I always thought it would be cool to be able to break 5:00 in the 500. While it would be a bit of a stretch I feel like it's potentially within reach and given enough of the right kind of training I could do it. That said I also feel like every second between me and the 5 minute mark is going to get harder and harder to knock off.
I've always been, and continue to be, more of a breaststroker than a freestyler. I have no ankle flexibility so I pretty much always need to deal with dragging two brakes through the water. I've never really trained seriously for free events even though I do try hard and consider the longer frees to be my secondary events.
To give you an idea I swim about 3000-4000 a day, probably realistically average 4-5 times a week. I can and will increase that over the winter as we head into the meets starting in January. Intervals average in the 1:15-1:20 range, sometimes dipping to 1:10. I can pretty comfortably hold 1:10-1:15 pace depending on the set. Doing a 1:00 100 from a push is hard but not impossible.
So far my fastest masters times in the 200 are 1:55 and the 500 a 5:18. I know I can go much faster in both, in that 200 I took water instead of air on the turn at the 100 and was choking and coughing for the last 100 and still somehow managed a best time. The 500 was the last event of a long weekend of swimming and I was exhausted. I bet I could have done a 1:53 and a 5:14 given better circumstances.
Anyway, any training tips or things to work on? Ideal way to split it? Is the 5:00 500 going to be ridiculously difficult or given enough training reachable?
Thanks guys. That and the :50 100 (I'll save that one for later) are two swimming marks I always wanted to check off my list.
I'm happy to hear that this is both a common goal and something that a lot of people have made or are close to. I certainly need to keep goals in mind when I'm practicing to keep motivated, the loftier the better. Especially in the middle of all those long freestyle sets that you need to do for this type of thing.
Thanks for all the suggestions and stories. I can imagine doing a 5:00 point anything would be frustrating. If it happened once it'd be something to laugh about and motivate the next swim. If it happened a few times then it might get a little old.
I've done the same exact 100 IM time within a hundredth of a second the last three times I've swam it, and that's over a year-long period. Doesn't seem to matter what I emphasize or change I get the same time. Although each time has been .01 slower than the previous. I've gotten a kick out of it so far but if I don't blow it away the next time I swim it I don't know what I'll do.
Ah the 5 minute mark! There is something about a sub-5 that just seems amazing - like you are a true fast swimmer. At my high school sectional championship meet, I went a 5.00:23. Just shy of breaking into the 4 minute category.
I now swim in the high 5.20:00 range on a good day, but I have establsihed a goal of breaking the mark and achieving 8 years later what I could not when I was swimming "full time". I always figured I could have broken it if I would have done college swimming - but my thoughts at that time where even if I break it I am still another 40 seconds away from becoming something great!
I saw Roy Saari go 3:59+ for 400 yards at the CIF finals in 1961. He was the first HS guy under 4:00, and I was seriously in awe. A few years later there were guys going that fast in workouts.
Add me to the crew wanting to go under 5:00.
I'm a firm believer in taking a race out hard, setting the pace right from the get-go, and is something I use in most races I swim. That doesn't always mean sprint the first 50 of your distance event (i did that at my very first USS meet ever last summer). But for a 500, if I hold back too much in the first 50/100, the rest of it ain't happening.
Dying isn't ever comfortable, but sets like that 5x100 on 1:05 will help. Think of sets like that as learning how to swim through the pain. Focus on trying to hold it together despite your fatigue. When you get to the race and the piano starts falling, it is not a surprise, and you'll be better equipped physically and mentally to haul it along for the ride.
One piece of advice - vary your training! Building your engine and endurance have its place, but I find it boring and counterproductive to concentrate solely on distance free during your workouts. Working on sprints now and again help you get yourself used to the speed and build what little fast-twitch muscle we distance guys have. IMs give your shoulders a rest and give the rest of your body a better workout with less yardage.
