I'm considering doing my first LCM meet this summer. I have access to LC facilities, but currently train on my own and SCY pools are my closest/most convenient options. If I do a meet, I will probably only swim free/*** events. I may entertain a 200IM, but that's highly unlikely ;) What's the best way to prepare for long course in a yards pool? Thank you!
Amanda
While everything everyone has said so far is great, let me give you some more advice that is often overlooked:
Just keep doing what you are doing and believe in your training. If you get in the water every day and think, "gosh darn it I am stuck swimming yards and I am going to be competing meters," you are holding yourself back. Trust the work you put in every day. I have had to race my big taper meet in LCM several times, after training all fall/winter SCY. The better I got about not stressing the difference in pool distance, the better prepared I was to race at the end of the season.
Also remember reading an article about Eddie Reese and his summer team with his college swimmers. They only did LCM 3 times a week. Everything else was SCY. I apologize I can't find a copy of the article right now (it was from probably 8-10 years ago). The point was that developing speed and fine tuning it is best done SCY. The LCM training helps to get rid of that "long course meters hangover."
TL;DR Believe in yourself and your training, and it won't matter what pool you train in versus what pool you race in. You got this!
While everything everyone has said so far is great, let me give you some more advice that is often overlooked:
Just keep doing what you are doing and believe in your training. If you get in the water every day and think, "gosh darn it I am stuck swimming yards and I am going to be competing meters," you are holding yourself back. Trust the work you put in every day. I have had to race my big taper meet in LCM several times, after training all fall/winter SCY. The better I got about not stressing the difference in pool distance, the better prepared I was to race at the end of the season.
Also remember reading an article about Eddie Reese and his summer team with his college swimmers. They only did LCM 3 times a week. Everything else was SCY. I apologize I can't find a copy of the article right now (it was from probably 8-10 years ago). The point was that developing speed and fine tuning it is best done SCY. The LCM training helps to get rid of that "long course meters hangover."
TL;DR Believe in yourself and your training, and it won't matter what pool you train in versus what pool you race in. You got this!
