Speed Cap?

SCY - me too! I thought it was about that cap Speedo tries to promote from time to time. Kyra, sweetie, you have to swim, and swim regularly to see improvement. By regularly I mean 4 or more times a week and decent yardage with speed work and technique work mixed in - endurance, kicking, etc. You need to do this for long periods of time (years, not weeks). You need to swim fast in practice to swim fast in meets. You need to do a full taper, shave, and get a fast suit. I'm guessing you would see improvement. As far as technique goes, you can ALWAYS improve that. Your beloved Mike works on that all the time.

I have reached a speed cap...for the amount of training I am able to invest into my swimming. As far as an ultimate speed cap? Sure, there has to be. Brendan Hansen will not be able to continue taking tenths off of his times forever. He will eventually reach a point where he either maintains or he slows down a bit. Aside from any specific swimmer, there will come a time where records are just not broken anymore. I don't foresee anybody swimming a 50 SCY Free in 15 seconds, in fact it is probably not humanly possible. So yes, there is a speed cap. I have to say that when I clicked on this thread I thought it was going to be about a swim cap that was going to make me swim faster. Shucks! Matt, I wonder when we (okay the elite) just won't be able to go any faster, too. I can't see any one going 1:00 for a 200 free. But I do love watching those guys go faster and faster. It's amazing!

Is it worth trying to gain the speed or should I just accept my fate in the slow lane?It all depends on what you are willing to do to gain the speed… Increase the intensity of your workouts Swim 2 a days Lift weights Perfect that good stroke Take supplements I believe that practically every swimmer could be faster, it all depends on what you are willing to sacrifice to achieve this. Most of us have some flaws in our strokes which can be corrected to improve efficiency/speed. Spending time in the weight room to increase core and limb strength will help. More quality water time definitely helps.

SeaGurl: Take a look at Ande's thread entitled "What do YOU need to do to have a major breakthrough in swiming?"

I'll have you know Ms. Heather I've joined the team here (Masters) finally and have been swimming regularly and doing yoga 3 times a week. so :thhbbb: (ps. glad to know you're alive!) I agree I do need to do more than what I"m doing to see improvements, I just haven't been able to right now. I'll keep working on technique, I think I'm about to hit a wall. My muscles are not co-operating and I can feel my technique starting to slip. And my fly always needs work....... It'll be interesting to see the overall human speed cap come into play. In my opinion I dont' think it's to far away. I think records are going to have to go to even smaller measures of time if they want to see them keep being broken. Thanks everybody for the tips!!

The only speed cap I know of was Dexadrine it came in several sizes of capsules. A couple of marathon swimmers used them and used 45 to 60 mg a race. They were much younger than me and they are both dead. Opps wrong kind of speed cap???

The perception of speed versus the cold numbers of the stopwatch...Sometimes I swim well, sometimes I don't swim well, as I perceive it. But for the short distance of 50 meters, short or long course, my time stays within a second, has stayed for the last two years. My coach says maybe if I lose 20 lbs I might get rid of a second. The longer the race the more you can improve, but your brute force, your true swimming potential, as measured for the 50 meters or 50 yards is pretty much what you got, what you were born with. Some will disagree, but how much can you improve truly? Regards, billy fanstone.

It is surprising how fast you can go without losing weight. A little tweeking in technique can drop your time. Eg. faster turnover, to increase speed it may just be adding something like explosive breathing and less breathing. Holding your breath for a few more strokes and explosive breath just before you breathe in. How much air do you need when swimming a 50. A change in your dive, making a smaller hole when you enter, better streamline, popping up from your dive and powering it. More streamlined turn a few more dolpin kicks from your dive and turn.

Like others I believe it is what you put into your training which will prepare you to swim faster. I have been back in the water for 4 yrs and each year I have gotten faster. For example, in my 200 fly first year back I did 2:03, 2nd yr 2:00, 3rd year 1:59 and last yr 1:57. Over the years I have changed things up, First year was strickly swimming, 2nd year I began doing the dryland core work, past 2 yrs I have now added a weight training program. This year I still do weights and core work but have also added running 3 miles a day on the treadmill (and I hate running!). My goal this year in 200 fly is 1:55. One thing that I do is I pretty much swim the same meets every year during the same time. So I use it as a base where if I am faster at my first meet than last year then Im ahead of schedule, and if Im slower at meet, its time to work a little harder in and out of the pool. Greg

I have reached a speed cap...for the amount of training I am able to invest into my swimming. As far as an ultimate speed cap? Sure, there has to be. Brendan Hansen will not be able to continue taking tenths off of his times forever. He will eventually reach a point where he either maintains or he slows down a bit. Aside from any specific swimmer, there will come a time where records are just not broken anymore. I don't foresee anybody swimming a 50 SCY Free in 15 seconds, in fact it is probably not humanly possible. So yes, there is a speed cap. I have to say that when I clicked on this thread I thought it was going to be about a swim cap that was going to make me swim faster. Shucks!