Interestingly 50 FR - 15th of 135 and it's not near my best event.
I rank better among USS in shorter distances and I'm very slow in 200s and above. I think that's b/c the Masters "less is more" approach is fine in 100s and under. Not so good on 200s and bad for distance.
I have the exact same experience. In USS meets I am significantly better in 100s compared to 200s and in masters it is probably the opposite.
I don't think it is just training volume, I think age plays a role, sorry to say.
There is a 1:45 backstroker on the affiliated USS team where I swim masters. We both recently did a 10 x 100 on 2:00 backstroke test set. I averaged less than 1 second slower than him...despite the fact that he trounces me in meets at any distance. (And he was spent after the set, I don't think he was holding back.)
But in meets he can step it up in a way I no longer am able to do.
Another anecdote...today I swam with the U of Richmond college women's team. The coach is very into HR training. There was a set of 200s where he wanted the swimmers to have a minimum HR of 176, and it was clear from his comments he was expecting something like 80% effort on the set (the main set was yet to come).
I had to laugh: if I went ALL OUT I would reach 176, but my max HR is somewhere in the low 180s. But I remember hitting 200 quite readily in HS...that sort of physiological difference just HAS to be important in a meet, and no amount of training seems to change my max HR.
Interestingly 50 FR - 15th of 135 and it's not near my best event.
I rank better among USS in shorter distances and I'm very slow in 200s and above. I think that's b/c the Masters "less is more" approach is fine in 100s and under. Not so good on 200s and bad for distance.
I have the exact same experience. In USS meets I am significantly better in 100s compared to 200s and in masters it is probably the opposite.
I don't think it is just training volume, I think age plays a role, sorry to say.
There is a 1:45 backstroker on the affiliated USS team where I swim masters. We both recently did a 10 x 100 on 2:00 backstroke test set. I averaged less than 1 second slower than him...despite the fact that he trounces me in meets at any distance. (And he was spent after the set, I don't think he was holding back.)
But in meets he can step it up in a way I no longer am able to do.
Another anecdote...today I swam with the U of Richmond college women's team. The coach is very into HR training. There was a set of 200s where he wanted the swimmers to have a minimum HR of 176, and it was clear from his comments he was expecting something like 80% effort on the set (the main set was yet to come).
I had to laugh: if I went ALL OUT I would reach 176, but my max HR is somewhere in the low 180s. But I remember hitting 200 quite readily in HS...that sort of physiological difference just HAS to be important in a meet, and no amount of training seems to change my max HR.
