Are Most Masters Teams Training Wrong?

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?
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  • What are "ling" sets? Hey, I couldn't see to type this morning. Darn cold! they should limit entries on the 50s like they do the 1650!!! .... but seriously; how many swimmers use 50's as filler material at swim meets? (i've even done it myself, as anyone who has ever seen me swim a 50 will confirm) I do. I can go from the 1000 free to the 50 back at any meet.
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  • What are "ling" sets? Hey, I couldn't see to type this morning. Darn cold! they should limit entries on the 50s like they do the 1650!!! .... but seriously; how many swimmers use 50's as filler material at swim meets? (i've even done it myself, as anyone who has ever seen me swim a 50 will confirm) I do. I can go from the 1000 free to the 50 back at any meet.
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