"What do YOU need to do to have a major swimming breakthrough?"

Other ideas? 1. Stroke mechanics. Always. The best swimmers I know work on stroke mechanics all the time. World records holders work on stroke mechanics all the time. You never get to say, "I'm done", because you're never done. There are always improvements to be made. 2. Execute. Little things matter, make them a habit. Accelerate into every turn. Streamline off every wall. Hands together off every wall. Head down off every wall. Strong breakouts on every length. Strong finish on every interval. Tough to do!

I was told by my coach today that HIS goal for the spring is to have all of us that swim together swimming 100's under 2:00. For me, that means going from the present 2:13 down to 2:00. That's a dream for me, but it sounds like it's going to be my reality/goal for the next months. I love having an actual numerical goal. By the way, it's probably helpful to know that as of this past Jan. 2011 I was a beginning swimmer, floundering across the pool in a disheveled manner and wanting supplemental oxygen. Truly, I'd had only two weeks of lessons in my life, and that was when I was 6. I remember when I thought swimming 400 m. in one workout was a lot. So, I've had a lot of progress and breakthroughs in this year. I've put together a solid freestyle that gets compliments for smoothness.:blush: I love swimming. But there's more work, and this is my plan for speed. 1. Suck it up and push harder on short intervals--embrace the pain and learn to love the feel of an elevated heartbeat. I haven't found the way mentally through this kind of hard work yet. 2. Notice ALL times, even when not swimming for time. Measure everything. 3. Work on core endurance/strength. I notice that I see the payoff here in swimming speed when I work core, work SDK--there is good application to freestyle. I train with weights 3x/week, and in about 1 1/2 months I'm starting a swimming specific weights routine to replace my more generalized work now. Other ideas?

1. Stroke mechanics. Always. The best swimmers I know work on stroke mechanics all the time. World records holders work on stroke mechanics all the time. You never get to say, "I'm done", because you're never done. There are always improvements to be made. 2. Execute. Little things matter, make them a habit. Accelerate into every turn. Streamline off every wall. Hands together off every wall. Head down off every wall. Strong breakouts on every length. Strong finish on every interval. Tough to do! Thank you! As for stroke mechanics, i'm a bit geeky about that and am always working at that as well--it's so much what I do I didn't think to list it before.

Technique is your first key Then conditioning Then strength Then mental toughness What is your age sex ht & weight? What suit do you wear in practice? Thank you! I am a 43 yr. old female, 5'10", 169 lbs. Love sharing that with the internet world.:bitching: I"m presently swimming using a Splish one piece suit and a Sporti suit that is similar. Technically I am presently focusing on putting more oomph in my pull and on my kick. Learning to embrace the kick and not fight the work has been a big help. And yes, have done and will continue to do for the other suggestions. Good to know I'm on the right path.

Thanks for the explanation. I will give the narrower stance a whirl.

Androvski, define "narrower stance" in relation to changing your breaststroke. I'm also working to improve my times as I seemed to have hit a plateau.:bow: Sorry for the late reply. By narrower stance I mean keeping my knees closer during the kick. Before my knees would flare out to sides which I believe was causing a lot of drag and making my kick inefficient. A good drill to practice this is swimming breaststroke with a buoy between your legs. This was how I actually got the idea of narrowing my stance: I noticed that my stroke with our without the buoy was pretty much the same (usually the buoy makes your stroke count go up since you can't kick as hard). One other thing that I am trying to change is not moving the hips when kicking, that is, initiating and finishing the kick by using my knees only. Hansen's style is pretty much what I'm aiming for: Hansen's stroke - YouTube

