The Middle Distance Lane

You're not a lazy sprinter and you're not a crazy distance swimmer. I corrected that for you. So how many other middle distancers besides me wish there were 400 events for each stroke and a 600 or 800 IM? That would be great. One of the reasons I am picking up the 400 IM, despite my weak breaststroke, is because I realize that I mostly like to train non-free and the 400 IM was the only option above 200 for strokes. There have been years where I looked at the #10 times in some of the distance events and said, "hmmm, I could have beaten that time" but of course I didn't and the distance guys are welcome to do it instead. Part of that -- and this is my opinion only -- is that I think TT in the distance events are a little weaker than in the sprints. Not the top spots, those guys are pretty amazing; I'm talking about spots 5-10. Again, just my opinion (and it is often true of the 200 fly and 400 IM too; many masters avoid those, no idea why.:)) this was my lane in college. although i was in a group known as the "upper mid-distance" lane. we swam in the lane adjacent to the distance group, and did a lot of the same (or VERY VERY similar) sets as the distance group, Unfortunately we didn't have a mid-D group in college: we had the sprinters, the distance guys, and one group for each stroke. Early on I swam almost exclusively with the distance guys, until I noted with alarm that the coach started regularly putting me in distance events in meets. Then I switched to mostly train with the stroke groups with an occasional visit to the D-guys if I wanted to pound out some yardage. I think one main difference between a distance and mid-distance set is the amount of rest. Distance guys don't mind doing sets with very little rest, while I don't mind doing things repeats of 200-500s in practice, I like to have a decent recovery time between reps.

You're not a lazy sprinter and you're not a crazy distance swimmer. I corrected that for you. So how many other middle distancers besides me wish there were 400 events for each stroke and a 600 or 800 IM? That would be great. One of the reasons I am picking up the 400 IM, despite my weak breaststroke, is because I realize that I mostly like to train non-free and the 400 IM was the only option above 200 for strokes. There have been years where I looked at the #10 times in some of the distance events and said, "hmmm, I could have beaten that time" but of course I didn't and the distance guys are welcome to do it instead. Part of that -- and this is my opinion only -- is that I think TT in the distance events are a little weaker than in the sprints. Not the top spots, those guys are pretty amazing; I'm talking about spots 5-10. Again, just my opinion (and it is often true of the 200 fly and 400 IM too; many masters avoid those, no idea why.:)) this was my lane in college. although i was in a group known as the "upper mid-distance" lane. we swam in the lane adjacent to the distance group, and did a lot of the same (or VERY VERY similar) sets as the distance group, Unfortunately we didn't have a mid-D group in college: we had the sprinters, the distance guys, and one group for each stroke. Early on I swam almost exclusively with the distance guys, until I noted with alarm that the coach started regularly putting me in distance events in meets. Then I switched to mostly train with the stroke groups with an occasional visit to the D-guys if I wanted to pound out some yardage. I think one main difference between a distance and mid-distance set is the amount of rest. Distance guys don't mind doing sets with very little rest, while I don't mind doing things repeats of 200-500s in practice, I like to have a decent recovery time between reps.