How long it takes to swim an optimal 200m race?

Dear Martin, I swam in the German Masters Swimming Championships when I was stationed in Germany (West - back in those days). They were a lot of fun and I hope you continue to train (for health reasons) and compete (for the excitement and fun). I agree with Ande in terms of the meaning of your question; it is a training question. "Optimal" should take into account your age, your past times (from your youth), your training activities and volume, your relative fitness, diet and many other factors. Very few of us can afford to train as we did when we were in our 20's - we have families and jobs - which IMHO are more important. Personally, I would avoid trying to place a judgment on your performance and simply enjoy the experience. Less pressure usually translates into better results. One nice thought - at least I believe it - is that when you enter a new age group - you get to wipe the slate clean and start again. If you can swim faster than you did a year or two ago then I would consider that to be "optimal". And one last thought about "fading" - when you training, try to learn the "feel" of a certain time. If you learn the "feel" of a certain speed (pace) you can duplicate that "feel" when you race. Ande has lots of great tips! You should check them out. Schwimming macht spass - Viel Gluck! Philipp martin I'm not sure what you're asking when you wrote: "How long it takes to swim an optimal 200m race?" If you've been 2:20, I'd say 2:15 or 16 would be a nice improvement and 2:10 would be really great but I think what you're asking is how long does it take you to train to swim your best 200 bk? My answer is, several years, but take it one season at a time. German masters probably have a Long Course season and a short course season. Train hard and find out how fast you can become. Maybe Swim Faster Faster Can help you you might also benefit from Chris Stevenson's blog he's an outstanding 200 Backstroker and has a great work ethic

Dear Martin, I swam in the German Masters Swimming Championships when I was stationed in Germany (West - back in those days). They were a lot of fun and I hope you continue to train (for health reasons) and compete (for the excitement and fun). I agree with Ande in terms of the meaning of your question; it is a training question. "Optimal" should take into account your age, your past times (from your youth), your training activities and volume, your relative fitness, diet and many other factors. Very few of us can afford to train as we did when we were in our 20's - we have families and jobs - which IMHO are more important. Personally, I would avoid trying to place a judgment on your performance and simply enjoy the experience. Less pressure usually translates into better results. One nice thought - at least I believe it - is that when you enter a new age group - you get to wipe the slate clean and start again. If you can swim faster than you did a year or two ago then I would consider that to be "optimal". And one last thought about "fading" - when you training, try to learn the "feel" of a certain time. If you learn the "feel" of a certain speed (pace) you can duplicate that "feel" when you race. Ande has lots of great tips! You should check them out. Schwimming macht spass - Viel Gluck! Philipp martin I'm not sure what you're asking when you wrote: "How long it takes to swim an optimal 200m race?" If you've been 2:20, I'd say 2:15 or 16 would be a nice improvement and 2:10 would be really great but I think what you're asking is how long does it take you to train to swim your best 200 bk? My answer is, several years, but take it one season at a time. German masters probably have a Long Course season and a short course season. Train hard and find out how fast you can become. Maybe Swim Faster Faster Can help you you might also benefit from Chris Stevenson's blog he's an outstanding 200 Backstroker and has a great work ethic