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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Former Member
Hi Rich -
Yes - I am ready to roll for the new year ---- got to break 21 this year - but also have some longer term goals -- so my strength training will not be perfect for May.
About changing the workouts -- you do have to work with your surroundings and judge it on a case by case basis -- but you do have to make it work for your purposes first - that's just the reality.
If you have the same coach at all your workouts, you should get on the same page and work out a basic plan that fits your goals. I work out on a large team with 10 different coaches and 3 different pools. I have no idea what coach will be at what workout - and worse, I have no idea what intensity may be planned on any given day. I do the major sprint sets on m y own.
In terms of leading 1/2 of the set or distance and then swimming easy -- for me it works better to swim at the end of the lane. I give the last person plenty of space, so I won't catch them and then I swim fast and easy as needed. Also - I am probably "one lane" faster than anybody else in the lane to begin with - so my easy / recovery swim speed is about the lane's regular speed - I think it works best to move down one lane in order to get in the right workout in terms of sprinting. But - I also think you can lead - like if the set is 200s in yards- swim the first 100 hard - let everybody pass and then swim an easy 50 (instead of the entire 100) and get ready for the next swim. I think - as long as you are working hard and don't disrupt the lane, you should be fine. It's not ideal - but you have to work with what you got.
Hi Rich -
Yes - I am ready to roll for the new year ---- got to break 21 this year - but also have some longer term goals -- so my strength training will not be perfect for May.
About changing the workouts -- you do have to work with your surroundings and judge it on a case by case basis -- but you do have to make it work for your purposes first - that's just the reality.
If you have the same coach at all your workouts, you should get on the same page and work out a basic plan that fits your goals. I work out on a large team with 10 different coaches and 3 different pools. I have no idea what coach will be at what workout - and worse, I have no idea what intensity may be planned on any given day. I do the major sprint sets on m y own.
In terms of leading 1/2 of the set or distance and then swimming easy -- for me it works better to swim at the end of the lane. I give the last person plenty of space, so I won't catch them and then I swim fast and easy as needed. Also - I am probably "one lane" faster than anybody else in the lane to begin with - so my easy / recovery swim speed is about the lane's regular speed - I think it works best to move down one lane in order to get in the right workout in terms of sprinting. But - I also think you can lead - like if the set is 200s in yards- swim the first 100 hard - let everybody pass and then swim an easy 50 (instead of the entire 100) and get ready for the next swim. I think - as long as you are working hard and don't disrupt the lane, you should be fine. It's not ideal - but you have to work with what you got.
