Help me split my 200y free

RE: Help me split my 200y free

Former Member — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:46:29 GMT

Syd you are swimming meters so do not set your goals on 3 seconds. You are doing about what you should be doing. Now you have to just get faster for the first 100 and carry it on to the second 100. I have always considered myself a sprinter but recently I have been really enjoying doing 200's in practice. I want to have a crack at it this year in competition. Having read through this thread though, I think my splits are way off. Today I did a set of 5 x 200 (SCM) at 3:30, descending. On the first I went 2:29, then 2:26, 2:23, 2:20 and the last I did in 2:17. I hardly ever take my splits but today I did for the last two. I split the second last 1:08/1:12 and the last 1:06/1:11. After reading GoodSmith's comment that you shouldn't have more than a 3 second difference between your first and second hundred I realise I have a way to go. There is a lot of good advice in this thread about race strategy and I can't wait to put some of it into action. My question is: what is a good training set/strategy/programme to reduce the differences in split times?

RE: Help me split my 200y free

Former Member — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:40:39 GMT

I have always considered myself a sprinter but recently I have been really enjoying doing 200's in practice. I want to have a crack at it this year in competition. Having read through this thread though, I think my splits are way off. Today I did a set of 5 x 200 (SCM) at 3:30, descending. On the first I went 2:29, then 2:26, 2:23, 2:20 and the last I did in 2:17. I hardly ever take my splits but today I did for the last two. I split the second last 1:08/1:12 and the last 1:06/1:11. After reading GoodSmith's comment that you shouldn't have more than a 3 second difference between your first and second hundred I realise I have a way to go. There is a lot of good advice in this thread about race strategy and I can't wait to put some of it into action. My question is: what is a good training set/strategy/programme to reduce the differences in split times?

RE: Help me split my 200y free

Former Member — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:10:40 GMT

I'd have to say I don't agree with the "pulling the first half" argument. Remember, you don't want to intentionally go slow on the first half. Rather, you want to go fast on the second half. To swim a 200 fast you can't really hold back. You really need to take it out within a few seconds of your fastest 100 time and then have the conditioning to be able to hold on. Try doing negative splitting and build swims in practice, but remember to concentrate on swimming fast on the back half rather than holding back a little on the front half. This certainly holds true for me, but I am willing to accept that it might not be the way for everyone to go. I have found, consistently, that if I go out hard in the first half of race, my overall time improves. It doesn't matter if it is the first 25 of a 50, the first 50 of a 100 or the first 100 of a 200. Even if my arms feel numb and I have no legs, my times are, invariably, better. Every time I think I should 'hold out' or go for 'easy speed' in the first half of the race my times disappoint.

RE: Help me split my 200y free

bbpolhill — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:59:04 GMT

My question is: what is a good training set/strategy/programme to reduce the differences in split times? I am by no means an expert, but I have been swimming repeat 200's at practice by treating the first 100 as a pull (both with and without a pull buoy). The second 100, I kick fairly vigorously. My practice times have been coming down without increasing fatigue. I am going to continue this practice over the long haul. I hope to test it out within a month at a meet to see if I can lower my times. I will also follow the same race strategy (only kicking in earnest for the last 75-100 yards).

RE: Help me split my 200y free

ande — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:20:43 GMT

excellent swim great splitting text book Had a good one last weekend - thought I'd share with y'all. 50 splits: 27.99 - 29.54 - 29.47 - 29.31 100 splits: 57.53 - 58.78 Total time: 1:56.31 My best time as a master by about a full second. I feel I need to work on first 100 speed and get out a little quicker although this didn't feel all that "comfortable". I'm a 53/54 hundred type. I really brought in the legs for the last 100.

RE: Help me split my 200y free

Former Member — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:58:13 GMT

To me the 200 is the dream event. To win a 200 you cannot go out slowly. Go out hard and finish hard.

