Anyone fast with only 1500-2000 yds a day?

That is very good news. I just hope I can do the same. If I can get under a minute, that will be very good for my confidence. Did you run sprints, middle distance, or distance?

one comment with 21.83 50 speed your 100 should be much faster than 50 on paper you should be able to go under 48 21.83 + 1 + 21.83 + 3 = 47.66 ande I'm working on it. I would be thrilled if I could go 47.66

That is very good news. I just hope I can do the same. If I can get under a minute, that will be very good for my confidence. Did you run sprints, middle distance, or distance? 880, Mile and relays in high school. Longer stuff as I got older. On another thread you mentioned Masters track. I competed on the track until I was in my 30's. My best events were 1500 and 5000.

I'm 42. I spend time in the gym (although I just heard Phelps say he does NO lifting) and also the bike. I think I have descent strength for sprinting. I would think Phelps would be lifting now that he is at Michigan and older, I know he didnt' prior to 04 - he however, is NOT a sprinter ...

and would love to be able to get in the pool again and go 1500-2000 yds. per day 4-5 times per week. Now, what Scott Goldblatt can do on 1500-2000 per day and what the rest of us can do might not be exactly the same! However, I do think if rtodd's focus event is the 100 free, then he can probably get by on that kind of yardage assuming he's really emphasizing the quality stuff and getting in at least 4 days per week, preferably 5. I also think weights and other dryland will help you.

I think that I can clear up a lot of talk or just add some commentary to this thread. Up until age 13, I never swam in the summer. Only in the winters and spring and of course, it was not until I was 13 or so that I started seeing improvements. At 13, I started swimming 6-8000 yds per day, and by age 15 was going in the 18-20,000 yds range per day. Four doubles a week and a total of 10 workouts. 1:50.9 in the 200m free my senior year. Went to Texas and started doing 12-14,000 per day - saw improvement and eventually went 1:48.1 in the 200m free in 2000. Then after I left Texas I went 10-12,000 per day and eventually even below that, and I never improved in my five years of swimming after that. I put a lot of stock in putting in the yardage at a young age... not "garbage" yardage, but quality hard work. Now, I have been out of the water for almost 18 months, just had knee surgery, have gained 25 lbs. since I stopped swimming competitively, and would love to be able to get in the pool again and go 1500-2000 yds. per day 4-5 times per week. And a note on Phelps... he did not do weights before he got to Michigan, but I would prefer to do the weights that I did over the torture that Bob put NBAC through in their dryland medicine ball program.

I'm doing about 2000 in about 52 mins. That's all the time I have, my goal for the new year is to swim 3 times a week lifting weights on Sat. Sometimes I just can't get a good swim in at the "Y" because the lap lane is full and the rest of the pool has all the kids in it for open swim. So I swim as much as I can, then work on turns and swimming under water for as long as possible then throw in some pool push ups and kicks. I figure I can always stand to work on the little things now and then.

rtodd - 2000 is not a small amount. Get me in a pool and I would probably be hard pressed to finish that distance. Bottom line is that you can be fast with small amounts of yardage. Just be smart about how you do it. Focus on doing everything right and you can be just fine. If you hop in and "play" for 2000 yds, you could be in trouble.

Bottom line is that you can be fast with small amounts of yardage. Just be smart about how you do it. Focus on doing everything right and you can be just fine. If you hop in and "play" for 2000 yds, you could be in trouble. I agree with this wholeheartedly. If you swim a 400 warmup, a 200 cool off, and 1400 of hard sprints you are going to reap more benefit than somebody who swims 3-4 thousand yards with loose intervals and little attention to technique, starts, and turns. Be aware of you limited time in the water and make it count. I have very little time to devote to the pool these days so I can understand your dilemma. If I swim three times a week for 1500 to 2000 that is great for me. More often than not, it's about twice a week for 1500. I have made a decision that everytime I leave that pool, I will feel the pain. When I am driving home that night I can feel the soreness in my lats, triceps, and legs. This soreness is my indication that atrophy/hypertrophy is underway. One day when my kids are a little bigger and can transport themselves to all of their activities I will swim more but until then, it's quality over quantity. BTW, my events are 50's and 100's with this limited yardage. I could probably pull off a decent 200 Free but I tend to stick with what I know.

Scott, I appreciate you even taking the time to reply to a thread started by a "ham and egger" like me. It really puts into context how little 2000 yds is.... I'm embarassed. Knelson, I suppose my schedule would allow for twice a day (during lunch and after work), which might be more advantageous for a sprinter. Then I could double my yardage. Poolraat, As scared as I was to run the 1/4, I would never touch the middle distance.