Last meet I swam the 100 and 200 IM, the latter for the first time ever. My best strokes are free and fly. My backstroke is quite lame. My breaststroke is slowly getting better. I have no illusions that I will ever get anywhere near a top ten in anything, least of all an IM event. But I would like to improve, and it give me a sense of accomplishment to swim all four strokes in a race and not drown (though the 200 introduced doubt on that front!)
I went 1:16.80 in the 100 (out in 35.83; back in 40.97)
In the 200, I went 2:51.82
fly 34.65
back 46.81
*** (falling piano) 53.83
free 36.53
The 200 was really a mixed bag--it felt absolutely horrible in the middle (why, oh why did I enter this event??? I am thinking about 20 yards into the breaststroke leg) but exciting to complete.
Any suggestions about IM sets for workouts (I swim alone, for the most part) or ways to think about the 200 race? Split goals, etc?? I'm sort of plateaued elsewhere, so this seems like a good thing to work on for awhile. My zone meet is at the end of this month, and I'd like to get the 200 down around 2:45 if possible.
Frank and Fritz: (nice combo--you guys could go on the road!) my fly felt great, not too fast. My 50 fly in the same meet was 31.6, an improvement from 32.4. The bottom line is that my backstroke is terrible from a technique standpoint. I pretty much need to start from scratch. I've gone to a local coach for a private session or two in recent years (for free and fly), and I think it's time for another one. If I can bring my backstroke up to a level of competence (!) it will help a great deal. The 45 degree thing is a good suggestion. It has been pointed out to me that my head moves like crazy and my arms cross the center line, so there's plenty of work to do!
In general, my race felt great. It hurt, especially coming home in free, but it also felt under control. This has really become my favorite race. If I can get my backstroke under control, I'd like to try the 400. Everything else feels good enough to try.
Thanks for weighing in! This really is a great help, especially the ideas of new things to try and the evaluation of my splits as they relate to each other.
Red, as you may recall from my earlier post here I have some similar issues with my backstroke. My fly is also very much a work in progress; one of my first posts here 4-5 years ago was about trying to learn fly from scratch at the ripe old age of 45. The 200 IM has always been a goal of mine, so a while back I screwed up all my courage and gave it a shot. My only goal was to complete it legally without the piano taking me down mid-race. I cruised the fly and then tried to work a little harder after that. Here's how it turned out:
Swim Details
Swimmer: Sumerfield, Bill H
Sex/Age: M49
Club: Oregon (OREG)
Meet: Short Course Meters Pentathlon
Event: 200 SCM IM
Heat/Lane: Heat 2, Lane 2
Seed Time: 3:00.00
Final Time: 2:51.54
Splits
Leg Cumulative Subtractive
1 40.60 40.60
2 1:28.03 47.43
3 2:14.99 46.96
4 2:51.54 36.55
Obviously, I need some major work on backstroke, but I was pretty pleased with this for a first effort. For reference, my 50 fly at the same meet was a 35 low. I think I can probably go out a little bit faster without dying, but the biggest bang for my buck will come from fixing whatever ails my backstroke. Although I really dislike swimming it, I am trying to do more and more of it in practice. Fortunately, we swim a lot of IM on my team.
I really enjoyed this swim. While my time isn't very competitive, I can see this becoming one of my favorite events, too.
Thanks for reviving this thread. For me, reading advice from the more experienced swimmers about how to tackle an event helps me find the confidence to give it a try.
Frank and Fritz: (nice combo--you guys could go on the road!) my fly felt great, not too fast. My 50 fly in the same meet was 31.6, an improvement from 32.4. The bottom line is that my backstroke is terrible from a technique standpoint. I pretty much need to start from scratch. I've gone to a local coach for a private session or two in recent years (for free and fly), and I think it's time for another one. If I can bring my backstroke up to a level of competence (!) it will help a great deal. The 45 degree thing is a good suggestion. It has been pointed out to me that my head moves like crazy and my arms cross the center line, so there's plenty of work to do!
In general, my race felt great. It hurt, especially coming home in free, but it also felt under control. This has really become my favorite race. If I can get my backstroke under control, I'd like to try the 400. Everything else feels good enough to try.
Thanks for weighing in! This really is a great help, especially the ideas of new things to try and the evaluation of my splits as they relate to each other.
Red, as you may recall from my earlier post here I have some similar issues with my backstroke. My fly is also very much a work in progress; one of my first posts here 4-5 years ago was about trying to learn fly from scratch at the ripe old age of 45. The 200 IM has always been a goal of mine, so a while back I screwed up all my courage and gave it a shot. My only goal was to complete it legally without the piano taking me down mid-race. I cruised the fly and then tried to work a little harder after that. Here's how it turned out:
Swim Details
Swimmer: Sumerfield, Bill H
Sex/Age: M49
Club: Oregon (OREG)
Meet: Short Course Meters Pentathlon
Event: 200 SCM IM
Heat/Lane: Heat 2, Lane 2
Seed Time: 3:00.00
Final Time: 2:51.54
Splits
Leg Cumulative Subtractive
1 40.60 40.60
2 1:28.03 47.43
3 2:14.99 46.96
4 2:51.54 36.55
Obviously, I need some major work on backstroke, but I was pretty pleased with this for a first effort. For reference, my 50 fly at the same meet was a 35 low. I think I can probably go out a little bit faster without dying, but the biggest bang for my buck will come from fixing whatever ails my backstroke. Although I really dislike swimming it, I am trying to do more and more of it in practice. Fortunately, we swim a lot of IM on my team.
I really enjoyed this swim. While my time isn't very competitive, I can see this becoming one of my favorite events, too.
Thanks for reviving this thread. For me, reading advice from the more experienced swimmers about how to tackle an event helps me find the confidence to give it a try.
