Meets: How many to go fast?

It obviously helps to get experience at meets, but how many do you need to compete in ideally to (1) swim fast and improve, and/or (2) do well at major competitions such as zones or nationals? (1) None. You can swim fast and improve without ever being in a meet. In fact, the fastest times I have ever done for any stroke have been in practice - not in competition. (2) Lots! To do well at competitions, you need both (a) to be able to swim fast and (b) to be able to swim at top of form when you are at meets. The only place you can develop the second ability is at meets. The good news for many swimmers is that the process of learning to compete is, in some degree, cumulative. So if you competed a lot when you were younger, much of what you learned is still with you even if you haven't competed recently. The bad news for swimmers who are new to competing is that there is really no substitute for being in lots of meets. Breaststroke champion David Denniston once said that there were guys he'd known in college who could turn in great times in practice that they could never duplicate in competition, and that almost invariably they were guys who had never been on a high school swim team. The ideal for people who haven't competed much is to be in one or two meets per week, so that the experience of being in a meet becomes commonplace, so that there is plenty of opportunity to experiment with different events, so that they learn how to make the best of things on days when they aren't at top of form, and so that messing up or getting DQed isn't that big a deal since they'll have another chance to swim the event in a week or so. But, of course, in masters swimming there's what's ideal, and then there's what's possible! :dedhorse:

Do we have to swim in a lot of meets to go fast?... but how many do you need to compete in ideally to (1) swim fast and improve, and/or (2) do well at major competitions such as zones or nationals? Every couple of weeks should have a specific day with a time trial if possible. It's a great way to get the feel for swimming "at speed". It's also a good guage of your performance level. Ande does a swim for time very often towards the meet season. This is really helpful for one to get a feel of the race...and to know where the wheels might start to fall off the bus. Better knowledge and understanding of the race course can help one mentally train for the specific event during workouts. If you know the third turn on a 100 yard sprint is brutal...then train for that. Likewise if the 200 poses a challenge by either not going out fast enough...or going out too fast...you can learn how to pace. So my answer is ...it's not the amount of meets...but simply having a familiarity with race pace. The importance of an all out swim now and again shouldn't be overlooked. It's an opportunity to learn...and get a very tough workout in. Ask someone to time you.

Every couple of weeks should have a specific day with a time trial if possible. It's a great way to get the feel for swimming "at speed". It's also a good guage of your performance level. Ande does a swim for time very often towards the meet season. This is really helpful for one to get a feel of the race...and to know where the wheels might start to fall off the bus. Better knowledge and understanding of the race course can help one mentally train for the specific event during workouts. If you know the third turn on a 100 yard sprint is brutal...then train for that. Likewise if the 200 poses a challenge by either not going out fast enough...or going out too fast...you can learn how to pace. So my answer is ...it's not the amount of meets...but simply having a familiarity with race pace. The importance of an all out swim now and again shouldn't be overlooked. It's an opportunity to learn...and get a very tough workout in. Ask someone to time you. This is great advice! I try to do a couple swims for "time" somewhat regularly. I usually do it on my own with a pace clock because my team doesn't do this. But I probably should do it even more! I've also been following Ande's aerobic-lite sprint advice and trying to do more race pace swimming. But there will be no 200s right now! I'm sticking with the 50s and 100s for awhile. But, you're right, that third turn is always my worst. Usually getting winded and can't stay under as long. I'll have to focus on that more. Bob: I did compete a lot when younger and I actually think that does have somewhat of a carry over effect. I'm banking on it. I only have one meet before zones. I think it'll be OK. I have seen some elite swimmers swim in very few meets with good results, so I was just wondering. Tom: I'm considering going to Nationals now, so maybe us Rochester folk will meet! Only two meets for me before then though. But that's OK, I think. I swam in Nationals last year and it was only my fifth masters meet ever. I bet that 200 fly time really starts dropping! (I hope you're at least going to give the 100 fly a whirl too though.)

