Foreward: My 50 was a good time for me, my 200 time I have actually beat in practice from a push. Criticism on my 50, starts and turns would probably be most beneficial to me, but I am interested to get feedback on some race pace video. These videos are from the DAM SCM meet yesterday.
My times are annotated in the video, but here they are for reference.
50: 27.71
200: 33.48/36.18/36.78/33.77 1:09.66/1:10.55 2:20.21
YouTube- Mike 50 free DAM SCM 2009
YouTube- Mike 200 free DAM SCM 2009
I generally agree with everybody else. You have a nice relaxed stroke that seems tailor made for distance swimming. You could extend a bit more on your right arm but that's a minor thing. I also think you could have stayed under a bit more on the start and turns, but that gets awfully hard in a 200 free... The bottom line seems to be that turnover is the missing key. Also, I think you held back too much on the 200. I would have thought that with your stroke rate and a 27.7 on the 50, you would have gone much faster in the 200. I bet you could have maintained 33's on all four 50s. There are threads on how to pace a 200, but I don't think you should be dropping 3 seconds from the third to fourth 50. The trick would be to just slightly improve, I think. Still, looks great. You're a scholar of the sport and I have more to learn from you than you have from me.
I generally agree with everybody else. You have a nice relaxed stroke that seems tailor made for distance swimming. You could extend a bit more on your right arm but that's a minor thing. I also think you could have stayed under a bit more on the start and turns, but that gets awfully hard in a 200 free... The bottom line seems to be that turnover is the missing key. Also, I think you held back too much on the 200. I would have thought that with your stroke rate and a 27.7 on the 50, you would have gone much faster in the 200. I bet you could have maintained 33's on all four 50s. There are threads on how to pace a 200, but I don't think you should be dropping 3 seconds from the third to fourth 50. The trick would be to just slightly improve, I think. Still, looks great. You're a scholar of the sport and I have more to learn from you than you have from me.
