Did you break 1:50 in the 200yd fr as a Master's swimmer?

Given that small book of information: Am I getting enough yardage, and I just need to focus my training on my goal, or do I need to increase yardage and workouts? I think the key is getting in more than three days a week. Shoot for a minimum of four, preferably five. Hard to say if the workouts themselves are good based just on the yardage, but 4-5K per workout is certainly plenty. Make sure you are doing plenty of race-paced training and kicking. The ability to have a strong kick throughout a 200 free is crucial if you want to break 1:50.

Last year, just 10 master's men over the age of 45 broke 1:50. No master's women broke 1:50 last year. Of the thousands of times in the USMS database, just 84 men of all ages had times under 1:50, with only three breaking 1:40.

I have not come close to breaking 1:50, however, I have set a PR in the 200 when I was 49--and have subsequently come very close to it in my 50s. My best time in high school/college was a mediocre 1:56.00 (back in the hand timing days). At Y Nationals when I was 49, I swam a 1:55.11 by electronic timing, and I later swam a 1:55.42 a month before turning 52. There is no biological reason to prevent you from improving your times at least until your 40s. If your previous best time of 1:50.x was done without a body suit, you should be able to smash the 1:50 barrier. I agree, however, that you need to do more than 12,000-15,000 yards per week. For me, I swam my best when I was in the best aerobic shape of my life. Our coach, Bill White, was helping me get in shape for turning 50 (the first time I ever made any Top 10 times). I remember getting to the point where I could do 10 x 200 on 2:30, rest 2 minutes, then do another 10 x 200 on 2:30. The 200 really is an endurance sprint. You need to put in some hard yards to get the endurance part down. The sprint will take care of itself. But you can definitely do it.

I haven't broken 1:50 for the 200 as a masters swimmer, and I don't expect that I ever will. I did best that landmark over 30 years ago. It's all about pacing. I feel that the kick you need to worry about is on the last 50. Weights will help. If you can beat a 1:50 with three days of training a week I salute you. Good luck.

I'm about to turn 51 in March and acquired "a liking" for the 200 free recently. I have not trained specifically for this event, and so began to look around and ask for some advice on how to prepare better for it for this season. A very good source gave me a 200 free practice set that is almost identical to the one that Erik gave you here on this thread. Since I am literally self-coached, I also appreciate any direction. I have good training partners in practice but no direct coaching per se. Last year at SC Nationals I swam a 2:04. In my senior year of high school, my best was once, a 1:59.5. Have always considered myself a dropdead sprinter - and I certainly swam that 1:59.5 in that very painful manner :) Took me 30+ years to go at a 200 free positively again - ha ha! Its' been a lot of fun to strategize and work on bringing swim times down. The big improvement/changes for me have been: Turns - small, tight, & quick Streamlines - I had no such thing a year and a half ago! Kicking - still REALLY have to work on this I enjoy training to accomplish a better 200 free - but not always the head to head competition that others seem to enjoy so much. But I definitely go to meets and swim the events as fast as I can. Good luck!

Hey Jim, Do you remember what kind of workouts you were getting in then (distance/frequency)? I am glad that you agree that there is no biological reason for me not to swim fast. I think we were doing three official practices a week, only one hour a piece, with monday distance day, wednesday stroke/IM, and Friday sprint. I would try to add one or two extra practices on my own, ususally just doing recovery distance freestyle. I do remember, however, really working hard in our regular practices, to the point where I would take a nap and drink coffee before out 6:30 p.m. workouts! On one of the threads here, a rule of thumb for the 200 is to take you best 100 time, double it, and add 8-10 seconds. My 100 at that point was right around 53, which = 1:46 doubled, plus 8-10 = 1:54-1:56, which proved very predictive for what I did. If you are a sprinter, you will probably need to add the 10 seconds; a distance swimmer can add the 8. I am mostly middle distance, so the 9 worked out perfectly. Reverse engineering this for your swim, you take 1:50, subtract 8-10, and get 1:42 - 1:40. If you are a distance swimmer, this would mean you would need to be able to do a 100 at close to 51.0. If you are a sprinter, you need to do a 50.0. Which brings us to the next step--how to pace the 200. I did virtually identical 1:55.xx two times, one the hard way, one the easy way. The hard way was the time I took it out in a 54.5 or so, and came back (dying) in a 1:01. The easy way was when I went out in 57 and came back in 58. This was actually my fastest all time 200. The hard way, the differential between the 2 x 100s was 6.5 seconds. The easy way, the differential was 1 second, essentiallly a negative split because of the dive advantage. A 1:50 = 2 x 100 at 55.0. So you have options. I would suggest trying to take it out in 53:5 and come back in 56.4, which would give you a 1:49.9. That would also be about a 3 second differential between the 100s. The key, I think, is for you to be able to swim a 100 in the mid 53s without getting so much lactate buildup that your stroke breaks down too much to finish strong on the back half. Keep us posted!

gbrain - - what is your current 50 or 100 time ? - you yardage seems fine, but you may need to add 1-2 workouts a week. 3 times may not be enough - your goal in workouts is to be able to do 2-5x200 broken in your race time. You should do this set about when you are 6 weeks out for about 4 weeks. There are many versions of broken swims - but in my experience for the 200, you can practice with 10 sec break every 50 (or 75) - but the closest to your actual time is just one break at the 100 for 10-15 sec. - so think now - what do you need to do in order to be able to swim 4x200 broken on a 8-10 min interval going sub 1:50s ?

My best 200 yd free was 1:53 at 40 years old (1994). I went 50.4 in the 100 free, 54.0 in the 100 fly, and 2:02 in the 200 Fly at the same meet. Are you doing any dryland training? Weights and/or stair runs will help with strength, lung, and leg stamina. A favorite set of mine to determine 200 race speed is a short set of broken 200s. That will not only give you a good estimate of your race time, but will help you find the correct pace for each 50. Doing the set once a month gives you good feedback for your training.

- what is your current 50 or 100 time ? - you yardage seems fine, but you may need to add 1-2 workouts a week. 3 times may not be enough - your goal in workouts is to be able to do 2-5x200 broken in your race time. You should do this set about when you are 6 weeks out for about 4 weeks. There are many versions of broken swims - but in my experience for the 200, you can practice with 10 sec break every 50 (or 75) - but the closest to your actual time is just one break at the 100 for 10-15 sec. - so think now - what do you need to do in order to be able to swim 4x200 broken on a 8-10 min interval going sub 1:50s ? Thanks ehoch, those are great questions. My Nov. 50y fr time is 25.11, converted from SCM. Unshaved, untapered after about 3 months of regular training. I accidentally got scratched from the 100, so I don't have a current time. That time is 2 seconds off where it needs to be for my numbers to make sense in breaking 1:50. I am working on adding two workouts a week, similar yardage. This will be on my own, since the team only practices 3/week. To swim a 200 in 1:50, I need to swim a 50 ez off the blocks in 25 mid, and swim a 50 from a push in 27 low consistantly over the course of a sprint set. Probably need to bring my practice pace down to 1:10 and actually be able to keep up on kick sets. Six weeks out puts me in mid Feb to start broken 200 training for Zones. Fun times ahead.

From memory, it seems if you can do 8 or 10 fifties (from a push) on 45 seconds and put 'em all under 27, you're there.