I had a swimming experience that makes me rethink my approach to the 200 BR.2006 I swam a 2:48.34 200 SCM BR in a very well paced swim and was happy with it(it was the AA time.) At the SPMA meet I went out way too slow and swam a 2:52.40 and was not happy with it.Jim Clemmons went 2:46.33 at that meet.The next week I had the opportunity to swim another 200 BR and was determined to"redeem" myself.I didn't think I could match Jim's time,but I knew I could do better than the prior meet.My plan was to go out somewhere between fast and too fast because there was no way I was taking it out too slow again.My splits were
37.14,41.49,42.56,45.17 for a 2:46.36.OK Jim beat me by .03 sec(in the probable AA time) and it hurt like hell the last 50,but that was my fastest time in about 5 years. I can't explain it.Ideas?
No one can TRULY sprint a 200 all out, but one can attack the first half aggressively or conservatively. I've had success and failures with both strategies.
The advantage of being aggressive is that you can be pretty sure you've held nothing back by the end of the race. The problem is that we tend to become more inefficient as we tire (I find this to be particularly true in butterfly). Plus the memory of over-aggressive failures tends to be particularly acute: muscles screaming, lungs starved for oxygen while watching someone motor past and feeling helpless to do anything about it. And physical recovery from (over-)agressive races can sometimes takes longer, which is a consideration if you are swimming many events in one day.
Conservative races require a little different mindset. You go for "easy speed" the first half. The entire race, you are gearing up mentally for the last 75 yards (or whatever). When you reach that point, you accelerate into those turns and explode off them, sprinting your way past your competitors. It can be a great feeling when it works. BUT it doesn't always work, because sometimes "easy speed" seems to tire one more than it should and you're left with the unsatisfied feeling that you didn't give it your best shot. Personally, I really really hate that feeling.
As I said, both strategies can work. My own advice is that you should race like you train. Do you attack sets and then hang on for dear life at the end? Or do you naturally tend to build into them, doing your best repeats at the end of the set? If you tend to swim agressively, then you need to train yourself to swim efficiently and fast even when you are dog tired. If you tend to negative-split, you need to train your "easy speed" and make sure you can bump the intensity up a notch smoothly and on demand.
You should also practice your strategy at or near race-pace speed and intensities. Don't just wait for the meets.
Chris
No one can TRULY sprint a 200 all out, but one can attack the first half aggressively or conservatively. I've had success and failures with both strategies.
The advantage of being aggressive is that you can be pretty sure you've held nothing back by the end of the race. The problem is that we tend to become more inefficient as we tire (I find this to be particularly true in butterfly). Plus the memory of over-aggressive failures tends to be particularly acute: muscles screaming, lungs starved for oxygen while watching someone motor past and feeling helpless to do anything about it. And physical recovery from (over-)agressive races can sometimes takes longer, which is a consideration if you are swimming many events in one day.
Conservative races require a little different mindset. You go for "easy speed" the first half. The entire race, you are gearing up mentally for the last 75 yards (or whatever). When you reach that point, you accelerate into those turns and explode off them, sprinting your way past your competitors. It can be a great feeling when it works. BUT it doesn't always work, because sometimes "easy speed" seems to tire one more than it should and you're left with the unsatisfied feeling that you didn't give it your best shot. Personally, I really really hate that feeling.
As I said, both strategies can work. My own advice is that you should race like you train. Do you attack sets and then hang on for dear life at the end? Or do you naturally tend to build into them, doing your best repeats at the end of the set? If you tend to swim agressively, then you need to train yourself to swim efficiently and fast even when you are dog tired. If you tend to negative-split, you need to train your "easy speed" and make sure you can bump the intensity up a notch smoothly and on demand.
You should also practice your strategy at or near race-pace speed and intensities. Don't just wait for the meets.
Chris
