the order for IM is
fl bk br fr
but if you could change up the order of the IM
there are 24 stroke order combinations to choose from
They are:
fl bk br fr IM order
fl bk fr br
fl br bk fr
fl br fr bk (i think this is the fastest order)
fl fr bk br
fl fr br bk
bk fl br fr medley order
bk fl fr br
bk br fl fr (this is probably the slowest order, because you get no flip from fly to free)
bk br fr fl (this might be the most painful order)
bk fr fl br
bk fr br fl
br fl bk fr
br fl fr bk (tyler thinks this is the fastest order)
br bk fl fr
br bk fr fl
br fr bk fl
br fr fl bk
fr fl bk br
fr fl br bk
fr bk br fl
fr bk fl br
fr br bk fl
fr br fl bk
If normal stroke rules apply:
Which order is the fastest?
Why?
Which order is the slowest?
Why?
Which order is most painful?
if you moved breastroke to first or second in order would breastrokers have less of an advantage in IMs than they do with the traditional order?
a pretty easy work out would be
24 x 100 IM doing each stroke order sequence once
More challenging might be
24 x 200 IM doing each stroke order sequence once
seriously challenging would be
24 x 400 IM doing each stroke order sequence once
... My first choice would be ***-fly-free-back. The more time underwater in evil the better! And I like having my best/easiest stroke last. Easier to breathe when you need oxygen too.
Agreed. *** is the slowest so you want the dive there. Back last so you can breathe, (but on the 200 IM the final turn would hurt).
Which is the fastest?
Why?
Simply switching bk & br might be faster than the standard. It would be for me, I think, and this would be my preference. I'm guessing that having the slowest stroke (br) as the third leg, where fatigue is peaking and the adrenaline for the last leg has yet to kick in might be slower than building through the backstroke as the third leg into the free. Plus you could argue for a back-to-free flip, and that there's some benefit for going short axis x2, then long axis x2.
Which is the slowest?
Why?
bk br fr fl
I'm just thinking of the delta between each legs' splits versus those of the standard order. Back and *** splits might not be too different in this order (bk a bit faster, br probably about the same). Then you'd have to be conservative on free (more so than going ba**s out at the end) and you'd be dead on the fly, way way slower than a first-leg fly.
Which is most painful?
bk fr br fl
I was thinking about something similar the other day in the context of making swimming more exciting. What if the IM order was selected at random and announced while the heat was behind the blocks? Different winners each time (take that, breastrokers), re-thinking strategy on the fly, needing to know your competitors really well, and new, exciting lead changes. Who would the coach enter in the IM given a 25% chance fly would be last?
That would be very interesting
having to do 2 or 4 lengths of each stroke somewhere in the race.
but leaving you the choice of changing strokes on each 25
like a 200 IM where you go:
1) fl
2) fl
3) br
4) fr
5) br
6) fr
7) bk
8) bk
Just think if they ever applied that to the 200 and 400 IM - any order, as long as you do 2 lengths or 4 lengths of each stroke SOMEWHERE in that 200/400 IM, tee hee!!
on the fastest combo, I picked fl br fr bk because:
1) I get fly out of the way, my worry about putting fly anywhere else is I'm likely to I'd tie up or go vertical
2) I get the *** out of the way while relatively fresh
3) I can flip the fr to bk turn instead of doing a hand touch which is slower
tyler says br fl fr bk
because you get more streamlining and gliding from your dive
now if you could mix up strokes and pick each 25 in a 200 IM
it might help to mix free in with back or ***, but I still think it's good to get fly done and move on
tyler says br fl fr bk
because you get more streamlining and gliding from your dive
I agree w/ Tyler. The opening dive eliminates more of the slowest stroke, fly is early enough that fatigue doesn't drag down the fly and the free-back exchange takes full advantage of an extra flip turn.