I was told by my coach today that HIS goal for the spring is to have all of us that swim together swimming 100's under 2:00. For me, that means going from the present 2:13 down to 2:00. That's a dream for me, but it sounds like it's going to be my reality/goal for the next months. I love having an actual numerical goal. By the way, it's probably helpful to know that as of this past Jan. 2011 I was a beginning swimmer, floundering across the pool in a disheveled manner and wanting supplemental oxygen. Truly, I'd had only two weeks of lessons in my life, and that was when I was 6. I remember when I thought swimming 400 m. in one workout was a lot. So, I've had a lot of progress and breakthroughs in this year. I've put together a solid freestyle that gets compliments for smoothness.:blush: I love swimming. But there's more work, and this is my plan for speed. 1. Suck it up and push harder on short intervals--embrace the pain and learn to love the feel of an elevated heartbeat. I haven't found the way mentally through this kind of hard work yet. 2. Notice ALL times, even when not swimming for time. Measure everything. 3. Work on core endurance/strength. I notice that I see the payoff here in swimming speed when I work core, work SDK--there is good application to freestyle. I train with weights 3x/week, and in about 1 1/2 months I'm starting a swimming specific weights routine to replace my more generalized work now. Other ideas? Technique is your first key Then conditioning Then strength Then mental toughness What is your age sex ht & weight? What suit do you wear in practice? On technique You must have a short list of things to focus on "A few to do" Do One on one stroke instruction Video yourself Watch the best and copy them Total Immersion Swimming Freestyle Demo by Shinji Takeuchi Total Immersion Swimming Freestyle Demo by Shinji Takeuchi - YouTube Michael Phelps-Freestyle-Multi Angle Camera Michael Phelps-Freestyle-Multi Angle Camera - YouTube Keep Working to improve your kick Do my Help my flutter kick is horrible program Focus on 25 kicking speed, get under 20 sec, then focus on 25 & 50 speed You can swim faster faster Got more questions? Just read Ask Ande or ask

So I inadvertantly created my own post-collegiate swim breakthrough... I just did my SCY season shave/taper since I can't make it to nats this year. I dropped about a tenth off last years 50 and 100 times (22.3, 48.8 respectively). The real surprise and breakthrough was the 200. Previous best in my 200 after starting masters was 1:59 in SCY (2:12 in SCM). I joined the 200y free event in my recent taper meet more as a backup to my 50 free in case I missed the turn or something, I could just get the split time in the 200 as a backup chance. Well the 50 went well so I raced the 200 normally and When I touched the wall I looked up expecting a 1:55-1:56 and saw a 1:51! (splits 25.5, 27.7, 28.6, 29.3) Obviously pleasantly surprised, especially considering i am ~250lbs and train 6000m a week. I didn't really have any expectations for this race. Collegiate pb was 1:46. This race was only 20 minutes after my 50 free, and for some odd reason I filled a goggle and swam it with one eye so I think it could've been nearing that 1:49.99 range with perfect conditions. That said, I am eyeing up that 1:46 as a true breakthrough for nats next year. :chug: I guess fat guy sprinters like me CAN fake 200's after all :)

Followup---for my goal of finally swimming under 2 min. for 100 m--I did it this past weekend in a meet--did 1.54 actually.:bouncing: it felt horrible but I was so happy. Now to keep working so that my everyday/cruising 100 m. time is under 2 min.

So I inadvertantly created my own post-collegiate swim breakthrough... I just did my SCY season shave/taper since I can't make it to nats this year. I dropped about a tenth off last years 50 and 100 times (22.3, 48.8 respectively). The real surprise and breakthrough was the 200. Previous best in my 200 after starting masters was 1:59 in SCY (2:12 in SCM). I joined the 200y free event in my recent taper meet more as a backup to my 50 free in case I missed the turn or something, I could just get the split time in the 200 as a backup chance. Well the 50 went well so I raced the 200 normally and When I touched the wall I looked up expecting a 1:55-1:56 and saw a 1:51! (splits 25.5, 27.7, 28.6, 29.3) Obviously pleasantly surprised, especially considering i am ~250lbs and train 6000m a week. I didn't really have any expectations for this race. Collegiate pb was 1:46. This race was only 20 minutes after my 50 free, and for some odd reason I filled a goggle and swam it with one eye so I think it could've been nearing that 1:49.99 range with perfect conditions. That said, I am eyeing up that 1:46 as a true breakthrough for nats next year. :chug: I guess fat guy sprinters like me CAN fake 200's after all :) Congratulations isn't it wonderful to breakthrough like that you are capable of much faster consider: + training a little more and faster each week like 12k or even 18k + keep getting thinner & + split it a little better where you hold your last 3 50's around the same time I bet you can easily break 1:50 & you might even approach 1:45 Ande