Without knowing more about your strokes, it is hard to really say, except for one thing.......
As a rule of thumb, a dive 50 fly on the front is about the same for a push 50 free on the end.... for an IMer.
So, either you went out too hard or you really died on the end. Keep trying to get the first and last 50 closer on future swims.... say 40 going out and 40 coming back. Your middle 50s will come down, too, by going out a bit easier. Just don't drop the legs too much on the fly and you will be good.
OK, get the fly and free closer. How about back and ***? Where should they be in relation to the others? Should back be very close to free? I know *** is slower, but by how much? It seems I lost a ton on ***.
OK, get the fly and free closer. How about back and ***? Where should they be in relation to the others? Should back be very close to free? I know *** is slower, but by how much? It seems I lost a ton on ***.
Here is where it can fluctuate a lot..... good/bad back/***.
As another rule of thumb... 15% for back and 25% for ***. So, the end splits would be 40, 46, 50, 40 for a 2:56 total. Modify by a few seconds if your back or *** is especially weak.
Practice your goal pace for 50s in workout for the different strokes to get the pace dialed in, then make it happen in your races.
These are mine from Austin:
1 27.45 27.45
2 59.41 31.96
3 1:34.00 34.59
4 2:01.43 27.43
The difference between your two 100's was 13.94 seconds. For the IM's there's no hard and fast rule for ideal splitting but 13.94 is a high number. Looking over my own Masters results in the 200 IM, my best difference is 7.26 and my worst is 10.84. I'm a lousy breaststroker but I usually do keep my fly and free splits close together. As others have noted, you should probably take it out a bit slower on the fly.
Here are the splits for the 200IM from Canadian Nationals with bar charts to make it easy to eyeball the relative splits:
200IM splits
Only a few swimmers managed to bring in their free on their fly split, but it is interesting that Nadine Rolland, an Olympian, did so. (They are sorted by time so scroll down to 2:27 to view)
The IPS scores for your times for the 50m events are:
36.74 335
49.72 98
57.57 83
42.83 139
3:06.86 327
Which tends to suggest that your fly leg is much better than your other legs.
It would be helpful to know your 50, 100 and 200 times in each stroke as that would distinguish relative strength in the different strokes versus pacing.
Whoa, this is quite the chart.... thanks for that!!
Here are the splits for the 200IM from Canadian Nationals with bar charts to make it easy to eyeball the relative splits:
200IM splits
Only a few swimmers managed to bring in their free on their fly split, but it is interesting that Nadine Rolland, an Olympian, did so. (They are sorted by time so scroll down to 2:27 to view)
The IPS scores for your times for the 50m events are:
36.74 335
49.72 98
57.57 83
42.83 139
3:06.86 327
Which tends to suggest that your fly leg is much better than your other legs.
It would be helpful to know your 50, 100 and 200 times in each stroke as that would distinguish relative strength in the different strokes versus pacing.
So either 9 out of 10 swam the race badly or the goal of fly=free is not realistic.
I'm not saying fly = free is optimal... just for someone starting out with a 200 IM, that is a good way to be able to complete the race and test the other strokes without being completely fatigued.
As a 200 flyer in college, I like to take IMs easy going out, not build up too much lactate, and accelerate toward the finish.... just a personal preference.
hey al,
very nice
strong *** and free splits
IM's tend to be better when you keep your
1st and 2nd 100 pretty close together
AL you were
59.41 for your fl bk then
62.02 for your br fr
62.02 - 59.41 = 2.61 diff
which is quite excellent
here's how my buddy tyler split his 200 IM at Nats
Men 35-39 200 Individual Medley
24.35
53.21(28.86)
1:28.05(34.84)
1:57.52(29.47)
64.31 - 53.21 = 11.10 diff
he worked the fly and back too hard and
paid a high price on the *** and a very high price on free,
had he held back a little on the fly and back, breathed more, didn't SDK as much and saved his legs
he probably would have gained much more on the BR FR
it's hard for masters to sprint an entire 200 IM
correct pacing makes a lot of sense
it feels great to be surging when those beside you are falling apart
clay britt had trouble with his 200 IM
Men 45-49 200 Individual Medley
Britt, J Clay 47 ANCM
25.18
55.08 (29.90)
1:31.97 (36.89)
2:03.05 (31.08)
he was
67.97 on the br fr and
55.08 on the fl bk
almost a 13 sec fade on his br free compared to his fl bk
1 27.45 27.45
2 59.41 31.96
3 1:34.00 34.59
4 2:01.43 27.43
At Short Course Nationals in Austin, only 1 swimmer in the top 10 finishers of 45-49 had fly=free (Al Jaeger). I don't know Al Jaeger but based on his other swims at Nationals he appears to not be a flyer so his fly=free seems an anomaly.
The winner was +3.5 sec from fly to free. Just eyeballing the times it looks like the average was +4sec from fly to free.
So either 9 out of 10 swam the race badly or the goal of fly=free is not realistic.
My high school son swam a 1:55.4 200 IM and his splits were:
24.8
30.1
32.7
27.8
He is not a backstroker. He probably took fly out a bit too fast because he faded a bit on his freestyle. He swam the *** very aggressive.
Edit - I see Mr. Jaegers posted above!
I ran into a friend in Austin I knew as a 10&under and he said saving anything for the end is not in his interest because he wants to go faster sooner and waiting to go fast at the end is really just waiting to go slow when he is tired.
As he is a 50/100 person (I like 200/500 or longer) this has merit as Ande would agree. So, if you are not a long race swimmer, it may be in your interest to go faster sooner. The balance is delicate, though, as you will build up more lactate AND have a lesser ability to deal with the stress at the end of the race.
