This past weekend I went to my first LCM meet as a master’s swimmer. I trained consistently up to it (with a mini-taper), knew my times in practice, and figured what I might expect to go swimming LCM. Well, the results were baffling! All my times converted to SCY as a time slower than I have ever gone in a Master’s meet, EVER! Even the one I went to 3 weeks after coming back to swimming to see what I could do! And not by a little, these were 10 second to over one minute additions AFTER being converted to SCY! I will often hit or beat most of these times in a practice coming off the wall. I had a coach watching and my form looked good. On Saturday I was very hungry (I thought being a very large mixed USA/USMS meet there would be concessions & I thought I would treat myself rather than pack a bag. But there were no concessions & It was a good distance to go and find food.), which could account for a lot that day, but on Sunday I felt really good & was well rested. My splits also showed consistency, there was no indication of me dying. In the water (except the 100 ***), I felt right on. I’m in my mid 20’s: far too young for it to be an age thing.
Do others experience these unusually large time drains at their first LCM meet? I’m trying to figure out what went wrong, or if it was just a fluke.
Sorry for the long post but I hope maybe others have experienced this as well and provide advice about what they did to get through it. I’ll post my results below.
Thanks!
Saturday: 100 LCM Breastroke:
Usual time over the past 4 months 1:26 to 1:28. My practice times have shown improvement indicating I might be getting faster.
Result: 1:46.64 LCM Conversion to SCY 1:33
Difference: Same as a fast practice time off the wall. 6-8 seconds slower than usual when converted to SCY.
Saturday: 400 LCM Free:
I finish a 500 free from the wall in practice at about 6:40. This winter I comfortably did a 400 SCM in about 6:05. I’ve swam this event a few times with good results and had a plan. I haven’t swam it in a meet in a while but I have been practicing this event.
Result: 7:06 LCM Conversion to 500 SCY: 7:56.81
Difference: 1:16 SLOWER THAN PRACTICE!!!! 54 seconds slower than my most recent 400 SCM!
Sunday: 200 LCM IM: Result: 3:45 Conversion: 3:17 SCY. Last meet this spring 2:58 SCY.
I do about 3:20 in practice.
Difference: 19 seconds
Sunday: 200 LCM ***:
This was really hard for me to swallow since it was the event I practiced for.
Typical Time in practice: 3:25-3:30 SCM
Average time in meets over past 4 months. 3:09-3:13
Result: 3:55 LCM Conversion: 3:27 SCY. Same as a practice time from wall. 18-24 seconds slower than normal SCY meet times.
You can do well in LCM meets even if you only train SCY. You just have to adjust workouts accordingly.
If you are doing a set of 100s, add a 25 and do 125s. For 200s, do 250s.
It also appears you might not have tapered well. Saying you did a mini-taper means you just cut back a little.
That said, if you don't have access to a LCM pool, your first day at the meet might suffer, but your body should adjust after a while.
And yes, breaststroke is the most affected stroke when switching courses. Though the other three strokes are also difficult if you are an underwater dolphin kicker, swimming half the race underwater.
Good luck on your second LCM meet.
You can do well in LCM meets even if you only train SCY. You just have to adjust workouts accordingly.
If you are doing a set of 100s, add a 25 and do 125s. For 200s, do 250s.
It also appears you might not have tapered well. Saying you did a mini-taper means you just cut back a little.
That said, if you don't have access to a LCM pool, your first day at the meet might suffer, but your body should adjust after a while.
And yes, breaststroke is the most affected stroke when switching courses. Though the other three strokes are also difficult if you are an underwater dolphin kicker, swimming half the race underwater.
Good luck on your second LCM meet.