RE: Help me split my 200y free

Former Member — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:30:15 GMT

To swim a 200 fast you can't really hold back. You really need to take it out within a few seconds of your fastest 100 time and then have the conditioning to be able to hold on. Does anyone know of any systematic study of how first half speed effects maximum second half speed? And how much this varies between people and level of conditioning and age and total distance? I am thinking that speed relative to the WR definitely drops faster at longer distances as age progresses (which may or may not be largely due to lower level of training and conditioning) so is there an implication that the difference between first half speed and speed in a race of half the distance might differ with age or level of conditioning. I.e. a fifty year old who isn't training like a twenty year old might be better off with a greater difference between their 100m time and the first half of their 200? In a 1500 you swim most of it at your anaerobic threshold, might there be similar energy system effects in the shorter races that dictate pacing by your level of fitness in each of those energy systems?

RE: Help me split my 200y free

Former Member — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:50:48 GMT

I am by no means an expert, but I have been swimming repeat 200's at practice by treating the first 100 as a pull (both with and without a pull buoy). The second 100, I kick fairly vigorously. My practice times have been coming down without increasing fatigue. I am going to continue this practice over the long haul. I hope to test it out within a month at a meet to see if I can lower my times. I will also follow the same race strategy (only kicking in earnest for the last 75-100 yards). That is exactly how I practice as well...pull the first half of the distance (25 in a 50, 50 in a 100, 100 in a 200, etc) then pick it up the second half. I have never been able to really execute that in a meet though because on one hand I don't like going out too fast with the pack, but I also don't like being behind the pack...I know I have the finishing power...but...i always screw it up anyways and go out too hard my first 100 or whatever. For example in my 500 at metros, in the evening i went out 2 seconds slower in my first 100 then I had in prelims and my coach and parents were like :confused::censor:..thinking i was dead and out of the contention for a good place/time. Ended up going 4 seconds faster then my morning time.

RE: Help me split my 200y free

bbpolhill — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:10:55 GMT

It sounds like you have the opposite problem that I do. Usually I take out my shorter races too slow.... Different strokes for different folks! Aha!...you think of the 200 as a short race while I think of it as an epic.:) No wonder we have such different perspectives on which strategy to follow.

RE: Help me split my 200y free

knelson — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:34:56 GMT

Do you have any suggestions for producing a negative split in practice (without holding back effort in the first half)? It sounds like you have the opposite problem that I do. Usually I take out my shorter races too slow. For your case it does sound like a good suggestion to back off on the legs. For me, I need to make a conscious effort to go out fast. Different strokes for different folks!

RE: Help me split my 200y free

bbpolhill — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:54:48 GMT

I'd have to say I don't agree with the "pulling the first half" argument. Remember, you don't want to intentionally go slow on the first half. Rather, you want to go fast on the second half. To swim a 200 fast you can't really hold back. You really need to take it out within a few seconds of your fastest 100 time and then have the conditioning to be able to hold on. Try doing negative splitting and build swims in practice, but remember to concentrate on swimming fast on the back half rather than holding back a little on the front half. I'm sure you are right about the "pulling the first half", but it personally helps me control my effort in practice. I tend to start fast and then die. Removing the kick from the first half leaves me with legs for the second half when my arms are starting to struggle. This is also the only way that I know to negative split. Do you have any suggestions for producing a negative split in practice (without holding back effort in the first half)?

RE: Help me split my 200y free

knelson — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:26:42 GMT

RE: Help me split my 200y free

Jim Clemmons — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:53:55 GMT

excellent swim great splitting text book Thank you Ande, I appreciate the comment.

RE: Help me split my 200y free

Former Member — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:38:34 GMT

Yes, I'm planning on being there. Still deciding which events to swim. You goin? Absolutely. It'll be the 200, 100, and 50 freestyles for me. God help me if I wind up in your 200 heat. :whiteflag:

RE: Help me split my 200y free

Former Member — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 07:31:45 GMT

Had a good one last weekend - thought I'd share with y'all. 50 splits: 27.99 - 29.54 - 29.47 - 29.31 100 splits: 57.53 - 58.78 Total time: 1:56.31 My best time as a master by about a full second. I feel I need to work on first 100 speed and get out a little quicker although this didn't feel all that "comfortable". I'm a 53/54 hundred type. I really brought in the legs for the last 100. That's awesome Jim! Are you going to swim at the Monterey Clambake meet on the 23rd?

