I was hoping someone could help me out here. I started swimming about 4 months ago. I try to swim 1600 meters 3-4 times a week freestyle. My fastest time so far is 27.5 min's to finish and I just can't seem to do it any faster. I guess my first question is "is that even a good time??"
2nd question - To help speed up my time should I continue to do the mile a day and keep working on my time, or should I do more laps to build up my endurance? I really want to get to 25 min's but I'm getting a little discouraged because I'm not improving on my time
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Originally posted by AF_swim_girl
(btw, the "mile" in meters is only 1500)?
Hair-splitting time.
Most 25m pools will say that it takes 32 laps (64 length) for a mile. That's 1600 meters. Most 25y pools will say it takes 36 laps (72 length) for a mile. That's 1800 yards.
At meets they do 1500m "mile" events when the pool is meters. Or they do 1650y if the pool is yards.
A mile is 1760 yards.
A rough conversion is that a meter is 1.1 yards. 1600 meters x 1.1 yards is 1760 yards. (The actual conversion of 1600 meters is 1,749.78 yards.)
So I like to consider 1600 meters to be a full mile, if you want to count actual miles. Swim a full mile routinely, and the 1500m/1650y race becomes a piece of cake!
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Regarding your suggestions for varying the workout to improve mile performance, you're right on target.
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WetFish -- 27.5 mins for 1600 meters is all relative. Most fitness swimmers would love to be able to do that. Olympic swimmers wouldn't be happy with anything over 17.5 mins! (Or 16.5 mins for 1500m). You'll find threads on this board talking about the possibility of the men breaking 14.5 mins this year. At most local masters meets where they do a 1500m/1650y event, you'll generally find several swimmers breaking 20 mins, and even one or two swimmers breaking 18. (Add an extra minute and a half or so to translate that to a 1600m.) But most of the swimmers who do that distance at the local meets will be over 30 minutes, and some even in the 40s.
Four months and you're already at 27.5? You're a natural!
Originally posted by AF_swim_girl
(btw, the "mile" in meters is only 1500)?
Hair-splitting time.
Most 25m pools will say that it takes 32 laps (64 length) for a mile. That's 1600 meters. Most 25y pools will say it takes 36 laps (72 length) for a mile. That's 1800 yards.
At meets they do 1500m "mile" events when the pool is meters. Or they do 1650y if the pool is yards.
A mile is 1760 yards.
A rough conversion is that a meter is 1.1 yards. 1600 meters x 1.1 yards is 1760 yards. (The actual conversion of 1600 meters is 1,749.78 yards.)
So I like to consider 1600 meters to be a full mile, if you want to count actual miles. Swim a full mile routinely, and the 1500m/1650y race becomes a piece of cake!
---
Regarding your suggestions for varying the workout to improve mile performance, you're right on target.
---
WetFish -- 27.5 mins for 1600 meters is all relative. Most fitness swimmers would love to be able to do that. Olympic swimmers wouldn't be happy with anything over 17.5 mins! (Or 16.5 mins for 1500m). You'll find threads on this board talking about the possibility of the men breaking 14.5 mins this year. At most local masters meets where they do a 1500m/1650y event, you'll generally find several swimmers breaking 20 mins, and even one or two swimmers breaking 18. (Add an extra minute and a half or so to translate that to a 1600m.) But most of the swimmers who do that distance at the local meets will be over 30 minutes, and some even in the 40s.
Four months and you're already at 27.5? You're a natural!
