Suited for sprint or distance - how to tell?

It is pretty easy, actually. I've been swimming competitively for almost 40 years and have come up with a pretty foolproof detection system. Forget about fast-twitch, slow-twitch or any of that; it is all about attitude. Do you preen? When you drop a measly 0.1 sec from a swim, do you carry on like you just won Olympic gold? Do you go easy throughout an entire set only to come roaring back on the last rep, passing (and pissing off) everyone in your lane? Do you use a lot of equipment? Are you high maintenance? Then you're a sprinter. Are you a plodder? Do you look down your nose at swimmers who spend less than 120 min (and 7K) in the water for one workout? Does your taper last only 3 days? Is your reaction time off the blocks measured in seconds, rather than tenths? Do you have just one speed? Are your legs little toothpicks and your kick nonexistent? Do you have permanent racoon eyes due to your goggles? Then you're a distance swimmer. Do you have perspective in life? Can you swim any and all events and distances? Can you relate to a sprinter's eccentricities but still hang with distance swimmers occasionally on one of their godawful mega-workouts? Are you a man that other men want to be and that other women want to be with? Are you a swimming god? Then you're a middle-distance swimmer.

Hey Dan, I am assuming Jeff just started back. First six months back, my 50 times dropped from really unimpressive to just unimpressive. But my endurance went from not being able to swim anything to being able to swim a 5k practice, and my repeats times dropped from 100s on 2:00 to 100s on 1:25. Those improvements made me feel great, but my 50 off the blocks time made me feel horrible. The ability to practice better let me get to a point where training for competition made sense again. Now if Jeff knew he just wanted to swim sprints, he could probably skip straight to fast training with lots of rest, and see some impressive improvement, but since he is undetermined, I think middle distance or distance training will make him happier. Once he has an aerobic base, he can go in any direction. I appreciate the advice. It's kind of what I expected to hear and what I pretty much plan on doing anyway -- middle distance is the logical route to take when coming back from a very long layoff. Your description of your first six months back mirrors my first month of training. From awful to slightly less awful, but it does feel great to be able to accomplish some basic stuff, like swim a 50 fly and make 10x100@1:30, and other things I used to be able to do just goofing off. I am starting to think about the long term plan and what sort of goals I want to set for the future. That's where the curiosity of focusing on distance comes up. Honestly, I think I'm more of a sprinter (muscular, huge kick) but I am also aware that at my age, endurance is usually easier to develop. To ask a slightly different question, can anyone be successful at distance, provided they train for it? I know there were guys on my hs team who just looking at their strokes, you knew they were never going to be good sprinters. I always assumed (perhaps incorrectly?) that distance was for anyone who couldn't or wouldn't sprint.

Let me boil it down for you. You are a sprinter if you say you swam 2 hours but that includes waking up, driving to the pool, changing, your 5 minute swim, hot tub, shower, drive home, nap, and 27 paragraph blog entry. You are a distance swimmer if you actually swam those 2 hours. Sprinters weep easily also and are quite defensive, which you will see within minutes of this post.

To ask a slightly different question, can anyone be successful at distance, provided they train for it? ... I always assumed (perhaps incorrectly?) that distance was for anyone who couldn't or wouldn't sprint. Them's fighting words. I thought the saying was that sprinters are those people who can't "man up" to actually swim rather than merely start, splash & turn.:) It depends upon what you're looking for to classify someone as one or the other. Anyone can do any event if they can swim it legally, including sprints! At the extremes, it's rare that you find someone who can both crank out an awesome 50 and an amazing 1500. (ehoch, please take a bow as one of those guys). There's specialization in training, technique, body, etc. to be great at both of those extremes ... and yet add'l differentiation to be great in the mid-distances. As to getting in shape, I'll agree with hoffam, though, that I think you'll approach your younger aged times in the 50 to 200 more quickly than you do in the 500. I'm swimming as fast or faster than my old 100/200 times now from college (division I distance guy), but still about 15 seconds slower on my 500. I just don't have the time to crank out more than about 20K yards a week on a good week of training ... so I can build a decent aerobic base, but not a fast aerobic pace.

