Anyone fast with only 1500-2000 yds a day?

I dont have time to swim more than 1 hr at a time either. This is plenty of time to swim fast,if you are mindful. Also if you can supplement your swimming with other exercising it helps. I do stability ball exercises wathing TV and stationary biking reading the newspaper. If you only have 50 minutes make every minute count. That doesn't mean trying for maximum yardage,it means planning what you are going to do carefully given your goal. You said free so lets say your goal event is the 100. What do YOU need to make YOUR 100 Free faster.Aerobic endurance is not the most important thing for the100. Starts, turns,streamling,technique,finding your race pace are more important for the 100. These all can be honed in 50-60 min.workouts. How fast you can go depends on many things,including genetics.One thing is certain,you will swim much faster working out 50 min. at a time than if you don't.If you swim 50 min.4 times per week you will be in better shape than 99% of the country.

I think it's possible to swim "fast" with only swimming 1500-2000 per session. As mentioned above, the key is intensity. Fast is a relative term, but let's say you swam 5x200s on a 3:30, take a 5 min. rest, and do 10x100s on a 1:30. That's 2000yds in 32:30. That gives you plenty of time for a 500 warm up (say 8 min.) and an easy 500 cool down (10 min.). There's 3000 in 50:30. Add 3 minutes between warm up and the work sets and 3 minutes between the work sets and cool down and it's 3000 in 56:30. I'd say that if you can achieve the above work sets then you should be resonably "fast." I'm still trying to get back "into shape," so I've only been doing 2000yds in about 45 minutes (the 200s are on a 4:00 and the 100s are on a 2:00), but I can break 1:00 in the 100m free. Not great but not shabby. I swim MWF and lift TR (sometimes Sat). Some swim sessions I pretend that I'm a butterflyer and do my 100s half free/half fly. The starts, turns, streamlining, etc. that Mr. Stark mentions should have equal priority to building finesse, IMO. Again, this is what I've been playing around with for the past 5-6 months as I try to get competitive again. Take it for what it's worth.

Coach T posted a solid comment on the value of high intensity swimming on the "vessel" thread. Ande and Allen also seem advocate this for sprinters. So, should sprinters only do sprint specific sets and lift weights and do plyos? Should sprinters bother with or just loaf endurance sets? Should they get in shape or just get in shape to sprint? What if sprinters are also endurance junkies? Will endurance actually kill their speed?

I do about 1500-2000 per work out, im 19 50 free- 21.83 100 free- 50.00 I do alot of sprint work in my practices though so if you training for anything over a 100, 2000 yards ain't going to fly. Heres an interesting fact, Jason Lezak does only 4000 yards/meters per work out 5 times a week. Yardage doesn't mean jack. Quality yardage is what matters. If Lezak started doing 10,000 meters a day he would definatly not make bejing in the 50 free and its posible that he might not make it in the 100either. Training for swimming is really all about science. The more laps the better attitude won't get you anywhere. Alot of age group coaches have this attitude and I hate thoes people.

Warren, You just prove to me that it can be done. Also, for someone like Lezak, that can't be alot of yardage for an olympian. I think Gary Hall Jr. also wrote about doing mindless volume and how it interfered with going fast. Another question, Why is it I never hear of sprinters doing full recovery? and by that I mean at least 10 minutes between 100's. If we are going to do anaerobic workouts, doesn't it make sense to buffer that lactic acid between reps so that quality and intensity can be maintained with each rep? This leads to low volume workouts!! I don't think sprinters should be guilty of 2000 yd workouts. At least 41 yr old ones anyway.

Warren, You just prove to me that it can be done. Also, for someone like Lezak, that can't be alot of yardage for an olympian. I think Gary Hall Jr. also wrote about doing mindless volume and how it interfered with going fast. Another question, Why is it I never hear of sprinters doing full recovery? and by that I mean at least 10 minutes between 100's. If we are going to do anaerobic workouts, doesn't it make sense to buffer that lactic acid between reps so that quality and intensity can be maintained with each rep? This leads to low volume workouts!! I don't think sprinters should be guilty of 2000 yd workouts. At least 41 yr old ones anyway. I've read of the elite doing 100s on 8:00 and I think Coughlin will do them race pace on 12:00 ....

njBrunelli Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 56 Location: tempe Arizona

Lezak's competition (Nick Brunelli) has a bit of a different theory on training for sprinters.....below is a post from his Race Club blog. Goes to show you.....to each his own! njBrunelli Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 56 Location: tempe Arizona Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 9:53 pm Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -Right after the 4-week mark from surgery, I was back in the water kicking. Vertical kicking and kicking on my back keeping my arm fully secured to my body. -6 weeks after surgery I was able to move my shoulder slightly in the water but only light motions and no pulling or recovering over the water. -Around 8 weeks, I was now moving my arm in a swim like motion but I was still not able to pull water. My swimming range of motion for freestyle was about 80 percent. I was having trouble getting on my left side and extending my arm out in front. During this time I was using fins and letting my arm move but not pull water. The Sets I did were all kick dominated. And when I swam I would just swim sets of 200's easy with fins making sure my stroke technique was where it needed to be. -Around 10 weeks I was swimming again and able to use the arm a lot more. My range of motion for freestyle was about 90 percent. This is where I was doing longer swims. An idea would be 300's and 400s just working on stroke technique. This is when I started to explore other strokes, mainly backstroke. 12 weeks out I was swimming full time, but no sprinting. I was working on technique and 200-pace stuff. My backstroke was a good break when my shoulder was getting tired from freestyle. A practice looked like this: 500 warm up 4 x 150 kick on 2:30 desc 4 x 100 kick on 1:45 neg. split 4 x 50 kick on 1min fast 25 under water 25 over water 12 x 75s swim/dr/swim 20 x 50's swim on 1min - all holding 200 pace keeping stroke together 5 x 200's swim on 2:30 - desc to 80% working stroke technique. 1 x 600 swim with fins working stroke tech with fins -About 14 weeks out from surgery, Dec 19th we did this set: Yards set 32 x 50's on 1 min. 1 easy 1 fast from a push Held 23.1 to 22.6 on all the fast ones. -16 weeks on Dec. 27th I was home swimming with BOSS, (Bay and Ocean State Squids) out of Harvard and Brown. I did what the team was doing. Here is the set: Meters set 1 x 800 Back 100 dr/100 swim 1 x 800 Back Desc by 200's 1 x 800 Back fast neg split The last 400 I was 4:45

I do about 1500-2000 per work out, im 19 50 free- 21.83 100 free- 50.00 Maybe if you bump it up to 2500 you'll be able to break 50 seconds in the 100! Only half kidding. If you can go sub 22 in the 50 you really should be able to break 50 in the 100.

2000 yards a workout is enough to be able to pop a good time for a 50 yard event. My former coach swims this much per day and he's ranked in the top ten for his age group. If you want to be able to perform well in a 200...a little more volume may be necessary. Not to say that being a good 200 swimmer isn't possible with small yardage totals...but it's not the ideal formula.