How much endurance training?

I think the great swimmers have an inherent feel for what makes them swim fast. Hydrodynamic proprioception if you will. They adapt their strokes to what makes them swim fast. The rest of us then try to emulate them because they are swimming so fast. Problem is it doesn't work quite as well for us because we just can't feel what's making us fast the way they can. We don't have that constant feedback while swimming. VERY well said/written ... Forums are a funny/tricky thing. It's hard to know the tone that people are using and sometimes posts come across as far more rude than they are intended to be. Warren, look at Ande's blog Jagermiester explained eating in the am before a workout. You most definitely have fuel from the night before. Terry, I am not at all saying that you can't swim fast fly breathing every stroke. I am aware that Thompson did this and then broke the record. But think about the process Richard Quick (who knows far more about the sport than probably any masters coach) reconstructed her stroke making the breathing every stroke work for her. The mechanics of her stroke were changed so that breathing every stroke became most efficient for her. Remember for every rule there is an exception, or a few. And even Phelps will take two strokes when breathing from time to time. What about Crocker? The fastest flyer ever doesn't breathe every stroke. My point was simply following what the best of the best do isn't going to work. Trying to take what they do and tweak it for your body type, physical ability, fitness level, etc does make sense. My own personal little story for this I have a slightly wider recovery. I had one coach tell me I need to get a higher elbow, )because isn't that so engrained in all of us?) another coach said that because I'm short that a slightly wider recovery will work better for me. Another example, underwater SDK. For some an advantage, others who struggle with it are better off doing a couple kick or flutter kicking and just getting to the surface, Jason Lezak comes to mind. Others gain their advantage by underwater kicking - Coughlin, Peirsol, Phelps, Crocker ...

I think the great swimmers have an inherent feel for what makes them swim fast. Hydrodynamic proprioception if you will. They adapt their strokes to what makes them swim fast. The rest of us then try to emulate them because they are swimming so fast. Problem is it doesn't work quite as well for us because we just can't feel what's making us fast the way they can. We don't have that constant feedback while swimming. VERY well said/written ... Forums are a funny/tricky thing. It's hard to know the tone that people are using and sometimes posts come across as far more rude than they are intended to be. Warren, look at Ande's blog Jagermiester explained eating in the am before a workout. You most definitely have fuel from the night before. Terry, I am not at all saying that you can't swim fast fly breathing every stroke. I am aware that Thompson did this and then broke the record. But think about the process Richard Quick (who knows far more about the sport than probably any masters coach) reconstructed her stroke making the breathing every stroke work for her. The mechanics of her stroke were changed so that breathing every stroke became most efficient for her. Remember for every rule there is an exception, or a few. And even Phelps will take two strokes when breathing from time to time. What about Crocker? The fastest flyer ever doesn't breathe every stroke. My point was simply following what the best of the best do isn't going to work. Trying to take what they do and tweak it for your body type, physical ability, fitness level, etc does make sense. My own personal little story for this I have a slightly wider recovery. I had one coach tell me I need to get a higher elbow, )because isn't that so engrained in all of us?) another coach said that because I'm short that a slightly wider recovery will work better for me. Another example, underwater SDK. For some an advantage, others who struggle with it are better off doing a couple kick or flutter kicking and just getting to the surface, Jason Lezak comes to mind. Others gain their advantage by underwater kicking - Coughlin, Peirsol, Phelps, Crocker ...