posted by ande hello, 20 seconds per 25 yards IS totally out of reach for SOME people but probably not for you. Meaning you have the potential to swim at that pace. Ande I watched other people swimming, and sometimes timed them. I found only small portion of them can swim with the pace of 20 seconds per 25 yards for a long time. But if they can, they usually appear very easy. I wish I could swim with that speed without too much effort. I took a swimming condition class this term, the instructor said my free style looked smooth. I just didn't feel that way, compare to my breaststroke, freestyle takes more energy. I visited a local coach several weeks ago. She said I shouldn't expect a break through on my techniche because there are only small mistakes i need to work on. But she also said my goal is not out of reach.

Originally posted by LindsayNB You might find it interesting to look at the USMS meet results database: www.usms.org/.../toptimes.php The name "top times" is a bit misleading, all results from submitted meets are included. It might help you get a grasp on the range of speeds people swim. 3s/25 is 12s/100 which is quite a lot, which is to say you might want to set some intermediate goals to work toward in the shorter term so you don't get frustrated. Probably the most important step you can take is to get a good coach to evaluate your stroke and tell you what to work on. Yes, I checked those people's time, Very fast, which makes me even more frustrated. But I am not very sure about your point.

Originally posted by fireguard I visited a local coach several weeks ago. She said I shouldn't expect a break through on my techniche because there are only small mistakes i need to work on. But she also said my goal is not out of reach. Having a qualified coach look at your technique is certainly a good way to start, since stroke inefficiencies can sap your energy very quickly. A time-honored training technique for distance swimming is to break the distance down into a set of shorter intervals that you can do at a faster speed and to rest long enough between each interval that you can do the next one at the same speed with the same perfect stroke technique. Then gradually cut out the rest periods. Bob

Originally posted by Bob McAdams Having a qualified coach look at your technique is certainly a good way to start, since stroke inefficiencies can sap your energy very quickly. Bob Actually I don't know how to find a good coach. I live in Eugene, Oregon. There are some coaches around, but I really don't know if they are good or not.