Breaking 1:00 in the 100 free SCY for the 1st time

If you can do 1:02 in practice, I expect that with rest and a little luck, you will positively destroy the 1:00 barrier in a meet. The 1:02 workout time was 2-1/2 years ago, at one of the best pools I have access to, ASU's Mona Plummer. My 1:00.33 meet time is from 2-1/2 weeks ago, a meet at the Mesa Kino pool. I'm not too hopeful of getting below 1:00, the clock is ticking. I probably won't be doing another SCY meet until next year at the earliest.

Hi, i'm 37 and finally went under a 1 min at my first ever swim meet a month ago - 57.56. At practice my fastest was 1:01.5, which was off the wall. It had been my goal for the past 1.5 - 2 years to go below 1 min.

I'm not too hopeful of getting below 1:00, the clock is ticking. I probably won't be doing another SCY meet until next year at the earliest. Are you not doing nationals in your home town? If not, lame, double lame.

1:10 is the new 1:00 I completely agree! I reached that milestone with a 1:08.99 in March. As a non high school / non college / completely inactive couch potato until age 30 swimmer, I would love to break the 1:00 mark or do something top-10ish before age catches up, but I'll also be happy to just keep swimming until my 70's. Although it will be 2050 by then and maybe 70-year-old women will be breaking 1:00 on a regular basis.

I'm 40, and swam through college (small D1). On a similar note, I'm 0.2 away from my big barrier in the 50 free. I realize that I probably need to hit this goal in the next few years if I'm going to do it. IMO, what you could have going for you (I don't know your background) is if you did NOT swim in HS or college. Meaning, you haven't tried it all; used the entire spectrum of training methods, or stagnated after millions of repetitive armstrokes. In other words, you have more room for improvement than someone who has swum competetively for over 20 years. You are malleable. Again, I don't know your background, but if this is the case it is a positive one I think. This is a good thing for you and your goal. I, on the other hand, am running out of options and will struggle for 0.2. Good luck! I've got that going for me, which is nice. I swam age group from age 7-12 and was pretty good I think for a kid. I can't remember my times but it wasn't under 1:00, maybe 1:03ish. Although sprint freestyle was never my thing, fly and distancewas. I think I have a full second or more to gain from the start alone. I just haven't been able to figure it out and I have no place to practice it besides meet warm-ups. My legs are weak and I get no push from the blocks. Further I must get a poor angle because I am just stuck under water in a dead spot and usually come up at the feet of others in the heat. I think I want to go back to my age group flat dive in 3 feet water depth but I haven't figured that out either. I can also lose another 20 pounds and continue to improve my technique and the workout variation too.

If you can do 1:02 in practice, I expect that with rest and a little luck, you will positively destroy the 1:00 barrier in a meet. I can never come close to race times in practice. I think my best time in practice is about 1:07 from a push, but that's just me alone and I can't harness the extra adrenalin. I always thought if I went under 1:05 or could do 50s under 30 I would be there.

I can never come close to race times in practice. I think my best time in practice is about 1:07 from a push, but that's just me alone and I can't harness the extra adrenalin. I always thought if I went under 1:05 or could do 50s under 30 I would be there. Try it with fins. I am becoming a fins convert...do some hard kick sets to get those legs strengthened and try a 100 for time with fins. It hurts the legs, but its fun and fast - see if you can beat that 1.05 - I bet you could!

1:10 is the new 1:00

I have a friend on the forum who began swimming in his early 40's. (rtodd). He was a former runner. The 100 free time gradually came down to the minute range. And it invariably became the mystical barrier to break. Kind of like the 4 minute mile. At a meet a couple of years ago he smashed it with a :57. Very exciting for both him and everyone else cheering him on!

Ande, I don't think I was asking for help but I'm always up for getting free tips. That's a lot of questions but I will try to answer most of them. I generally swim 3-4 times a week. I go up to 4-5 for a couple of months to end the spring season. This was my 3rd season of Masters after a 27 year lay-off. I started at a 1:08 and have slowly inched down at a decreasing rate. I mostly swim alone. I have access to a coached workout but don't usually make it because of schedule. It's just a handful of fitness/tri swimmers but the coach was real helpful and I was able to get some advice and work on it on my own. I do 2000-3000 SCM a workout. A week would consist of something like this: Day 1 (aerobic) 150 Warm-up 2500M ladder on 1:50 interval (avg 1:35-1:40 pace) 200 cool down Day 2(aerobic/anaerobic mix) 150 warm-up 18x100 in descending sets of 3 on 1:55,1:50, 1:40 (avg. 1:40, 1:35, 1:30) 200 cool down Day 3 (sprints) 150 warm-up 10x100 hypoxic (which for me is breathing every 3 strokes) 10x25 free all-out on 1:00 (or 5 50s or 2 75s) cool down A 4th day might be a different variation of above or a butterfly version of the sprint workout. This gives me enough variety but I don't do all these mixed up workouts that I read about. I might add a couple hundred yards of kicking earlier in the season but end up abandoning it because it hurts so much I start to feel the returns are eventually negative. I need to strengthen my legs but that is the reality. kicking a 50 in a minute is my best and then I am sore. Now that SCY is over I switch to distance and try to do a 5k later in the summer so plan on doing very little sprinting. I will get my yardage up to 4000 for a month or two. Probably 4 times a week or 3 and a day of biking. Then get back towards sprinting in the winter. I just did a best 27.7 (my best by almost a second with a crap start) in the 50 after a constant 28.5-29.5 for two years. My best 200 time is 2:21 but that was a while ago and I think I could do a little better. I just did a 13:50 in the 1000 (1st time) which I was very happy with. (I did a 26:00 in the 1500M a year ago which I think I would now smash). My pace in distance and in practice sets have improved substantially in the last few months, but it didn't translate into the dramatic improvement in the 100 I was looking for. My technique I think has also improved recently away from swinging arms and thumb entry to high elbows along with improved breathing. It feels so much better but maybe I revert to old habits when sprinting or else my form isn't as important when sprinting. Weight lifting, like kicking, has been an on-off relationship for the last couple of years. As I get further into the season I feel my limited time is better spent in the pool and it makes me sore. I just started lifting again today after a couple months off as I start a new cycle of conditioning. I'm 6'1, 220 lbs. Just lost 10 pounds and want to get towards 200. I've been a heavy drinker and food binger for decades and trying to turn my life around. My wife and I both work and have two small children. Juggling schedules to get to the pool is rough. My job is on the fritz so I might end up with more time soon but might then have to cut my membership. My knee was blown out and I have poor circulation in my legs and they are just overall weak. I wear a $30 jammer and don't shave but don't have much body hair. I suppose I should wear a cap but I have never liked them at all. I'm trying as we speak to figure out the technology to get a video on youtube. It was taken on a camera in a hotel pool so won't be very good. How's that?