How do you determine whether you would be better off training and racing sprints or distance events?
I'm back into competitive training this winter after ~2 decades since high school. I used to coach age group, and I've been hitting some master's practices, so I'm not without direction for what I should be doing to get back in shape. I am, however, clueless about distance swimming.
I have no exposure to distance racing or training so I am starting to read up on it (Maglischo). In high school, with the longest event being the 500 free, everyone was a "sprinter" whether they were suited to it or not.
Since I'm basically rebuilding myself from the ground up, I am wondering whether I might give distance a try? What sorts of physiology, technique or psychology lend themselves to doing distance as opposed to sprinting? Or does this not really matter for a nearly 40-year-old masters swimmer that's been out of the pool for nearly forever?
Parents
Former Member
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.
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.
