In swimming, how is it that one can excel in both sprints and long distance? Is it because the distance games in swimming are only "relatively" distance games but are not really distance games from a physiologic perspective?
In the world of tracks, for example, an athlete cannot excel at both sprints and distance. Even the athletes from the two areas look different - much leaner for the distance runners and muscular for the sprinters.
I am wondering about this because whether I should focus on either the sprint or the distance as I plan to participate in the masters meet, or whether I don't have to sacrifice one for the other.
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Former Member
I believe you can be physiologically gifted for one or the other due to the make-up of your muscles: more fast twitch fibers= sprinter or more slow twitch fibers =distance swimmer. You can train and work very hard to overcome your "shortage" of either. I know I am naturally a sprinter. When I was younger I trained mega yardage so much that I could actually do a "decent" 500 and mile. I had to work very hard to do it though. Likewise....a distance swimmer could improve by doing more sprint-style workouts. Quality work with lots of rest=sprinter. Maintain pace for quantity with little rest=distance swimmmer. It all depends on what you WANT to do!
Me...I choose SPRINTS!:groovy:
My thought is regardless of what you are you should train a little at both...as things change over a lifetime. I'm never going to be a champ backstroker, I know it's hard to accept this as a fact but it's true. I do plan to work on it so that it becomes better as it will make me a better swimmer.
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Former Member
I believe you can be physiologically gifted for one or the other due to the make-up of your muscles: more fast twitch fibers= sprinter or more slow twitch fibers =distance swimmer. You can train and work very hard to overcome your "shortage" of either. I know I am naturally a sprinter. When I was younger I trained mega yardage so much that I could actually do a "decent" 500 and mile. I had to work very hard to do it though. Likewise....a distance swimmer could improve by doing more sprint-style workouts. Quality work with lots of rest=sprinter. Maintain pace for quantity with little rest=distance swimmmer. It all depends on what you WANT to do!
Me...I choose SPRINTS!:groovy:
My thought is regardless of what you are you should train a little at both...as things change over a lifetime. I'm never going to be a champ backstroker, I know it's hard to accept this as a fact but it's true. I do plan to work on it so that it becomes better as it will make me a better swimmer.
