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

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? Maybe the biggest factor is that this was your 5th race. I race only short stuff and the few times I raced 5 times in one day I was toast at the end. As for breathing - I bet there are all sorts of breathing patterns here for 100 free. But I think it is a mistake to short yourself of oxygen early in the race. Maybe 3 down is sufficient but it might be better to breathe "every other" after the 1st 25. If you need air - breathe. One thing that surprised me over the last few years is watching Phelps and other elites in their 100s. They breathe a lot except for the last few strokes of the race. Training for the 200 will help your 100 as long as you are still doing fast 50s and 100s periodically.

With the running background I think you might be going for high rest high quality training. You could try 15 like this 5 on 1:50 5 on 1:45 5 on 1:40 or alternate 1 on 1:50, 1 on 1:45, 1 on 1:40 (4 or 5 times) The tighter interval will be more work. As a matter of fact it might be down right uncomfortable. But you'll start to try things like better turns and cleaner streamlines in an effort to swim more efficiently. Becoming a time bandit is key. Think efficiency first and effort second. That way when you do apply the effort, you'll be moving down the lanes clean and smooth. Val, I do tighten it up occasion. Sometimes I go for 5 on 1:30, sometimes 3 on 1:20 and do it a few times through. Tomorrow I will do what you suggest and see how it feels. As long as I get close to hurling, then the set was a good one. 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 never go faster than around 1:10 from a push in a typical practice. When tapering and tuning up for the meet I did an all out from blocks (practice suit) in 1:02 and was very upset. I felt I should have gone under one min. At the meet I went ~3 sec faster. I think rested at a meet your 100 should be about 2-3 sec faster than can be achieved in practice during taper. Something happens at meets. I wore a highneck fastskin for my race. It certainly did not hurt.

15x100 free on 1:50 Hey Rob, With the running background I think you might be going for high rest high quality training. You could try 15 like this 5 on 1:50 5 on 1:45 5 on 1:40 or alternate 1 on 1:50, 1 on 1:45, 1 on 1:40 (4 or 5 times) The tighter interval will be more work. As a matter of fact it might be down right uncomfortable. But you'll start to try things like better turns and cleaner streamlines in an effort to swim more efficiently. Becoming a time bandit is key. Think efficiency first and effort second. That way when you do apply the effort, you'll be moving down the lanes clean and smooth.

I never go faster than around 1:10 from a push in a typical practice. When tapering and tuning up for the meet I did an all out from blocks (practice suit) in 1:02 and was very upset. I felt I should have gone under one min. At the meet I went ~3 sec faster. I think rested at a meet your 100 should be about 2-3 sec faster than can be achieved in practice during taper. Something happens at meets. I wore a highneck fastskin for my race. It certainly did not hurt. Well I finally got my 100 down to a 1:02 in practice, I put an entry into my blog describing it here. Still have another 3-4 months before a meet, so a little time to improve, although I'll be focusing on my marathon training until mid-Jan.