RE: Help me split my 200y free

Jim Clemmons — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:40:41 GMT

Are you going to swim at the Monterey Clambake meet on the 23rd? Yes, I'm planning on being there. Still deciding which events to swim. You goin?

RE: Help me split my 200y free

Jim Clemmons — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:15:30 GMT

RE: Help me split my 200y free

Former Member — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:34:44 GMT

My daughter recently dropped from a 1:58 to a 1:54 (prelims to finals) by heeding the advice of her coach which was "do not give away your legs in the first half of the race" (a philosophy that she did not apply in prelims). I wanted to say thanks for this post Brad. I swam the 200 free scy last Saturday and tried what you said. My previous best was 2:03.60. By saving my legs for the second half (and a lot of practice leading up to the meet) I was able to drop more than 3.5 seconds, going 2:00.02. It was bittersweet. I was extremely happy at the big improvement, but really wanted to break two minutes. But as a friend of mine said, those hundredths of a second will keep me humble and make me work out that much harder. Steve Cox Long Island, NY

RE: Help me split my 200y free

bbpolhill — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:49:48 GMT

By saving my legs for the second half (and a lot of practice leading up to the meet) I was able to drop more than 3.5 seconds, going 2:00.02. But as a friend of mine said, those hundredths of a second will keep me humble and make me work out that much harder. Steve Cox Long Island, NY Awesome drop! My advice for next time is don't clip your fingernails. That has to be worth 3 hundredths of a second. Doesn't it? :laugh2: Great job! I like your friend's perspective. It makes alot of sense.

RE: Help me split my 200y free

BillS — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:55:16 GMT

Split are up for my 200: Splits Leg Cumulative Subtractive 1 28.52 28.52 2 59.93 31.41 3 1:31.85 31.92 4 2:04.00 32.15 My previous best was a 2:04.24, split 30.31 31.50 31.44 30.99. I need a 2:03.17. So where should I look for the extra second? For reference, at the same meet I went a 25.29 50 vs. a PR of 24.79, and a 56.93 100 (27.50 29.43) vs. a PR of 55.46. I was seriously gassed in the 100. I have my own possibly misguided ideas about where to find the second, but I am interested in your comments and suggestions. I may have an opportunity to take one last shot at a meet in Washington at the end of March.

RE: Help me split my 200y free

Former Member — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 06:02:43 GMT

The best way to pick up seconds. A good dive and seven good turns. You can fool around setting down how fast you are going to swim each 50 or 25. You are fast enough but a quarter second on a turn will give you a drop in total time of 1.75 second in a short course pool.

RE: Help me split my 200y free

orca1946 — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:36:50 GMT

28 - 29 - 30 - 31

RE: Help me split my 200y free

pwolf66 — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:27:40 GMT

I have my own possibly misguided ideas about where to find the second, but I am interested in your comments and suggestions. I may have an opportunity to take one last shot at a meet in Washington at the end of March. How were your turns? Did you hit a tight streamline and where were you breaking out? Paul

RE: Help me split my 200y free

BillS — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:27:04 GMT

I think you are spot-on, George. I think I had a decent start and a couple/few good turns. The last 2-3 turns I know were pretty weak. I jammed the 150 turn, just about smacked the lane rope on the breakout from the last one, and breathed first stroke on many. I need to practice doing good, streamlined, fast turns while very fatigued.

RE: Help me split my 200y free

knelson — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:37:25 GMT

31.63 40.28 55.71 55.36 I'm sure that last 50 would have been even slower if that adrenaline hadn't kicked in when his brain realized he was drowning!