Pacing,we don't need no stinking pacing

Morgan - Please let us know how this turned out. I certainly will. I am swimming the 200 free and the 500 free as well as anchoring the 400freestyle relay tomorrow at our double duel meet (as long as the snow doesn't cancel the meet). I have a race in both events...so hopefully I'll have some best times:-)

With all due respect to Allen and Paul (whose comments may have been made tongue-in-cheek), I have to disagree. I think that more often than not the average Masters swimmer will get burned in events 200 and up if he or she does not pace it properly. Unlike the two of you, most of the people reading these posts are not "elite" Masters swimmers and have neither the technique nor the conditioning to do what you suggest and still finish strong. Maglischo, in Swimming Fastest, has an excellent discussion on pacing strategies, with data from several Olympic performances. When we mortals take out a race too fast, we pay dearly for it at the end, and it is not pretty.

Yes, I mean splitting it like that, as opposed to this: Smith, Paul L 47 TYR-USA 2:01.48 2:00.44W 28.66 59.23 (30.57) 1:30.10 (30.87) 2:00.44 (30.34) Fortunately for me, not everyone in my age group is an Olympian or former all-American. Thanks for reminding me of how badly I swam that race....and lost...because was such a wuss taking it out! :frustrated:

Here's a great example of some pretty consistent splits: 2005 USMS SCY Nationals, Fort Lauderdale: Grover, Mollie BCAT 1:58.36 28.33 (28.33) 58.35 (30.02) 1:28.35 (30.00) 1:58.36 (30.01) :weightlifter:

Here is how I split a 200 (scy) last year: 29.74 1:01.06 (31.32) 1:32.45 (31.39) 2:02.94 (30.49) which is only a .82 difference between the first and second 100.

With all due respect to Allen and Paul (whose comments may have been made tongue-in-cheek), I have to disagree. I think that more often than not the average Masters swimmer will get burned in events 200 and up if he or she does not pace it properly. Unlike the two of you, most of the people reading these posts are not "elite" Masters swimmers and have neither the technique nor the conditioning to do what you suggest and still finish strong. Maglischo, in Swimming Fastest, has an excellent discussion on pacing strategies, with data from several Olympic performances. When we mortals take out a race too fast, we pay dearly for it at the end, and it is not pretty. Gull, I actually wasn't joking. But to clarify I do think there is some level of pacing in all races...and in my case I was always an even splitting/negative splitting swimmer in the 200/500. My point really was that the way you swim people like Thorpe, Phelps, etc. now swim these distances although it is certainly not 100% all out it is very fast. Jim Montgomery and I discussed this at Wolrds last year, he said he never won a race in the 200 that he didn't attack on the first half like a sprint...and the time drops and incredible times we now see in these events shows much less "old school" pacing (although I'll never change). Also, disagree with what level i or anyone else is at as far as training/racing like this...face it the 200 in particular is one of the most painful distances in swimming and if swimmers don't start out right away learning to be aggressive vs. holding back and "finishing strong" they may never figure out just how good they can be....

Okay--I am back from my meet..and I must say...75-50-75 does not work as well as I had hoped. I think a lot of racing just has to do with your competition, I tried the long and strong 75 and ended up going out in a 29. and a 30. for a first 100 time of 1:00.something. Then I did a 31. and a 31. for a grand total of 2:04.0 (dang those stupid .somethings that add up to be whole seconds!) So, in conclusion, the new method made me no faster, and no slower. I did the same time in my last meet. Back to the drawing board.

If anyone in my age group (50-54 as of 2/9) is reading this and planning to swim the 200, 500, or 1000 at Nationals in May, I encourage you to take it out very fast. So you mean splitting it like this (yeah I know this is LCM but you get the point): Montgomery, Jim 51 DAMM-USA 2:08.12 29.22 1:01.85 (32.63) 1:35.22 (33.37) 2:08.12 (32.90)

In the 50s my fastest time for a 50y was 23.1 sec. When I swam the 100y in 50+ sec, I went out in 23+ on the way to a 100. I was going as fast as I could for the 50y and the drop off was greater in the last 50. You must remember the technique changes and training methods have changed and I would probably have finished the last 50 in the same time as I would have been in much better condition.

If anyone in my age group (50-54 as of 2/9) is reading this and planning to swim the 200, 500, or 1000 at Nationals in May, I encourage you to take it out very fast.