Cesar Cielo is fastest swimmer in the world -- 25 yards in 8.88 to the foot -- he was just trying to "maintain" on the second 25...
There are 3 ways to swim faster in any given race:
1) Improve your technique -- if you become more effecient in your technique, your times will drop across the board
2) Maintain a pace as close as possible to maximum speed -- You can hold your maximum speed for 6-8 seconds. There are no swim races of that length - so when training for any swimming race (50 up the mile), you are trying to maintain a pace as close to your maximum speed as possible.
3) Get Faster = improve your maximum speed
I would say on average, Masters swimmers (and age-groupers) spend their in the water workout season according to the following breakdown (rough guess):
1) Improving technique = 20-30%
2) Maintaining close to max = 65-79%
3) Improving Max Speed = 1-5%
Think about it -- if you swim 4-5 times per week, that equals about 20 hours a month. Did you spend more than a full hour in October on maximum speed ?
This Thread is all about Category 3 -- Improving your Max Speed --
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Suppose you came upon someone in the woods working to saw down a tree. They are exhausted from working for hours. You suggest they take a break to sharpen the saw. They might reply, "I don't have time to sharpen the saw, I'm busy sawing!"
So - after taking the New Years break, it's time to sharpen our saws for the new season.
What does that mean though for a swimmer ? Work on your start or technique ? Get stronger ? Swim more IM ?
Here is what it means to me --- I take my main race - 100 Free - from the last meet and luckily, I have a video. Then I break down the video into splits, turnover, turn times, start, underwaters, and so on.
100 Free in December - relay race 49.8 equals 50.6 in flat start:
Splits: 11.75 / 12.75 / 13.25 / 12.85 >>> 3 rd 25 was too slow
Strokes by 25: 12 / 15 (+1) / 15.5 (+1) / 17 >>> I often take an extra stroke to initiate my turn - that's why I have the +1 /// also I took an early stroke after the last turn.
Turns: Last 5 meters into the wall about 3.2 sec (head going through 5 meters until foot touches the wall). It takes me about .9 to 1 sec to get my feet to the wall (meaning stop of forward progress before the wall until the feet actually hit the wall). Also - I start my first stroke after the wall pretty much exactly at the 5 meters - which takes 1.6 seconds. So the overall turn time is 4.8 seconds. >>>> I should try to find some good comparison video of world class swimmers to see if they have the same ratio. Of course I will not be as fast as they are - but it can give a good comparison.
Turnover (how many cycles per minute - one left + one right arm pull equals a cycle --- some good stop watches have this feature -- or you can just time 2 cycles and figure it out): by 25s --- First = 49-47; 2nd = 46-43; 43-42; 44-44 >>>>> you can see why the 3rd 25 was much slower - my turnover dropped too low. I have a very long stroke - so I will lever be at above 50, but 42 in a 100 Free is way too low.
So what do I need to change ?
- eliminate the extra stroke into the wall and get my feet to the wall much faster >>> major change in my turns needed. But this could be an easy extra 1/10th per turn.
- Up the turnover - but there is a catch. You can't just increase your turnover without changing your length of stroke. For example - I take 15 strokes in a 25m Free -- if I increase my turnover from 43 to 45 cycles and keep everything else the same, I would drop .46 sec per 25. Which sounds good, but is unrealistic. I will probably also have to take an extra stroke. Which means, I would have to shoot for a turnover of at least 47-48. Also - my next race is yards - so I will need to adjust the stroke count per 25 to yards (that's actually not that difficult - it's pretty much exactly 2 strokes less for me).
So - my goal for the season is a 100 Free swim. But rather than having a strong race or a good season, I want to swim the race the following way: I want to take 14 strokes per 25 (not counting the first lap) with a turnover of 47. That is something I can practice today - I have a pacer and I can count strokes.
Now in order to do that, I do need more than just the pacer -- I do need to lift and get stronger -- more precisely, I need to get quicker / more power. The same strength level with more quickness. Something like that. Also - my turns need a lot of work - my core is not strong enough, which shows on the 3rd and 4th 25 -- I hurt the most in my core when I get tired.
But this is my starting point - before figuring out any exact workouts.
More from the speedzone in the coming weeks ...
Suppose you came upon someone in the woods working to saw down a tree. They are exhausted from working for hours. You suggest they take a break to sharpen the saw. They might reply, "I don't have time to sharpen the saw, I'm busy sawing!"
So - after taking the New Years break, it's time to sharpen our saws for the new season.
What does that mean though for a swimmer ? Work on your start or technique ? Get stronger ? Swim more IM ?
Here is what it means to me --- I take my main race - 100 Free - from the last meet and luckily, I have a video. Then I break down the video into splits, turnover, turn times, start, underwaters, and so on.
100 Free in December - relay race 49.8 equals 50.6 in flat start:
Splits: 11.75 / 12.75 / 13.25 / 12.85 >>> 3 rd 25 was too slow
Strokes by 25: 12 / 15 (+1) / 15.5 (+1) / 17 >>> I often take an extra stroke to initiate my turn - that's why I have the +1 /// also I took an early stroke after the last turn.
Turns: Last 5 meters into the wall about 3.2 sec (head going through 5 meters until foot touches the wall). It takes me about .9 to 1 sec to get my feet to the wall (meaning stop of forward progress before the wall until the feet actually hit the wall). Also - I start my first stroke after the wall pretty much exactly at the 5 meters - which takes 1.6 seconds. So the overall turn time is 4.8 seconds. >>>> I should try to find some good comparison video of world class swimmers to see if they have the same ratio. Of course I will not be as fast as they are - but it can give a good comparison.
Turnover (how many cycles per minute - one left + one right arm pull equals a cycle --- some good stop watches have this feature -- or you can just time 2 cycles and figure it out): by 25s --- First = 49-47; 2nd = 46-43; 43-42; 44-44 >>>>> you can see why the 3rd 25 was much slower - my turnover dropped too low. I have a very long stroke - so I will lever be at above 50, but 42 in a 100 Free is way too low.
So what do I need to change ?
- eliminate the extra stroke into the wall and get my feet to the wall much faster >>> major change in my turns needed. But this could be an easy extra 1/10th per turn.
- Up the turnover - but there is a catch. You can't just increase your turnover without changing your length of stroke. For example - I take 15 strokes in a 25m Free -- if I increase my turnover from 43 to 45 cycles and keep everything else the same, I would drop .46 sec per 25. Which sounds good, but is unrealistic. I will probably also have to take an extra stroke. Which means, I would have to shoot for a turnover of at least 47-48. Also - my next race is yards - so I will need to adjust the stroke count per 25 to yards (that's actually not that difficult - it's pretty much exactly 2 strokes less for me).
So - my goal for the season is a 100 Free swim. But rather than having a strong race or a good season, I want to swim the race the following way: I want to take 14 strokes per 25 (not counting the first lap) with a turnover of 47. That is something I can practice today - I have a pacer and I can count strokes.
Now in order to do that, I do need more than just the pacer -- I do need to lift and get stronger -- more precisely, I need to get quicker / more power. The same strength level with more quickness. Something like that. Also - my turns need a lot of work - my core is not strong enough, which shows on the 3rd and 4th 25 -- I hurt the most in my core when I get tired.
But this is my starting point - before figuring out any exact workouts.
More from the speedzone in the coming weeks ...
