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Quest for the 200 fly

Mendrys
over 2 years ago

At the age of 54 I decided to start swimming again in January after a 35-year absence.  Even though I was in reasonably good shape my first workouts were about 500 SCY tops and my first few attempts at butterfly were hopeless.  Fast forward to now and I'm doing 2600 yards in about an hour 4 times a week and finish the workouts with 200 IMs before the cooldown.  I do some stroke work, mainly in the form of a set of 4x100 IMS and 16x25's at pace (4fly at 20 secs rest, 4 back, breast, and free at 10 secs rest). 

I feel strongest at the end of the workouts, which is a good thing I think, and plan to increase the total distance to 3100 SCY.  I eventually want to compete though at this point I'm not really interested in my times; those will take care of themselves if I train with proper effort and technique.  I'm excited about starting this all again and joining USMS too.  The feeling after a good, vigorous workout is amazing and in case anyone is wondering, given my age, I did consult with my doctor before starting all of this

I have an intermediate (long term perhaps?) goal of being able to complete a 200 fly without having a piano falling on my back! (I love that phrase that I learned while trolling thru this site the last few hours!)  When I first started several months ago, I didn't think this would be a possibility, ever, but I know better now and want to know if anyone has any training advice, suggestions or resources that they think might help?  

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Welcome to the USMS Community, David!  When I returned to swimming in 2010, it was after a 31 year absence, so I can relate!  My previous swimming experience had only been on the high school swim team.

    Although fly is my slowest stroke, I love it-- especially the 200 or longer.  Here is my advice:

    1.  Check out YouTube for physical therapy exercises for the shoulder, and do them religiously.  I use a Theraband and do a combination of those exercises, other shoulder exercises, push-ups, and/or other body weight exercises six days per week.  It is very important to have not only strong shoulders, but also a strong upper back.

    2.  A good video:  Total Immersion's Better Fly For Every Body.

    I have a bunch more, but I have to head out the door.  Stay tuned...

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    There are a lot of things you can try in the pool, I would look to your coach for ideas. I have found dry land work with StretchCordz to be helpful. 

    You might also want to develop a strategy for what to do when you think the piano might start falling in a race. Breaststroke kick or 3 or 4 dolphin kicks per arm stroke are techniques used by some ‘mature’ 200 flyers. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    learning to swim butterfly while tired, while still maintaining good form (its a tough skill to get good at!).  Not saying swim your butterfly tired all the time, but you have to do some simulation of how it will feel on the last 50/75 yards.  Doesn't have to be all FL.  You can do FR, to get you a little fatigued, then go right into doing a little FL focusing on great technique!

    (I am a 200 FL guy, so I am speaking from a little experience!)

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Ok, I'm back with a helpful link with good information from the late Terry Lauglin:

    http://www.swimwellblog.com/archives/109/

    This is a blog post, "Butterfly for Boomers-- Ease your way to a 200 Fly.

    Finally, if you are in this for the long hall, taking care of your shoulders should be top priority.  If there is one swimmer to emulate, make it Michael Phelps.  Watch videos of his stroke recovery and visualize it as you swim fly.  

    Good luck!

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Thanks for the advice from everyone with different perspectives on how to tackle this self-imposed quest.  I'm not going to forget about the other strokes, this is medium(long??) term goal that will require some patience and hard work. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Well, I swim usually 800 to 1600 yards about 3 to 4 times a week. I did a 200 yard fly in practice last year. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Learn to stretch it out especially when you get tired and use your push off/streamline to rest! I have swam many 1650 and 200 flies! Also, it's good to compete as soon as you can and not wait until you feel faster. That way, you can really chart your progress and meets are fun!