What do YOU need to do to have a major swimming breakthrough?"

I'm familiar with the question (I ask myself this regularly), but I don't have an answer. Last spring I improved 25 seconds in the 500 (Jan. to May) but have not been able to swim faster since then. Maybe I'm not training enough to offset the effects of aging. Or maybe there is a physiological limit as to how close I can get to the times I swam 25 years ago. Or maybe I just need to move back to Walnut Creek (near where I grew up) and train with a good coach.

glad you like those questions hope they help you figure out what you need to do to breakthrough and improve look forward to reading your replies anyone else here hoping to breakthrough? ande Originally posted by gull80 I started training more seriously in October of 2003 (after going through rehab for my shoulder). I increased my yardage from 1500 to 3000 yards/workout over several months. I was consistent with my dryland program (still am). I added more endurance work as well as race pace sets. Ande--good questions. I'll get back to you on that--don't have time right now.

I find that I need to "learn to swim fast". By this, I mean most of the time you are building up in the season to a final meet. In this build up time most of workout is focused on endurance but then in the final 6 weeks before the meet I switch to "learning to swim fast". Taper is the ultimate test but I find that periodically I need to continue to swim beyond the final meet. When I do this my base is set at a whole new level and the times drop accordingly.

that's true, as you get closer to competition, if you compete in the sprints, you need to have speed. very often in the 50 and the 100 who ever turns first at the 25 is going to win the race. to develop speed you need to do stroke drills and some very fast, 15 meter, 25's, 50's, 75's, and 100's you need to get used to coming at the wall faster and turning with more speed. At the 1991 Masters meet in Nashville, I went 20.87 in the 50 free. That same year Robert Peel went 19.83. After he did that I interviewed him asking how he trained. He said he'd been lifting weights, playing basketball, and doing a little swimming. On a whim he entered a swim meet and went 21.6 in the 50 free, he was shocked so he started training a little more, he felt he didn't have time to go through a training cycle, so he just concentrated on speed. Mainly doing doing 12.5 and 25 sprints really fast with plenty of rest. he swam in another meet and went 20.6 after training for 4 or 6 weeks, then he went to masters nationals and went 19.83. Robert wound up training for the 1992 Olympic Trials, i think he made top 8 and went 22.83 50 LCM. the point I want to make is that the people who are swimming really fast, like Trip Hedrick and Richard Abrams, do have talent, but they are also training to swim very fast. In 1991 - 1992 I wound up going 50 LCM FR 23.65 and 50 SCY FR 20.52 the 23.65 was my lifetime best time, I did it 5 years after I finished college on less than 3,000 yards a day. ande Originally posted by waves101 I find that I need to "learn to swim fast". By this, I mean most of the time you are building up in the season to a final meet. In this build up time most of workout is focused on endurance but then in the final 6 weeks before the meet I switch to "learning to swim fast". Taper is the ultimate test but I find that periodically I need to continue to swim beyond the final meet. When I do this my base is set at a whole new level and the times drop accordingly.

I suggest you spend your summer training the the best program you can find ande Originally posted by Seagurl51 I'm hoping to see my times drop dramatically so I can make the team at the college I am transfering too. Problem is dramatically translates to about 20 to 30 seconds. I'm glad you posted this thread though, I'm hoping to get some good ideas about how to get my times down. ~Kyra

One of the keys to a break through season is THE REASONS you want to breakthrough. I had a break through season in the summer of 1984. that summer I went from 21.0 to 20.5 in the 50 y Free 46.4 to 44.7 in the 100 y Free and 50.6 to 49.1 in the 100 y Fly. One of the reasons I broke through is I HAD TO. In the spring Eddie Reese told me if I didn't make National cuts. He wouldn't let me back on the team in the fall. I quit swimming in April, 1984 for a whole month. In early May I felt like I had more to prove, I didn't want to quit so I started training to make Nationals and earn a spot on the team for the Fall of 1984. If you really want to break through Set a goal, and Find the reasons why you must, Then remind yourself of those reasons just before you train and while you train. Create a new self image of who you hope to be and what you hope to do. Then every moment in practice, act as if you already are what you most want to be. But don't just think it and don't just say it PROVE IT BY THE WAY YOU TRAIN ACTING AS IF IS POWERFUL STUFF. This alone will help you perform at a higher level and will help you handle training fatigue. I hope you breakthrough, Ande

exactly, my point is why spend the summer in idaho trying to train yourself why not spend the summer in a different town with a great swimming program, like austin or some place where an awesome team trains, and work your but off with a great coach and fast team mates ande Originally posted by Seagurl51 Idaho's not exactly a swim capitol for good programs. Any ideas of what I can do on my own? ~Kyra

Originally posted by ande anyone else here hoping to breakthrough? ande I'm hoping to see my times drop dramatically so I can make the team at the college I am transfering too. Problem is dramatically translates to about 20 to 30 seconds. I'm glad you posted this thread though, I'm hoping to get some good ideas about how to get my times down. ~Kyra

I believe most people have the potential to significantly improve, a good question to ask yourself is What am I NOT doing in my swimming training that I could or should be doing? Begin with How many times a week are you training? How far do you go in each practice? How hard and fast do you go? Do you have any training partners who are as good or better than you? Are you splitting your race correctly? did you taper? did you shave? are you wearing a fast skin body suit in races? how good was the pool you swam in? how psyched were you before and during your race? are you making any technique mistakes you could improve? how close are you to your ideal body weight? how strong are you? Ande Originally posted by gull80 I'm familiar with the question (I ask myself this regularly), but I don't have an answer. Last spring I improved 25 seconds in the 500 (Jan. to May) but have not been able to swim faster since then. Maybe I'm not training enough to offset the effects of aging. Or maybe there is a physiological limit as to how close I can get to the times I swam 25 years ago. Or maybe I just need to move back to Walnut Creek (near where I grew up) and train with a good coach.

Originally posted by ande How many times a week are you training? Six. How far do you go in each practice? 3000 (I only have an hour on weekdays). How hard and fast do you go? I reach close to max HR on race pace sets, but I might be doing too much endurance and not enough speed work. Do you have any training partners who are as good or better than you? No. Are you splitting your race correctly? Lately my 500s have been evenly split, maybe going out too slow. did you taper? Sort of. Sets with more rest. No weights. did you shave? No. are you wearing a fast skin body suit in races? Legskin. how good was the pool you swam in? Pretty fast, I think. how psyched were you before and during your race? More nervous than psyched. are you making any technique mistakes you could improve? Definitely (two beat crossover kick, for one, if you consider that a mistake). how close are you to your ideal body weight? Pretty much there, I think. how strong are you? Could be stronger, but working on it.