Strategies for the 100 free?

Paul et al: First, I should give credit where credit is due. The friend who told me this strategy back around 1990 is Mark Vagle. The last time I saw Mark was in Dallas, and we have since lost touch. I don't know if he is still swimming, but he was great when I knew him. If anybody out there knows Mark, please ask him to contact me. Second, re: throwing the game plan out the window when you hit the water. Most of us are so hopped up on adrenaline at the beginning of a race that this is natural. You are going to go fast regardless of what you tell yourself. Mark's suggestion was not to override this impulse, but rather try to moderate it. Paul, when you hit the water, just tell yourself to stay smooth. "Easy speed" is an elusive concept, but to me, the only difference between this an an all out sprint is a slight degree of mental relaxation that allows you to stay a wee bit longer and looser than you otherwise would. It doesn't seem like much, but especially when you concentrate on thinking "long and smooth" on that third length, it postpones the wall of lactate threshold just long enough to let you finish without turning to tungsten and sinking, metaphorically or actually, 5 yards from the finish.

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 wish my age-groupers would read this forum! This is almost exactly what I say to them! Great post, Jim!

Thanks Jim. That post was probably the most insightful thing written here in a long time. Excellent strategy.

I tried this today in my 100 free. Time comparison: today's 1:11 to Jan 31's 1:19. Of course I'm completely new to swimming so a lot of that is just my body getting into shape and in the mode of competitive swimming. Of course, now I wonder how I would've done if I went all out on the first 50 like I did with my 1:19 a month and a half ago... I should try a 100 free off the block next practice and do it that way... That's very interesting, Couroboros. Ande is always encouraging swimmers to do comparison tests. Energy systems To expand a bit on Jim's immediately preceding post on "at least three energy systems," the following from Wikipedia seems helpful. Link to whole article is at bottom: There are three sources of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the body's main energy source on the cellular level. ATP-PC System (Phosphogen System) - This system is used only for very short durations of up to 10 seconds. The ATP-PC system neither uses oxygen nor produces lactic acid and is thus said to be alactic anaerobic. This is the primary system behind very short, powerful movements like a golf swing or a 100 m sprint. Anaerobic System (Lactic Acid System) - Predominates in supplying energy for exercises lasting less than 2 minutes. Also known as the Glycolytic System. An example of an activity of the intensity and duration that this system works under would be a 400 m sprint. Aerobic System - This is the long duration energy system. By 5 minutes of exercise the O2 system is clearly the dominant system. In a 1 km run, this system is already providing approximately half the energy; in a marathon run it provides 98% or more. en.wikipedia.org/.../Energy_systems

Thanks, ViveBene. I was totally winging it from half-remembered lore in an increasingly Swiss-cheese-like brain. Glad to see my oversimplification was not totally outside the ballpark of reality. I think the bottom line point here is that Newport Geek's suggestion to drop-dead sprint the whole thing, otherwise you are a coward and a slacker, ignores the reality that we only have 8-10 seconds worth of phosphogene in us, and the lactic acid system, by its very nature, creates byproducts that eventually interfere with optimal muscle contractions. I continue to maintain that it's a fine line that separates wimpery from stupidity. You want to swim the 100 in a way that minimizes the former but without dumbly launching yourself on a certain rendezvous with ruin!

I tried this today in my 100 free. Time comparison: today's 1:11 to Jan 31's 1:19. Of course I'm completely new to swimming so a lot of that is just my body getting into shape and in the mode of competitive swimming. Of course, now I wonder how I would've done if I went all out on the first 50 like I did with my 1:19 a month and a half ago... I should try a 100 free off the block next practice and do it that way...

Thanks, Jim and Jazz Hands. I have the revised edition, Swimming Fastest (2003), and will read more about physiology. Mp

This is a great thread and I have really enjoyed reading it. I have been training for a triathlon this spring because I have always wanted to do one. However I have a bad knee and after the tri I don't think I will be running for exercise anymore. So most of my swimming training has been for distance but when I look at my times it is clear I was never really made to swim long distances. All this is leading up to my goal for next year which is to train for the 100 free and try to break that personal barrier I never could in high school (under 50 seconds). So anything along the lines of the Vive's comment below that gets posted or sent to me via personal message will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for a great discussion here. I've noticed a lot of empirical work - self-testing, and so forth - being presented and the results discussed (especially racing results) on these forums. I am coming around to thinking that a bit of knowledge of exercise physiology - why bodies react the way they do, or perform the way they do - wouldn't hurt, and could help to focus training efforts.

Thanks, Jim! This info probably should have gone on the "Race Pace Interval Training" thread, but I decided to put it here. I've noticed a lot of empirical work - self-testing, and so forth - being presented and the results discussed (especially racing results) on these forums. I am coming around to thinking that a bit of knowledge of exercise physiology - why bodies react the way they do, or perform the way they do - wouldn't hurt, and could help to focus training efforts. The Wikipedia article notes that all three energy systems work together, but one or another type will tend to predominate at different levels (speed and intensity) of work. Maybe training is about being able to recruit a system faster, and sustain it longer, than the next guy or gal. Your thoughts?

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. So I tried this game plan out and it seemed like a much easier swim that previous strategy. Granted the whole meet I was swimming much slower and was having trouble keeping my speed up but this swim was a little over a second slower than my best which is about right all things considered but the splitting was my best ever. Albatross 3/21/09 29.25/31.07 1:00.32 A less than 2 second differential for me is terrific. Granted the front 50 was out slow compared to my best back in June, but the back half was much better in comparison. IGLA 6/19/08 27.73/31.44 59.17 I'm going to work on my kicking a lot more and try to swim the 100 free at Zones the same way and see what happens.