I think I need to up the speed on the first 50 a bit. At the meet on Sunday, my 50 time was 24.45, but my first 50 in the 100 was a 26.9. Interestingly, my first 50 at the meet 3 weeks ago was also a high 26 and that's when my 50 free was a 25.2. Let me just post the splits before this gets too confusing:
10/5: 50y free - 25.2 100y free - 56.65 (1st 50: 26.9)
10/26: 50y free - 24.45 100y free - 55.88 (1st 50: 26.9)
So I improved on the backend of my 100yd free only. I think maybe I'm not going out fast enough if I go out 2.5 secs slower than my 50y free time. Of course this is only one race and I had a goggle issue on the 100yd free Sunday plus I tweaked my lower back on the start. Also I think my endurance is better than what it used to be so I have to get used to that. I looked at some times from when I was 16 and I had a 25.5 50yd free, but a 59 sec 100 yd free ugh.
What's a good breakdown of the 100yd free?
Parents
Former Member
My experience has been that you can achieve a significant reduction in swim effort without "dramatically" slowing your swim speed/time.
This may make more sense when thinking about the converse which is that a siginificant increase in swim effort does not proportionately increase your swim speed.
Point is, I think your goal could be for the first 50 to be between 1-1.5 seconds slower than your best 50 time.
I think your energy saved may still be sufficient to carry you through the back 50 in good shape.
The other element is at the faster 50 sprint speed you likely have a higher stroke rate and lower stroke length. If you back-off the throttle just a tad and focus on stroke length, you may come in at just about 1-1.5 seconds slower only, and still have achieved some good energy savings.
My experience has been that you can achieve a significant reduction in swim effort without "dramatically" slowing your swim speed/time.
This may make more sense when thinking about the converse which is that a siginificant increase in swim effort does not proportionately increase your swim speed.
Point is, I think your goal could be for the first 50 to be between 1-1.5 seconds slower than your best 50 time.
I think your energy saved may still be sufficient to carry you through the back 50 in good shape.
The other element is at the faster 50 sprint speed you likely have a higher stroke rate and lower stroke length. If you back-off the throttle just a tad and focus on stroke length, you may come in at just about 1-1.5 seconds slower only, and still have achieved some good energy savings.
