Strategies for the 100 free?

Nothing wrong with sprinting it the entire way. I know I won a lot of 100 free's in h.s. by doing that while making sure I had excellent starts and turns.

I am careful not to over-swim or over-kick the first 25 or so. Easy speed at the beginning, but it's a fine line in the 100. that's what works for me. good luck to you; it takes a long time but its lots of fun!

Have your coach time each 25 of your 100. If there is a huge difference in splits, you may want to pace yourself. If you can maintain your speed, then all is okay. (If you make a block start, then expect a quicker first 25.)

read Swim Faster Faster

I know this runs against the conventional wisdom, but a swimming friend who was a 23 time All American at Oakland U in Michigan (Div 2) gave me the following strategy that works well if you aren't in the absolute best shape: first two lengths of the 25 yard pool: go as fast as you can while staying smooth--operative term: Easy Speed. Do not thrash. It should be controlled, fast, but not drop dead, all out sprinting of the sort you use for a 50 yard race third length (and here is where his advice runs counter to the conventional wisdom): concentrate on stretching and keeping your stroke long. It's not exactly a case of easing up, but really concentrate on staying long and smooth. When you pass under the flags, charge towards the wall and do the final turn as fast and tight as possible and blast off the wall last length--go for broke giving it every single iota of effort you have left. As painful as it feels, it won't last long. Anyone can suffer one lap of excruciating misery! Don't breathe the second half of the final 25. The air you take in at this point is not going to reach your system anyway until the race is long over. Every breath is a tiny bit of time squandered. If you are in great shape, and you trained your lactate system to cope with whatever it is that makes muscles feel like they are dying, swim as fast as possible on the third length and hope you don't tie up prematurely on the final length. Good luck! PS there are many ways to swim a 100. Next year, try to swim in a bunch of meets so you can figure out what strategy works best for you.

I know this runs against the conventional wisdom, but a swimming friend who was a 23 time All American at Oakland U in Michigan (Div 2) gave me the following strategy that works well if you aren't in the absolute best shape: first two lengths of the 25 yard pool: go as fast as you can while staying smooth--operative term: Easy Speed. Do not thrash. It should be controlled, fast, but not drop dead, all out sprinting of the sort you use for a 50 yard race third length (and here is where his advice runs counter to the conventional wisdom): concentrate on stretching and keeping your stroke long. It's not exactly a case of easing up, but really concentrate on staying long and smooth. When you pass under the flags, charge towards the wall and do the final turn as fast and tight as possible and blast off the wall last length--go for broke giving it every single iota of effort you have left. As painful as it feels, it won't last long. Anyone can suffer one lap of excruciating misery! Don't breathe the second half of the final 25. The air you take in at this point is not going to reach your system anyway until the race is long over. Every breath is a tiny bit of time squandered. If you are in great shape, and you trained your lactate system to cope with whatever it is that makes muscles feel like they are dying, swim as fast as possible on the third length and hope you don't tie up prematurely on the final length. Good luck! PS there are many ways to swim a 100. Next year, try to swim in a bunch of meets so you can figure out what strategy works best for you. Actually turns out to be great advice. Well it worked for me anyway. I was doing a set of 100's (SCM) this afternoon. I was almost near the end when I remembered reading this thread at lunch time. I thought I would try out the strategy on the final two. Went 1:01:26 and 1:00:93, respectively. Both were from a push. I did a slow recovery 100 in between them. What surprised me was not the times but rather my level of tiredness (specifically lack thereof) after completion of the distance. Normally I would be hanging on the side for at least 30 seconds after that level of exertion (or more exactly, the amount of exertion that I would have to expend to do a time like that in practice). But I had a few deep breaths and recovered amazingly quickly. I was only really going hell for leather on the final 25. I don't know if I would adopt this strategy in a race, though. I really only know one strategy: (for LCM) go out as fast as I can on the first 50 and hold on for dear life on the second. I always seem to do my fastest times when I go out as fast as possible. I die in the final 15m and I feel like I am going to have a heart attack when I finish but my times are always better than if I tried to pace myself. I think I will be experimenting with this strategy (certainly in practice) in the future.

surfmore, sprint 100% the whole way. Just breath alot. You are right at the age where your body is going to begin developing power and endurance. I know it might sound stupid, but remember 'You have to swim fast to swim fast'. Pacing yourself is just that, pacing... slowing yourself down for fear of lactic acid buildup.... As your time drops from 1:00, to the low 50s.. into the the mid 40's... 'pacing' is a horrible idea because the race is taking less and less time... and becoming more and more of a true sprint. the 'strategy' becomes simple GET IN FRONT AND STAY IN FRONT. just remember to breath alot, especially in the first 50. This may pump you up to think this way. In fact, I've thought this way myself and tried it, but it doesn't work regardless of your conditioning. But don't take it from me. Look at Cielo's U.S. Open record for the 100 Free where he split 19.60 / 21.32. His 50 Free U.S. Open record is 18.47, which is over a full second faster than his 1st 50 split for the 100. He certainly wasn't going 100% the whole time, or even for the first 50. I'd listen to what Jim is describing- this strategy may work better. It's a little different than what I usually do and may try it tomorrow.

surfmore, sprint 100% the whole way. Just breath alot. You are right at the age where your body is going to begin developing power and endurance. I know it might sound stupid, but remember 'You have to swim fast to swim fast'. Pacing yourself is just that, pacing... slowing yourself down for fear of lactic acid buildup.... As your time drops from 1:00, to the low 50s.. into the the mid 40's... 'pacing' is a horrible idea because the race is taking less and less time... and becoming more and more of a true sprint. the 'strategy' becomes simple GET IN FRONT AND STAY IN FRONT. just remember to breath alot, especially in the first 50.

Pete, let us know how it goes. NewportGeek, I actually semi-agree with you--if you are in really, really good shape and have done a lot of lactate training. But even here, you still have to take a little off the front end if you want to finish strong. It's a question of how much to take off--and the better sprint-trained you are, the less you have to surrender. But you still have to surrender something. It would be intereeting to see Cielo or his ilk swim an all out 50 and keep going. Everybody ties up eventually. I am convinced he could not have kept going after his 18.47 without slowing down considerably on the third lap, and even more on the fourth. It's akin to a maximum bench press. Once you do the most you can do, you can't do another rep without recovery. There are three (at least) different energy systems that fuel muscle contractions. The absolute all out drop dead one doesn't last long--maybe 8 seconds. In track, that's what 100 meter sprinters rely on. In swimming, even the shortest race--the 50 free--lasts much longer than this system can keep the body going. We kick into the second one, which burns carbs and lasts a bit longer. The third one (aerobic) burns fat and is what we rely on for really long swims. Anyhow, it's not a matter of character but a matter of physiology and fuel. That French guy who Lezak caught and beat in the relay was the poster boy for the approach you are advocating: no holds barred, crash and burn.

Jim, I'm swimming leadoff in a 4x100 SCM Free relay tomorrow and I will try to execute this plan. Note: try. I sometimes have a tendency to throw the game plan out the window as soon as I hit the water.