Let me boil it down for you. You are a sprinter if you say you swam 2 hours but that includes waking up, driving to the pool, changing, your 5 minute swim, hot tub, shower, drive home, nap, and 27 paragraph blog entry. You are a distance swimmer if you actually swam those 2 hours. Sprinters weep easily also and are quite defensive, which you will see within minutes of this post. Sorry to disappoint. I'm going to have to agree with Chris and ehoch. Except for Chris claiming that mid distance folks are "swimming gods." That seemed rather diva-ish. I would substitute the words "tools who always follow the written workout without complaint."

While I am firmly in the race pace camp when it comes to meet preparation I think it is much better to start with more distance stuff.The aerobic base idea has validity for some,but to me the bigger issue is avoiding injury.If you start doing fast sets before your body has adapted you are bound to strain,sprain,or tear something.

I was sadistically focused on distance only (where, FYI, Qbrain, ALL the cool intellectually vibrant people hang out). Patrick reminded me of something, my stellar 1500 must make me cool and intellectually vibrant. Also, he reminded me of the power point calculator. www.usaswimming.org/.../DesktopDefault.aspx This won't be of much use to you until you have times to put into it, but it is a nice way to compare how good you are at different strokes and distances, since you are scored compared to a database of USA swimming times. For example, comparing my times, my 50 free is my best event and my worst event is the 200 back (followed closely by the 1500). My sprint frees are much stronger than my backs. It also makes it easy to chart your progress across seasons, since the SCM/LCM/SCY all get converted into a number.

For getting back in shape, train middle distance or distance. It is quicker to build endurance than speed and volume burns more calories, so the combination of those two should provide the most rewarding return to swimming. You should see steady improvement. I'm not sure I agree with this. A former swimmer with reasonable technique can probably swim a fast 50 or 100 much easier with little training than a fast 200 or 500. I have been swimming Masters for five years now (after a 25+ year no-swim period) and it is painfully obvious to me that improving my aerobic fitness is very difficult. My 100 IM time is about what I swam when I was 22. My 200 IM time is 10 seconds slower. As for the OP's basic question - I don't think you need to be too scientific to determine sprinter vs. distance. I think you can tell by how you swim in practice. Example: Let's say you can swim 15x100 "upper moderate" (aerobic threshold pace) on an interval that gives you 5-10 secs rest and your repeats are 1:20. If your "best" 100 on a long rest set in practice is about 1:10 I'd say you are not likely to be a sprinter. If on the other hand your best 100 in practice is much faster - such as 1:05 or better - you may be a sprinter. One of our guys can do 15x100 @ 1:15. He repeats them between 1:12-1:08. His best 100 in practice however is a 1:02. He is a triathlete and has fantastic endurance. The best I can realistically do 15x100 is @ 1:25, maybe 1:20 if my life depended on it. My best 100 from a push is 1:00-1:01. My race time is 54+.

Why don't you just swim what you like? I'll give you pass on this lay up, too easy.

That question always reminds me of an interview I saw with Mike Bottom - big-time sprint coach. He compares it to being a "cat" or being a "dog". The Cats are the sprinters - they don't move faster or more than absolutely neccessary but when called upon, they spring into action for one great strike. Now you can be a cheetah or a housecat - but a cat is a cat. All other swimmers are dogs - they run around chasing balls and sticks for hours wagging their tail just for the fun of it. They will do just about anything or any swim set (100x100) for a small bone. Just as real dogs, they can not stand cats and bark at them constantly. Chris - your picture seems to indicate more of a dog nature ? :D I sent the interview to a bunch of my swimmers and one of them ask my if he was a cat or a dog -- he had done a 20 mile paddleboard race to Catalina a few months earlier -- I told him a true cat would be in the escort boat sleeping while he was paddling -- he was a dog.