General Tips for Making it to State (High School Swimming)

I am a boy. I swim in Wisconsin. The times I posted are not for state, but rather where I am currently. ( I am very very slow compared to some of the varsity members on my school team.) Currently we have a guy who can swim the 50 Freestyle in 19s 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. We do not have 50 backs and 50 Fly's (100's), I just posted those since I recently swam them to measure where I am at. My school has an excellent coach and a good swim program, however I am looking for some extra tips/ things I can do to improve my swimming on the side seeing as many of my school's swimmers have been swimming in clubs all their lives, and I am very behind when it comes to speed. Also my swim season is very short.(about 3 months) Once again any help would be appreciated.

I would work on turns very hard. Improving starts and turns can take off a *lot* of time so I would work them very hard in every practice and used to speeding into them rather than resting on them so it comes naturally in races. As I said, I would recommend stroke work and strength training targeted to help swimming. Dips on the side of the pool using your arms are good for your pull. You can do a set of them at the end of each workout. (Go to the side where you can't stand, push your body out but then dip back in and do this over and over--20 times or sets of 20.) Visualization can help, too. You mind can't tell the difference between a real race and a visualized one so practicing a race in your mind--seeing yourself do in the 1:50s for the IM, for example, can help in a real race. Work hard in practice! Try to keep up with a swimmer just a bit better than you and one you can pick someone faster and try to keep up with him. Good luck!

Also, I could be wrong but it sounds like you are probably overreaching in free and back. I can't think of what else could cause fishtailing. have your coached watch for this and then give you drills to correct for it. When you have a stroke flaw like overreaching and you correct for it it will feel very strange at first and they used to recommend overcorrecting so that when you weren't concentrating as hard you would probably do it just right. That was 20-25 years ago. What do your coaches say is the cause of the fish tailing? If they don't help you find someone to give you a few one on one private stroke lessons. That is very important stuff to fix! with fly it is all rhythm. What help me was watching someone do it and then it clicked. I had the rhythm. Watch very good flyers and see what they do--their arms move and they kick, kick/kick, kick. Also, in fly they say, 'head before hands.' Head goes in, arms go in and you kick. Then you start moving your arms out and around (and back) and you kick again, mid-way through your pull. Then your head comes out of the water first followed by your arms as they recover over the water (or your head stays in because you aren't breathing on this stroke and your arms recover.) You make a key-hole type shape with your arms when you pull. There are lots of things to work on--high elbows under water, distance per stroke, strong kick, head position (water at brow level in freestyle), etc. Work on these and you should improve.

Can you do club swimming after High School is done? Because honestly, I don't think you will swim the times you want if you don't. Also, I have not seen many of our guys swim a 1:53 in the 200 IM, and some of them have been finalist at the Illinois state meet. I am thinking you need to set more realistic goals.

Try this: www.swim.ee/.../index.html It might help to see how good swimmers do it if you do not have time to see a stroke coach to help you with swimming. Or, you can purchase swimming video like T.I. DVD which helps us a whole lot! :)

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.

Razor - I don't want to be too harsh. But I think Rob makes some good points. Your goals are impressive. VERY impressive. Based on your listed times - I'd estimate your 200 IM time today would be in the 2:30+ range. I guessed that time by summing of your best 50 times plus 15%. I used 36 for your breaststroke time assuming your 1:17 100 means you can swim a 35 sec 50 ***. You are not a heavily trained swimmer so your annual improvements could be significant, but a 10% drop in one year would be a huge accomplishment. If your 200 IM drops from 2:30 to 2:15 this year that is a big drop. But as Rob says - getting to 1:53 would mean going from ordinary to elite status. Garrett Weber Gale was an NCAA All American at Texas and he is an Olympic Trials qualifier. He has a good chance to make the 2008 Olympics. Excelling in the 200 IM requires skill across the board with no major weaknesses and middle distance fitness. FWIW - my 17 yr. old son, a high school senior, swam a 1:58 200 IM last year as a junior and hopes to go 1:55 this year. He has a good chance to make it. He swims 10 times a week now, and trains about 8,000+ yards per day.

Without seeing you in person, I wouldn't be as quick to make an assessment about your swimming potential. It depends on your training environment and a lot of other factors. If you put a bunch of kids in a pool and get them racing, there's a lot that can happen. My alma mater, the Peddie School, has had several boys go 1:53's (and faster) in the 200 IM over the years. One team (1991) had four boys at 1:53 or faster in high school competition, but they were limited to four at their championship meet. Had they been able to include more swimmers, they probably would've had a few more at or below 1:53. Most of those guys started with some swimming background, and they had all the advantages in training, including a tremendous coach. 1:53 is still way above average for high school boys, but not otherworldly when you consider the national public and independent school records are both in the 1:46 range.

are you a boy or girl which state are you in How fast do you need to swim to make state in your state texas is very competive, it's difficult to make state pretty much only very fast and talented kids who train year round get to state you need to train very hard and perfect your strokes and you might make it train with a club team as well as your high school team good luck 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.

Without seeing you in person, I wouldn't be as quick to make an assessment about your swimming potential. It depends on your training environment and a lot of other factors. If you put a bunch of kids in a pool and get them racing, there's a lot that can happen. My alma mater, the Peddie School, has had several boys go 1:53's (and faster) in the 200 IM over the years. One team (1991) had four boys at 1:53 or faster in high school competition, but they were limited to four at their championship meet. Had they been able to include more swimmers, they probably would've had a few more at or below 1:53. Most of those guys started with some swimming background, and they had all the advantages in training, including a tremendous coach. 1:53 is still way above average for high school boys, but not otherworldly when you consider the national public and independent school records are both in the 1:46 range. 1:53 is a Junior Nationals cut. It won Texas 4A last year but would not have won 5A (won in 2007 with a 1:50.). Most NCAA Div 1 teams are interested in swimmers with Junior Nationals cuts.