Strategy for 200 FR

Some excellent advice here. Check out these threads, too: Race strategies: 200 free Help me train for the 200 free Help me split my 200y free I am pretty much in the same boat as you. I never was a 200 swimmer and only started swimming it last year. I have spent quite a lot of time training for it this year and will be swimming a 200 LCM in October. bcm119's advice is spot on. If you read the other threads, almost identical advice is given from Paul Smith, John Smith and Ande. First 100 should be easy speed, third 50 is when you start to give it all you got (it starts to hurt badly here), then just hang in there for the last fifty. Bring in your legs on that last fifty. My :2cents: is that you really need to train this event in practice. And I don't just mean by improving your aerobic base (although that is very important, too). What I mean is that, at least, once or twice a week you need to do a 200 ALL OUT just like you would in a race. Plan your strategy in advance, set goals for each 50, each 100 and see how close you come to them. It is only by testing you strategies in practice that you will be confident using them on race day. It is imperative that you accurately time your splits in practice. In time you will start to get a feeling for how fast you need to go to achieve your goals. If you don't practice the 200 and just dive in there and go hell for leather from the word go, you are sure to die a horrible death on the 3rd 50 and by the final one if you don't actually drown, you will begin to wish you would. Check out J Miller's Fun, and Fast for some 200 sets. (Scroll down to the middle of page 13). Don't forget to post your progress and the results from your race. I am really interested to know how it goes. All the best!

Some excellent advice here. Check out these threads, too: Race strategies: 200 free Help me train for the 200 free Help me split my 200y free I am pretty much in the same boat as you. I never was a 200 swimmer and only started swimming it last year. I have spent quite a lot of time training for it this year and will be swimming a 200 LCM in October. bcm119's advice is spot on. If you read the other threads, almost identical advice is given from Paul Smith, John Smith and Ande. First 100 should be easy speed, third 50 is when you start to give it all you got (it starts to hurt badly here), then just hang in there for the last fifty. Bring in your legs on that last fifty. My :2cents: is that you really need to train this event in practice. And I don't just mean by improving your aerobic base (although that is very important, too). What I mean is that, at least, once or twice a week you need to do a 200 ALL OUT just like you would in a race. Plan your strategy in advance, set goals for each 50, each 100 and see how close you come to them. It is only by testing you strategies in practice that you will be confident using them on race day. It is imperative that you accurately time your splits in practice. In time you will start to get a feeling for how fast you need to go to achieve your goals. If you don't practice the 200 and just dive in there and go hell for leather from the word go, you are sure to die a horrible death on the 3rd 50 and by the final one if you don't actually drown, you will begin to wish you would. Check out J Miller's Fun, and Fast for some 200 sets. (Scroll down to the middle of page 13). Don't forget to post your progress and the results from your race. I am really interested to know how it goes. All the best!