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 --
Didn't you also really ramp up your weights/dryland strength program this season? Perhaps that's a (the?) major factor in your newfound speed.
Yes, that is true. It's also true that, when I am at Cactus for workouts on Wednesdays and Fridays, Paul's or Laura's quality sets tend to be more sprint-oriented. I have opted to do those (vs. mid-distance or distance sets), but primarily with an eye to getting faster for my 200. It's probably rubbed off on my 50 & 100. Having said all of that, my speed is still relative to my former self, not relative to the truly fast guys.
Chris,
The truth is Patrick is finally hitting his taper from all the training he did in high school & at UT
:)
I believe that training a variety of strokes and distances over the course of a season can be beneficial to sprinting.
Didn't you also really ramp up your weights/dryland strength program this season? Perhaps that's a (the?) major factor in your newfound speed.
Yes, that is true. It's also true that, when I am at Cactus for workouts on Wednesdays and Fridays, Paul's or Laura's quality sets tend to be more sprint-oriented. I have opted to do those (vs. mid-distance or distance sets), but primarily with an eye to getting faster for my 200. It's probably rubbed off on my 50 & 100. Having said all of that, my speed is still relative to my former self, not relative to the truly fast guys.
:)
I think Patrick is a perfect example of how adding in high quality speed workouts and weights can benefit a middle distance swimmer...far to many swimmers out there still seeing quantity over quality and wondering why they aren't improving...like 1 or 2 of the swimmers who come to the same workout as PW but instead of doing fast 50's on 3:00 do 200's..a the same plodding speed they swim every length of every workout.
If you want to be "fast" in the 500, the mile, the 400IM it all starts with being able to go "fast" for a 25/50 and that comes with improved strength and "fast" training in the pool.
Get to see this thread is alive. I am a true believer is doing more sprinting in practice (mainly because I hate endless swimming and I lose track of how many laps I have done if I start to go over 200 yards). This year, many of the guys who lap during our distance sets can't beat me in a 50 or 100 free.
My experience with the SWIMETRICS testing --
First of all - you need a little bit of a thick skin, you walk away just a little deflated - he said even some of the great swimmers wonder afterwards "am I doing anything right"?
A couple of key changes us oldtimers need to get rid of once and for all:
- the S-type stroke in Freestyle is no good >> set the elbow as high as possible and then pull in a straight line. Any scull to the side will slow you down.
- even in Fly - keep the arms pulling as straight as possible; I saw my speed slow down as soon as my hands came close together in the strongest part of my stroke - I was taught the "key hole" in fly and it seems to be wrong
- keep the freaking head down - once and for all - the head must stay down. Don't argue with me, talk to Dr. G, who has done this test for the US Olympic team.
- don't assume great swimmers do everything correctly. Just because Phelps swims a loping Free stroke, that does not mean it is correct. Just because Ian Thorpe has his head a little higher, that does mean it's the way to swim. Nobody has the perfect stroke and everybody is looking to improve.
- don't assume great swimmers do everything correctly. Just because Phelps swims a loping Free stroke, that does not mean it is correct. Just because Ian Thorpe has his head a little higher, that does mean it's the way to swim. Nobody has the perfect stroke and everybody is looking to improve.
Ya, I completely agree with this! Everyone has idiosyncrasies in their stroke, and sometimes it's better to accept these minor variances and make the most of your strengths. We can analyze what Person A-Z does, but what we really need to do is find the fastest flow-state for each particular persons inherent range of motion.
My experience with the SWIMETRICS testing --
First of all - you need a little bit of a thick skin, you walk away just a little deflated - he said even some of the great swimmers wonder afterwards "am I doing anything right"?
A couple of key changes us oldtimers need to get rid of once and for all:
- the S-type stroke in Freestyle is no good >> set the elbow as high as possible and then pull in a straight line. Any scull to the side will slow you down.
- even in Fly - keep the arms pulling as straight as possible; I saw my speed slow down as soon as my hands came close together in the strongest part of my stroke - I was taught the "key hole" in fly and it seems to be wrong
- keep the freaking head down - once and for all - the head must stay down. Don't argue with me, talk to Dr. G, who has done this test for the US Olympic team.
- don't assume great swimmers do everything correctly. Just because Phelps swims a loping Free stroke, that does not mean it is correct. Just because Ian Thorpe has his head a little higher, that does mean it's the way to swim. Nobody has the perfect stroke and everybody is looking to improve.
Someone stick a thumbtack on this post!
Good one Erik!
Hope they listen...
But George Haines said, "Don't assume that just because you told them once today, that they will remember it tomorrow.
You have to repeat it every single day."
Ha Ha - I love my job - how simple is that?
I think Patrick is a perfect example of how adding in high quality speed workouts and weights can benefit a middle distance swimmer...far to many swimmers out there still seeing quantity over quality and wondering why they aren't improving...like 1 or 2 of the swimmers who come to the same workout as PW but instead of doing fast 50's on 3:00 do 200's..a the same plodding speed they swim every length of every workout.
If you want to be "fast" in the 500, the mile, the 400IM it all starts with being able to go "fast" for a 25/50 and that comes with improved strength and "fast" training in the pool.
Paul, I spoke w/ my coach about adding in these types of sets or workouts to my schedule and was told that some are big believers in this type of training but that's not how they train where I swim. This is one of the best known clubs in the area and they've trained past Olympians. So. . . advice? As I've greatly surpassed my times as a kid, I'm not really disappointed if I've reached my speed limit - and I'm thrilled with how I can split races well and come back strong. I mostly enjoy the workouts and the people and the fitness level I've achieved. Switching teams is not an option b/c frankly, I feel this is one of the best teams out there. But just thought I'd share with you the fact that some of us swimmers do try and do what the coaches tell us to do. There are simply some very different coaching methods out there. I think you swam at the club I swim at?!
I agree, it's NOT a recovery day. I find it rather painful. And that's part of the issue - it's certainly not fun yet. :) During my 8x50 fly set on 2:00 (not enough rest still, I know), I commented that it really hurt BAD! And my coach responded, "Just like the last lap of your 100 fly race, eh?" Uh no. My 100 fly in a meet never hurts like that. At all. I think that's a sign.
That's plenty of rest, it depends what you are trying to do. Also good to try repeat 100s or even 200s with lots of rest. Now THAT'S a lot of pain.
It is fun...once you build up your lactate tolerance to the point where it is equivalent with your (no doubt incredible) aerobic conditioning and power. (I, in turn, can use more training along those lines. I just have a hard time getting to those 4:30am AG practices...or recovering from them in time to be semi-coherent at work.)
You're right, it may be a sign. Building up lactate tolerance means that it still hurts pretty bad, but you're able to swim fast anyway. And you don't fear the burn quite as much, since you've experienced it in practice even worse. That means you can push it more on the way out and still feel confident you can make it home strong. (I'm amazed at how the top swimmers can take out the first 50 in the 100 at virtually their top speed, and still hang on and look strong coming home.)
