has anyone gotten under 60 sec (100yd) as a new swimmer?

Congratulations, Rob!!! This gives me hope. Nice drop from the spring. My not as fast, but similar progression: 1/06 1:09.87 3/06 1:08.94 5/06 1:04.07 4/07 1:03.87 7/07 1:02.22 3/08 1:01.39 Did you also swim the 50 at yesterday's meet? I would be interested in hearing your 50 time (if you swam it) and your split in the 100. Also, can you talk about your mental and strategic approach for this race? Rob, I was wondering if you saw these questions. I was hoping to hear from you on this. Congrats, again!

Brad, I split 28.08 and 31.23.

Brad, I split 28.08 and 31.23. The closest I have come is low 1:01. I knew half way through the race that I took it out too slow (28.96)...just a feeling I had. I was trying to control that first half a little too much. I think I just have to trust the work that I put in. Thanks.

Congrats on breaking a minute! I've got a similar goal of breaking 1 minute in the 100yd free and I'm curious as to what your routine is right now? what has your training been like? What are some sets you've done that made you feel that you were ready? Do you have a coach training you? Are you in the weight room a lot and if so what's your routine? Did you work a lot on starts/turns? Training is going well. I train 5 days a week, usually ~2000 yds a workout. warm up is only 400 yds and main set is usually 1000-1200 and then a smaller set. No coach, but a few experienced swimmers to swim with. One is extremely fast so I am always pushed. He is an IM guy so I have been also doing alot of IM sets and a fair amount of distance. The 100 is all about speed endurace and processing lactic acid. Not easy to train for. Typical sets: 15x100 free on 1:50 10x100 (back *** free) on 2:00 4x200, 6x100 freestyle laders IM ladders Lately we have been bringing the distance down and the speed up. Once a week we do speed (Like Ande suggests in "help my speed is horrible" post). This has really helped and after just a few weeks have seen some serious speed improvement). I do not kick alot. Have not lifted in a few years. I do not work starts often and my turns are inconsistent, but at times can be very good. This last 100, they were very good. I think I took 3 breathes down, and 3 breathes back on my first 50. Please tell me if that was enough, as I really do not know. my second 50 hurt, but I could have pushed faster on the 3rd 25 than I did; I was saving for the last 25 which hurt worse but I laid everything I had out for it. A factor I forgot to mention, was this was my 5th and last race, and I was starting to tire overall...I imagine that would impact a 100? I think I will keep working on conditioning, but also try taking my next one out faster, and see how it goes - hopefully, I can be more rested for it as well. Does this seem like a fair plan? Should I be doing pace work, on intervals with 100's, or maybe 150's -200's? Working on my 200 is another current goal, so training for it should help my 100? Olympic swimmers breathe almost every stroke in the 100. I am no expert, this last race I breathed every fourth the first 25, every stroke the middle 65 and held it going in (or something close to that). Fifth race? That will screw it up. You can't make the fifth race your focus event. I only did the 200IM before my 100 with plenty of rest.

rtodd, Congrats on breaking a minute! I've got a similar goal of breaking 1 minute in the 100yd free and I'm curious as to what your routine is right now? what has your training been like? What are some sets you've done that made you feel that you were ready? Do you have a coach training you? Are you in the weight room a lot and if so what's your routine? Did you work a lot on starts/turns?

I'm curious about training for this too... I swam it for the first time 2 days ago (I'm 44 and started competitive swimming at 41-42). Results: 1:03.85 (29.56, 34.29) I welcome feedback about my splits - i'm guessing I held back too much on the first 50 as my 50FR best is a 26.8. Even so, I felt my body hit a wall on the 3rd 25 - but then pushed through on the last 25 thinking I wanted to leave it all in the water at the end... Sorry, Rtodd, I didn't break a minute this time... but I'll be back - I know I've got it in me!

Lightning - I think most here will say you went out too slow. However your gap between the two splits was more than the usual 2-3 secs. So you ran out of steam on the second 50. If you had gone out in a 28.5 your 2nd 50 would likely have been worse. Might have been faster but only you know for sure how painful the 2nd 50 was. Did you breathe enough the first 50?

I think I took 3 breathes down, and 3 breathes back on my first 50. Please tell me if that was enough, as I really do not know. my second 50 hurt, but I could have pushed faster on the 3rd 25 than I did; I was saving for the last 25 which hurt worse but I laid everything I had out for it. A factor I forgot to mention, was this was my 5th and last race, and I was starting to tire overall...I imagine that would impact a 100? I think I will keep working on conditioning, but also try taking my next one out faster, and see how it goes - hopefully, I can be more rested for it as well. Does this seem like a fair plan? Should I be doing pace work, on intervals with 100's, or maybe 150's -200's? Working on my 200 is another current goal, so training for it should help my 100?

Lightning I am one of a lot of swimmers who can do pull sets (with a pull buoy) at about the same speed as I can swim, (actually a little slower but I figure I lose some on the turns so it comes out fairly even.) So it works best for me to hold off on the furious flutter kick until very late in the race --- too energy expensive to employ early on.

Training is going well. I train 5 days a week, usually ~2000 yds a workout. warm up is only 400 yds and main set is usually 1000-1200 and then a smaller set. Thanks for posting all of your info, I've been trying to follow this thread over the past few weeks, but didn't get a chance to reply because I was out of town (difficult to reply on my phone). How fast did you swim your 100s during a fast swim in workout? Was that in a special suit and/or off the blocks? Did you wear a special suit when you got your sub-minute 100? I made a soft committment to my coach to also get to/below a minute 100 for a SCY meet in 2009, should have 2 AZ meets to choose from. But I'd first want to make sure I have a shot at it. My focus right now is more running, I'm training for a marathon in Jan, which would give me 2-3 months to shift focus after that.