General Tips for Making it to State (High School Swimming)
Former Member
Hey,
Im a junior in high school, and this is my second year swimming on an official swim team. I joined the swim team as a joke my sophomore year, but I now love the sport and want to take it very seriously.
I moved up to JV last year and I'm now looking to move up to varsity this year and do very well in the 200 I.M.
My stroke techniques need lot of work. My *** is by far my best followed by the freestyle. The backstroke and butterfly are pretty much the same.
My *** is pretty decent and my coaches have said I'm doing it right. However with my back and freestyle, my hips are swinging out and I'm fishtailing. My coach tried telling me how to do it, but I'm still doing it. How do I fix this?
With my butterfly, I feel like it's a little strained and it doesn't really flow like I feel it should.
Also my kicking is very very weak. After a 50 freestyle/Back/Fly and i start burning out (especially fly since I don't really know how to do it) *** kick is cake.
My sophomore year I swam the 100 *** at 1:17.21
My times as of now are:
50 Freestyle: 27.3 Seconds
100 ***: 1:26.54
50 Back: 38 Seconds
50 Fly: 32 Seconds
Right now I'm training primarily through weight lifting (Working on all areas of the body,) and some swimming.
I am really looking to go from being a decent swimmer to someone who can place 1st in state (ideally : D)
Any advice would be appreciated.
Regarding what I'm aiming for, I want to beat the record board at my school for the 200 IM which is 1:53.23 set by Garret Weber Gale.A quick reality check…
Unless you are committed to year round swimming (3-5 hours a day) for the next couple of years, 1:53 is NOT a realistic goal. Garret is one of the countries top swimmers and was in high school as well. A 1:53 200 IM would place you in the to 50 boys HS swimmers in the nation.
To go 1:53 you will need splits something like 24-26 in the 50 fly, 28-30 back, 31-33 *** and 26-28 free. So you need to make major drops in all strokes to even get close.
A suggestion, that you may wish to discuss with you coach is to focus on breaststroke. Since this appears to be your natural stroke, you may wish to focus on your strength and work to be the team’s best breaststroker.
Like you my son started swimming late, not quite as last as Razor, he was a natural middle distance freestyler and an awful breaststroker. His coaches whored his strength (free) and he went from not qualifying for state his freshman year to being first team all state his senior year. Along the way he picked up a very good butterfly and a decent back, but he still has an awful breaststroke. If he has worked to be a better breaststroker/IM’er I’m sure his good events would have suffered.
Regarding what I'm aiming for, I want to beat the record board at my school for the 200 IM which is 1:53.23 set by Garret Weber Gale.A quick reality check…
Unless you are committed to year round swimming (3-5 hours a day) for the next couple of years, 1:53 is NOT a realistic goal. Garret is one of the countries top swimmers and was in high school as well. A 1:53 200 IM would place you in the to 50 boys HS swimmers in the nation.
To go 1:53 you will need splits something like 24-26 in the 50 fly, 28-30 back, 31-33 *** and 26-28 free. So you need to make major drops in all strokes to even get close.
A suggestion, that you may wish to discuss with you coach is to focus on breaststroke. Since this appears to be your natural stroke, you may wish to focus on your strength and work to be the team’s best breaststroker.
Like you my son started swimming late, not quite as last as Razor, he was a natural middle distance freestyler and an awful breaststroker. His coaches whored his strength (free) and he went from not qualifying for state his freshman year to being first team all state his senior year. Along the way he picked up a very good butterfly and a decent back, but he still has an awful breaststroke. If he has worked to be a better breaststroker/IM’er I’m sure his good events would have suffered.
