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

Did this experiment Dec 07, 225#, 50 Fly 36.00scm, converts to about 32.43scy, about .25 off my then best May 08, 245#, 50Fly 31.42scy, a personal best!!!:applaud: Well, I can cast a little doubt on the accuracy of this 'experiment'. I am finding that conversions from SCM to SCY for my Masters swimming is a little suspect. It seems that that extra 7.5 feet per length of meters does not lend itself to a linear translation from yards. Especially in fly. I'm finding that there is about a full second real difference between my real SCY time (26.03) and my converted from SCM time (30.21 converted to a 27.22 SCY) proving that that extra 15 feet can make a huge difference. Paul

proving that that extra 15 feet can make a huge difference. Paul Agreed. My fly times NEVER converted (were always waaay slower in SCM or LCM) until I started doing some beefy fly sets with the kids. Now they convert.

It seems that that extra 7.5 feet per length of meters does not lend itself to a linear translation from yards.... ... proving that that extra 15 feet can make a huge difference. Paul Isn't it amazing how the physiology gets so finely trained! After swimming 8 years in a 20-yard pool before moving to a 25-yd pool, I still, 15 months later, have a slight dip in effort and forward motion at yd 21. :cane: VB

I would love to have a breakthrough! I didn't swim in college and took a long break from swimming. I've been back swimming very consistently for a little over a year. Mostly I have been training for long open water swims and just signed up to swim the English channel in July 2010. How many times a week are you training? 5-6. Will start adding doubles soon to start training for the channel. Will build up to 9 practices a week. How far do you go in each practice? 3-5,000. In the months before a long OW races, I try to do one 10-14,000 practice per week. How hard and fast do you go? I like to swim at a high intensity. I can make 10-20 hundreds on 1:15. We usually swim most of practice at a base interval of 1:20 and I'll hold about a 1:12 pace. I really would like to be able to comfortably swim on a 1:10 interval by next year. Do you have any training partners who are as good or better than you? yes usually Are you splitting your race correctly? usually, though I died during the last hour of my last 12.5 mi race. Didn't have quite enough endurance. did you taper? yeah did you shave? yup are you wearing a fast skin body suit in races? no, but I just got the blue seventy point zero3 how good was the pool you swam in? NA how psyched were you before and during your race? pretty psyhed are you making any technique mistakes you could improve? I'm trying to learn the I-pull to increase my turnover. I am about to read Total Immersion and I hope that will be helpful. Also I am trying to work on my kick. I don't kick - at all, not even a 2 beat kick. That makes me start to sink at the end of long races. I run 20 mi/week and have big strong legs, but I don't use them. how close are you to your ideal body weight? I think I'm about 40 lb over my idea weight. I love love love carbs and sweets. ::sigh:: I'm gonna start the South Beach diet next week how strong are you? I don't lift but I am pretty strong. I used to use the Vasa trainer and might start doing that again. I also think I could benefit from some abs/core work. Thanks for the advice!

please do this: test yourself in a 50 free right now then gain 20 pounds of blubber then retest yourself then report your results Did this experiment Dec 07, 225#, 50 Fly 36.00scm, converts to about 32.43scy, about .25 off my then best May 08, 245#, 50Fly 31.42scy, a personal best!!!:applaud: Unfortunately, by my activity level, appearance, and the way my clothes fit, the extra 20# is blubber. :cry: Right after the Dec 07 meet I fell on some ice, hurting my shoulder and aggravating the medial epicondylitis (Golfers Elbow) I have in both elbows. Made it difficult to swim much or with any intensity. It also turned out a side effect of the Diclofenic I was taking for my elbows is weight gain. However, I don’t attribute the improvement to additional ‘flotation’ from the extra 20# of fat. More likely the improvement was due: 1 – When I did swim I did a much higher percentage of kick work, flutter and SDKs 2 – I swam the 50 Fly in Dec after swimming PBs in the 100 & 200 Free, while in May I was rested and it was my first event of the day The rest of the May meet didn’t go nearly as well as my 50 Fly. I was about a second off my best times in the 50 Bk and Br, within 0.12 of my best in the 100IM (which at my level of swimming is almost as good as a PB). And my 200 Free, I decided to try save face and just call it a cool down,:whiteflag: it was a just a hair better than my first 200Free at my first masters meet over three years ago and SLOWER than my 200 split from my 500 and 1000 Free. IMHO, lugging the extra 20# did not make me any faster

My main problem is momentum - I am not sure when to start the kick and how to transition into swimming quickly. Erik, don't over-think it. You obviously have good feel for the water, go with your instinct on when to start kicking and how to best transition to swimming. You should work on it (eg 2-3 hard kicks) on every freestyle turn, not just on specific sets; like anything else it will feel more natural the more you do it in practice.

congrats on your goal and posting here looks like you're well on your way if you want to swim the channel it's good to have some insulation Lynne (who I train with sometimes) swam the channel and catalina she did a lot of cold water swimming to prepare here's her blog you might find some useful info there did you have a particular question? I would love to have a breakthrough! I didn't swim in college and took a long break from swimming. I've been back swimming very consistently for a little over a year. Mostly I have been training for long open water swims and just signed up to swim the English channel in July 2010. How many times a week are you training? 5-6. Will start adding doubles soon to start training for the channel. Will build up to 9 practices a week. How far do you go in each practice? 3-5,000. In the months before a long OW races, I try to do one 10-14,000 practice per week. How hard and fast do you go? I like to swim at a high intensity. I can make 10-20 hundreds on 1:15. We usually swim most of practice at a base interval of 1:20 and I'll hold about a 1:12 pace. I really would like to be able to comfortably swim on a 1:10 interval by next year. Do you have any training partners who are as good or better than you? yes usually Are you splitting your race correctly? usually, though I died during the last hour of my last 12.5 mi race. Didn't have quite enough endurance. did you taper? yeah did you shave? yup are you wearing a fast skin body suit in races? no, but I just got the blue seventy point zero3 how good was the pool you swam in? NA how psyched were you before and during your race? pretty psyhed are you making any technique mistakes you could improve? I'm trying to learn the I-pull to increase my turnover. I am about to read Total Immersion and I hope that will be helpful. Also I am trying to work on my kick. I don't kick - at all, not even a 2 beat kick. That makes me start to sink at the end of long races. I run 20 mi/week and have big strong legs, but I don't use them. how close are you to your ideal body weight? I think I'm about 40 lb over my idea weight. I love love love carbs and sweets. ::sigh:: I'm gonna start the South Beach diet next week how strong are you? I don't lift but I am pretty strong. I used to use the Vasa trainer and might start doing that again. I also think I could benefit from some abs/core work. Thanks for the advice!

you're welcome good luck this might help you too swim faster faster Thanks for the link! I'm sure I will find it helpful.

Thanks for the link! I'm sure I will find it helpful.

anybody else wanna