Have any of you made huge improvments in your swimming within the past couple of years, or since beginning swimming? If so, what were the improvments you made? What were you doing in training in order to make these improvments?
Have any of you made large improvments recently?
Former Member
I improved my 200m free time by six seconds and my 50m free time by 1:15 seconds this year.
I put it down to (finally) getting to the gym three times a week and working on strength training. Going to the gym is really important.
It is also because I have trained almost exclusively for my focus events: 50m, 100m, 200m free. I train for one event every time I train. So a typical training session might be a 500m warm up followed by 6 x 200m descend. On that last 200m I aim to go as fast or faster than my fastest time ever. Obviously it is not possible all time but the intent must be there.
Finally, I have made some improvements on my turns and stroke. I am working on integrating my kick into my stroke and feeling more relaxed in the water.
2 months apart, 1500 SCM and 1650 SCY, about 1 minute time drop, at least based on the conversion.
www.usms.org/.../swim.phpwww.usms.org/.../swim.php
I'm not sure how much of it was due to having a fs2 legskin and fast pool (federal way) for the second swim. It's hard to compare, but one thing that might have helped was aerobic training for a charity stair climbing race in between those two meets. I plan to do all three again this year (the two meets and stair climbing race), so we'll see.
SCY 2007 to SCY 2008
50 bk went from 25.75 to 24.41
100 IM went from 55.48 to 53.70
50 fr went from 22.30 to 21.48
50 fly went from 23.93 to 23.20
you can follow every practice
from:
2007 South Central Zone Championships
Saturday March 24, 2007 on
www.usms.org/.../showthread.php
where I swam in the 2007 SCY Zone Meet
to:
USMS SCY Nats
Friday, May 2, 2008
www.usms.org/.../showthread.php
Differences:
1) did more weight training, actually got stronger,
2) did more speed training, actually got faster,
3) I was preparing for nationals in my home pool, I didn't want to suck &
4) 2007 Wore a FS II, 2008 wore a FS PRO
Now I'm training to see if I can improve on my
2008 SCY times in 2009
1) I'll do more speed training
2) more strength training
3) work on my SDK &
4) wear a blue seventy nero comp
You can follow my journey at:
andesswimmingblog.blogspot.com
you might enjoy this thread
What do YOU need to do to have a major swimming breakthrough?
Amy, What's your story?
I started swimming for fitness last May, and could barely do two lengths at the Y before I had to hang onto the edge and gasp for a while. I started out doing something like 5 laps in a half hour. After I got up to 15 laps, I started working on going further without pausing to gasp & pant.
Around the end of August I was up to 20 laps (now in a local outdoor pool in San Mateo), and one day I realized that I wasn't tired at the end of those laps, and felt like I could just go on and on. I put it to the test the next day, and I've been swimming a mile a day ever since, in 40 to 45 minutes. I think I could go further, but my lunch hour doesn't allow it.
So I feel like I made a big improvement at the end of August when I jumped from a kilometer to a mile a day in just one day. I haven't sped up at all, but I'm just happy at the mileage.
As for what I'm doing, I've read a couple of the Total Immersion books and I just try to pay attention to my stroke and my position in the water. Finding that balance really helped me get past one lap at a time.
I started swimming competitively on a summer league in the summer of 2004. Back then, I couldn't swim without wearing a ski mask (I couldn't breathe in goggles). I got up to the point that summer where I could do a 50 freestyle, and started learing all four strokes. I also finally was able to breathe wearing regular goggles!
I remember how LONG a 50 used to feel. It felt like it went on forever and ever. My 50s in meets were always around the range of 50 seconds to 1 munute (in a 25 meter pool). Now I can do 50s (in a short course yard pool) in 34 seconds. They also do not feel nearly as long as they used to feel!
Hi Ripple!
That could be my (and others', I am sure) story with minor differences: started in local ponds and lakes at preschool age; no lessons til age 57; the injury that pushed me into daily swimming was a slipped disk; unimpressive times but still swim OW anyway for the love of it; technique-dependent sport. Slowly clawing the times down in the pool.
Last night for the first time in my LIFE, it felt like swimming.
I'm working on a bit of fly at a time: 4 strokes after a strong push from the wall, repeat.
I'm looking forward to my first SwimTrek swim, though not sure when I can fit it in.
"amyro," there is a nice thread: "Attaboy/Attagirl," where people post their personal achievements. It's a bit different from a full story, but I like reading it and seeing all the great responses. When I can do 100 fly continuously, it'll be there!
:)
VB
Had basic swim lessons as a kid, didn't do very well at it. Didn't swim for about 25 years, except for the occasional attempt here and there.
Took up swimming in 1998 after knees got wrecked in a car accident. Was just as bad at it as I remembered, averaging 38 strokes and nearly a minute to swim 25m front crawl. Even worse at other strokes. Plugged away, eventually worked up to a mile in about 50 minutes.
Took stroke improvement classes, saw a tiny bit of improvement, worked on balance drills from Total Immersion book, saw a bit more improvement. Got down to average of 28 strokes and a 42 minute mile.
Developed insane desire to learn butterfly after watching someone else do it. Took more lessons, read up on butterfly, eventually learned to do something that could actually be recognised as such.
Took T.I. lessons from local coach, got stroke count down to 23-25 range, mile time into 37 minute range. Developed insane desire to do a Swimtrek tour, entered local 2.5k open water race as part of the training, was just happy to finish in unimpressive time of 1:19. Did Swimtrek tour and got hooked on open water swimming.
Took more lessons, entered two more open water races, unimpressive times, but generally happy with performance. Recently got stroke times down into 19-22 range. Recently got under 30 seconds for 25m and wasn't sprinting eyeballs-out to do it. Still too slow to enter a pool meet, but getting better all the time, and actually swimming better at age 50 than at age 18.
I'd have to say that working on technique is the most important thing. When I just swam laps, my fitness improved but my swimming didn't.
I've been struggling with a shoulder injury for 2 months now (although it seems longer!). Last night I went swimming and for the first time in 2 months, I was able to move my arm right away with no pain. In fact, I felt so good, I actually burst into butterfly :banana:
