I've never raced a 200, or even a 100 FR; my 50 FR SCY is 26.8.
I'm in a USA meet Sept 20th - expecting to get trounced by kids half my age, but still I want to put in a good showing.
How should I race? What should my 50 pace be? How do I not die on the last 50? etc...
I'm 44, male, swimming masters only 2 years, still learning lots, and open to all feedback - thanks!
If your good, it's a sprint. Same goes for anything under a mile :)
The only advice I got from my coach the first time he pegged me to do a 200 free (nobody else volunteered) he gave me one bit of advice.. "It's a sprint! Go baby, go!" Needless to say, I didn't do very well in that race.
IMHO, thinking of the 200 as a sprint gets a lot of people in trouble and is the path to significant pain. I think even the truly great swimmers at this race are not "sprinting" but are controlling their fast pace like referenced above.
If your good, it's a sprint. Same goes for anything under a mile :)
The only advice I got from my coach the first time he pegged me to do a 200 free (nobody else volunteered) he gave me one bit of advice.. "It's a sprint! Go baby, go!" Needless to say, I didn't do very well in that race.
IMHO, thinking of the 200 as a sprint gets a lot of people in trouble and is the path to significant pain. I think even the truly great swimmers at this race are not "sprinting" but are controlling their fast pace like referenced above.
