Freestyle sprinting

The threshold limit is about 40 secs for a well conditioned athlete to go all out, then the lactic starts to kick in. For most of us that is about 3 lengths in the pool or the first 300 of a 400 meter dash, after that you hit the wall, that is why you have to pace a little in the beginning of both of these events, so you can bring it on home. I am no real expert, but from what I understand even the best conditioned athletes can't break through that 40 sec barrier of all out speed. What they can do is perfect their form to increase speed with less effort as close to lactic threshold as possible without going in debt until the final meters of the race. Stroke form in swimming is where you can really make up the speed, just ask Popov. It always amazes me that the Olympic finalist in swimming generally got there by swimming faster and more efficiently with about 14-20% less wattage than the ones who didn't make the finals. A fifty is well under the threshold and most of us swim fifties all out during speed workouts with little difficulty. But also, maybe what is being implied by some as pacing is perhaps more of a concern with form rather than slapping the water as hard as you can. Moving your arms faster doesn't necessarily equate to a faster 50 free, especially if you are not catching the water. Take a look at Ian Thorpe if you want to see someone who can really combine form and speed, see the link. I don't think he is holding anything back, but he is cycling through a near or perfect stroke, at least for his physique. video.aol.com/.../170213568

Sorry, I think that link show Ian in the 100, but still very good video showing his form. Here is another one of the many out there. video.aol.com/.../3233582990

Do most of the in-swimming-shape and experienced swimmers among you go all out for a whole 50 yards or is there some pacing? In other words are you going top speed the whole time? [] :badday: I saw this: "Yesterday I spoke with Shaun Jordan (Shaun swam for the US in the '88 and '92 Olympics.) we were talking about the 50 free and he was telling me how Matt Biondi and Tom Jager taught him to build his 50 meter free race, that he needed to relax on the first 10 strokes and build into the wall. Rather than going all out from the start. This allowed him to swim much faster on the second 25." in Ande's SFF tip#24 U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums - View Single Post - Ande's Swimming Tips: Swimming Faster Faster

I still have 3 seconds to shed before I am worthy of sprinting advice, but on the topic of relaxation, if I am relaxed early in the first 25 it's easier to go without breathing all the way to several strokes after the turn. Breathing probably hurts my time about 0.4 sec/breath so I go without as much as possible. Would love to be able to sprint the entire 50 without breathing:). I did a moderate paced 50 once without, but it made my teeth and something else I wont disclose hurt near the finish.

I wonder how many strokes those chaps take in a 50yd. free.? 22 would be my guess. I was lucky enough to film Nick Bernelli close up a couple months back at a meet. I use the footage to study what it takes for chaps like that to do low 19's in a 50 SCY. It took him 12 strokes (including 1st stroke upon breakout) to the bulkhead, and 14 on the way back, and didn't breath once. He got a little off center from the turn which probably hurt him a 1/10th sec, but 24 strokes got him a 19.23 He was very psyched and obnoxious several minutes or more prior to the event but as soon as he approached the block he was very calm and relaxed. I am curious if any sprinters do 50 SCM or LCM without breathing.

I was lucky enough to film Nick Bernelli close up a couple months back at a meet. Steve, have you posted the footage anywhere?

That is interesting, to build speed over the first 10 meters makes a lot of sense. I have also noticed that if I start out by gradually accelerating I reach a much higher speed and if done efficiently, I can actually attain as fast of a time in the 25 with less energy. I think it has to do with gradually slipping into the friction of the water and turning the tide to flow with you through gradual acceleration as your stroke also comes into streamline and harmonizes with the water. As we know, water is a much thicker medium than air making the environment more interactive, so you really have to make an attempt to feel the water and become one with it. In other words, you are gathering the chi of the water into your own, lol. Or just go with the flow. A good drill is to start off from the wall very slow and gradually build throughout a twenty five. The key is to see how steady you can gradually build that acceleration, as in a very refined crescendo of speed.

Do you really accelerate or do you just pick up effort as you lose your dive/wall speed?

Do you really accelerate or do you just pick up effort as you lose your dive/wall speed?Accelerating means you had a terrible breakout or missed the wall on the turn Steve, have you posted the footage anywhere?I posted it right here YouTube- 19.23.WMV

I am curious if any sprinters do 50 SCM or LCM without breathing. Yes and I think 50 LCM would be the easier of the two to do without breathing, considering the turn requires and exhale, while not doing a turn allows the swimmer to decide when to exhale. I don't have enough experience with LCM to actually say which is easier.