If you've been training hard and consistently all season I'd plan on doing at least a two week taper for whatever you've decided your "taper meet" will be. The taper should be gradual. Just start gradually dropping the yardage, and as Ande said, start adding in more quality swimming and plenty of rest. The final maybe 2-3 days before your meet your workouts should be almost the same as what you'd do as your pre-race warmup.
By the time your taper starts you should have the aerobic base you need. Now you just need to swim enough so you don't lose that base, but at the same time you are resting your body and getting it prepared to swim fast. My feeling is a lot of people get antsy during a taper and end up working too hard. Tapering can be stressful. You don't always feel like you are swimming fast in the middle of the taper. You just need to trust it and know that when the meet comes around you'll be ready.
If you've been training hard and consistently all season I'd plan on doing at least a two week taper for whatever you've decided your "taper meet" will be. The taper should be gradual. Just start gradually dropping the yardage, and as Ande said, start adding in more quality swimming and plenty of rest. The final maybe 2-3 days before your meet your workouts should be almost the same as what you'd do as your pre-race warmup.
By the time your taper starts you should have the aerobic base you need. Now you just need to swim enough so you don't lose that base, but at the same time you are resting your body and getting it prepared to swim fast. My feeling is a lot of people get antsy during a taper and end up working too hard. Tapering can be stressful. You don't always feel like you are swimming fast in the middle of the taper. You just need to trust it and know that when the meet comes around you'll be ready.