I swam next to Kirk in Austin, and I think both of us were hoping I would have put up more of a fight and having a war on the last 50 would have probably put both of us under.
Wanted to add another data point...
Waaaaaay back in high school, spent most of the regular season at :51 100 Free, 1:51 200 Free, and 5:12 500 Free. My 500 splits were "bell curve": 1st 100 fastest, each of the 100s slower than the previous one except for the 5th one (which was about the same as the 3rd 100). At the end of the season, shaved and tapered, my splits flattened out and did a 5:00.1 (:58.1 followed by four 1:00.5).
(My master's free times are considerably slower... :badday: )
so for me to get down to 5:00 means I need to swim my 400 about 4:22. wow 19 seconds. I currently only swim the 100 at 1:00
Conversions are notoriously difficult, but, as a frame of reference, in seasons where I go about 4:20 in 400 SCM, I can hit about 4:55 in 500 SCY. So, I think if you hit the 4:22 SCM, you'll be in the right shape to get under 5.
I quit training for middle distance swims in 1952, I only trained to do 100s. I quit training altogether in 1958 and just played waterpolo and swam in meets with the 3 days a week waterpolo practices. Then after a 4 year layoff started swimming marathon races in 1963. This is when we started doing 100s on 1.05.
Never tried a 500 but could do a mighty fine 440.
We never swam a 500 in our day in Canada.
I assume 440 is 400 meters?
I love to hear about the old days of swimming. In HS (mid/late 80's) and College (late 80's/early 90's) I used to look at the old Olympic winning times to see at what point I'd be #1 in the world. I was surprised to see how fast some of the distance and mid distance guys where back in the day! Of course thats before modern equipment, suits, training techniques...pretty impressive stuff.
I think Brian Goodell, Kostoff, Salnikov, Perkins were my idols.
400 meters = 437.445319 yards just about a 440 yards, 440 yards is a quarter of a mile.
It was not so much as equipment changes. I believe that swim times improved by stroke modification and using repeats with rest perionds of 5 and 10 seconds were major break throughs. Oh equipment changes did help for sure. I was amazed in 50s when I saw the first speedo swim suit. What a change from my Jantzen.
I assume 440 is 400 meters?
I love to hear about the old days of swimming. In HS (mid/late 80's) and College (late 80's/early 90's) I used to look at the old Olympic winning times to see at what point I'd be #1 in the world. I was surprised to see how fast some of the distance and mid distance guys where back in the day! Of course thats before modern equipment, suits, training techniques...pretty impressive stuff.
I think Brian Goodell, Kostoff, Salnikov, Perkins were my idols.
Where on earth are you getting your conversions from?
I thought 4:41 400 LCM was like a 5:12 500 SCY.
4:22 400 LCM was like a 4:51 500 SCY.
Talking about SCM perhaps?
I was never a 500 swimmer, never really a freestyler. I could swim the 200 in 1:52, but my 500 was never better than 5:09. Not sure I swam it more than 3-4 times through out HS and college.
but reading this thread about going under 5:00 has inspired me to improve my 400m time. currently I have 4:41. which is about 5:21.
so for me to get down to 5:00 means I need to swim my 400 about 4:22. wow 19 seconds. I currently only swim the 100 at 1:00
for me to make 4:22 that would mean
1:03 / 1:05 / 1:07 / 1:07
I'll be swimming the 400 in Nov and then again in March. I went from 5:02 in march 2008 to 4:41 in sept 2008. my current goal was to get to 4:30, but getting to 4:22 (or 5:00 for the 500) sounds so much better.
Where on earth are you getting your conversions from?
I thought 4:41 400 LCM was like a 5:12 500 SCY.
4:22 400 LCM was like a 4:51 500 SCY.
Talking about SCM perhaps?
Yes, 4:22 is what I get for the SCM conversion if I use this utility. A 4:31 400 LCM is more like a 4:59 500 SCY. That is just under an average of 1:08 per 100m.
