Fortress' impressive three world record performance over the weekend made me think of this topic. Obviously the things she's doing are working well for the events she likes to swim. She concentrates on SDKs, fast swimming with lots of rest and drylands to aid in explosiveness. Long aerobic sets just aren't a part of her training regime, from what I've seen.
Almost every organized training group I've swum with, on the other hand, focuses on long aerobic sets, short rest, not a whole lot of fast stuff, etc. Basically the polar opposite of how Fortress trains. In my opinion this probably works pretty well for those who swim longer events, but really does very little for sprinters. The sprint events are almost always the most popular events at meets, so why do people choose to train aerobically? I think there are a number of factors at play. There's the much maligned triathletes. There's those who don't compete and "just want to get their yardage in." There's a historical precedent of lots of yardage being the way to go.
So what do you all think? How does you or your team train? I know lots of regular bloggers here DO train differently than my perception of the norm. Examples include Ande, Chris S. and Speedo. Are too many masters teams stuck in a training regime that is not at all what many of their swimmers need to get faster?
Are too many masters teams stuck in a training regime that is not at all what many of their swimmers need to get faster?Yes and no.
Rationale for answering No:
Most Masters swimmers do not compete in meets; hence, they don't generally care about speed and explosiveness.
Since most Masters swimmers do not compete, most are also unaware that higher-intensity work like sprinting with lots of rest can also provide lots of good health benefits.
For those Masters who don't compete and came back to the sport years after being an age grouper, their primary frame of training reference is likely the 'garbage yardage' model. So, in a way, they're getting what they expect to get an are probably happy with it.
For those Masters who don't compete and came at swimming either from a running/tri background or no athletic background, they probably view swim training like most people view run training -- go out and do it for some specified period of time with very little variation in effort, then get out. Again, they're probably getting what they expect out of workouts and are happy with it.
Rationale for answering Yes:
For Masters teams that have a good proportion of their swimmers competing, they need to change their workout model to drive more quality/race pace work. It's not only the 'all the rage' with swimmers like our Masters' elite (e.g., Fort, Ande, Rich Abrahams), it's what the 'elite elite' (including the old folks like Lezak and Torres) are doing to swim faster faster.
I will say that, as a competitor, I love the speed play variations that my coach gives. But, you should hear the groans and see the lack of participation when she tells people to go fast stuff off the blocks!
Are too many masters teams stuck in a training regime that is not at all what many of their swimmers need to get faster?Yes and no.
Rationale for answering No:
Most Masters swimmers do not compete in meets; hence, they don't generally care about speed and explosiveness.
Since most Masters swimmers do not compete, most are also unaware that higher-intensity work like sprinting with lots of rest can also provide lots of good health benefits.
For those Masters who don't compete and came back to the sport years after being an age grouper, their primary frame of training reference is likely the 'garbage yardage' model. So, in a way, they're getting what they expect to get an are probably happy with it.
For those Masters who don't compete and came at swimming either from a running/tri background or no athletic background, they probably view swim training like most people view run training -- go out and do it for some specified period of time with very little variation in effort, then get out. Again, they're probably getting what they expect out of workouts and are happy with it.
Rationale for answering Yes:
For Masters teams that have a good proportion of their swimmers competing, they need to change their workout model to drive more quality/race pace work. It's not only the 'all the rage' with swimmers like our Masters' elite (e.g., Fort, Ande, Rich Abrahams), it's what the 'elite elite' (including the old folks like Lezak and Torres) are doing to swim faster faster.
I will say that, as a competitor, I love the speed play variations that my coach gives. But, you should hear the groans and see the lack of participation when she tells people to go fast stuff off the blocks!