Swim in at least one meet while you are tapered and shaved in a fast pool during each of the masters seasons in each year. SCY till 5/31 LCM till 8/31 and SCM till 12/31 Go for top 10's and glory all the other meets that you swim are prep for your big meets Go with convenience, scy I plan to swim in zones and maybe nationals, but I also enter a few USS when they are in Austin, cause it's a awesome pool and convenient. Like American Short Course Championships Next: I believe you should be very familiar with every aspect of your most important race. The ONLY way to do that is to RACE YOUR EVENT I believe you could stay in great shape and even improve if all you ever did was swim in 3 meets a week. But that's a bit harsh. I do think it's a good idea to have one practice every week or two where you pretend you're in a meet and you swim your best event fairly fresh for time. It's especially important for quality to increase as you approach an important meet. (quantity decreases too) Ande

Some folks had mentioned race strategery - I think that is important for stuff like the 200s and up. I agree with that..my orignal strategery for the 200BR was not to blow out on the first 100, pick up in the 3rd lap and bust a gut on the last 25... The 100 and 50 were just much more swim like hell and about pull harder on the the last 25. It sorta went ok. By thetime the 50BR rolled around I was kinda of too relaxed (this is where doing a 50 of free or fly in between the BR100 and 50 might have helped).

I do think it's a good idea to have one practice every week or two where you pretend you're in a meet and you swim your best event fairly fresh for time. Ande My Rookie method is: Warm up and do one event race per training session close to the meet. Then continue with a scheduled workout.

Swim in at least one meet while you are tapered and shaved in a fast pool during each of the masters seasons in each year. SCY till 5/31 LCM till 8/31 and SCM till 12/31 Go for top 10's and glory all the other meets that you swim are prep for your big meets Go with convenience, scy I plan to swim in zones and maybe nationals, but I also enter a few USS when they are in Austin, cause it's a awesome pool and convenient. Like American Short Course Championships Ande Ande - How do I register to do a USS meet? Not a lot of meets in San Antonio, but Austin is not too far. I am planning on driving up to Houston for a meet on March 3rd, but that requires an overnight stay and 4 hour drive each way. I would really be interested in swimming meets in Austin. Thanks, Kathy

Swim in at least one meet while you are tapered and shaved in a fast pool during each of the masters seasons in each year. SCY till 5/31 LCM till 8/31 and SCM till 12/31 Go for top 10's and glory Go with convenience, scy I plan to swim in zones and maybe nationals, but I also enter a few USS when they are in Austin, cause it's a awesome pool and convenient. Like American Short Course Championships Ande Ande: This is exactly what I try to do each year! 2-3 SCY, 2 SCM and 1 LCM. I like the different lengths, but I never get to swim all the events I would ideally like to swim without more meets. (I can't swim 5-7 events per meet, too tiring.) 2 of those are usually "big" meets as well, so not much meet practice unfortunately. I've never really hit a taper right, as I mentioned on your other thread. Something usually interferes with training like an ill-timed cold or injury. Maybe this spring! So I end up resting a bit for each meet and more for the "big" one. If you only swim in a few meets, is it a good idea to rest a bit for each one to make them count? I just don't go to enough in-season training meets to completely swim through them ... I guess I did that at one meet last summer before Worlds. But if you want to get good times in SCY, SCM and LC, it seems like you've got to go for it at the non-big meets in fast pools too. A few of us here have a SCM meet in a fast pool coming up in March three weeks before zones. Rest some or not? You're right -- convenience is key. I am very lucky this year. Zones are at my home pool! Nationals are far, far away.

register with a USS team, pick one, I swim for Longhorn Aquatics find a meet on www.utexas.edu/.../HostedMeets.htm then sign up and show up ande Ande - How do I register to do a USS meet? Not a lot of meets in San Antonio, but Austin is not too far. I am planning on driving up to Houston for a meet on March 3rd, but that requires an overnight stay and 4 hour drive each way. I would really be interested in swimming meets in Austin. Thanks, Kathy

It seems for some of us the problem starts with an inability to decide which events we're going to attempt to "go for glory" in. Though I've learned that I can swim up to 3 events without qualifying times at nationals, since this will be my first year I'm decided I am going to get qualifying times to make myself feel better. For me, that means backstroke events. Still, I really am enjoying swimming fly and IM. This can be a challenge. Last meet, I did 50 fly (mostly to get tuned up) all the backstroke events, 200 medley relay, and 200 IM. I would really like to swim 100 and 200 fly, but in the order of events we've been following, they preceed or follow back. I'm working on resolving my competing desires to swim almost everything and just a few events that I can really stake a claim to.