Reversing The Typical Training Philosophy
Reversing The Typical Training Philosophy
I would have to believe that anyone reading the blogs and articles on this site are interested in going fast or atleast faster than they're currently going!
Think Speed First! Dr. Joel Stager from Indiana University once quoted a phrase to me when we were talking about my 500 Freestyler at the time! "You can't go under 5:00 in the 500 if you can't go under :50 in the 100 Free!"
I am sure there are exceptions to this statement, but I believe it to be very true! In coaching age-group swimmers there's always the kid who wants to be a distance swimmer! You go to a swim meet and at about 4:00 in the afternoon after waiting through 8 heats of the 1,650 to see the kid swim and "finish", but not race and definitely not swim it fast! We can do that in practice!
When you're training for a distance event, think speed first! So let's say you want to swim the 1500m and your goal is to swim 18:00, then you should be able to swim a 1000m in 12:00 or 500m in 6:00! In training you should be able to swim 15 x 100m faster than 1:12 consistently!
Let's think about shorter races! If your best time in the 50 Free is :30 don't expect to swim the 100 Free in 1:00! My baseline to tell swimmers if they want to break 1:00 in the 100 Free is that they need to be able to swim 6 x 50's w/ :30 rest faster than :30!
Train Fast First - Increase Number of Repeats - Build Endrance and Speed Together
- Tim Manley's blog
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Comments
I am sure there are exceptions!
As stated, I am sure there are exceptions! The point being is that you're not going to be a great distance swimmer until you're able to swim shorter distances faster! If you're a 1:00 100 Freestyler, don't expect to break 5:00 in the 500!Good luck!
Tim Manley; B.S., ASCA Level 3
"It's your swimming!"
Hmmm..
The math doesn't seem to add up that you have to go under :50 in the 100 free in order to break 5:00 in the 500. If you looks at National short course yard qualifying times, you'll see that the women need to swim the 100 in 51.29 to make the meet, but in order to qualify for the 500 they will need to go a 453.49. This tells me that there are a lot more swimmers who can break 5:00 than can break :50.
agree, sort of
I like, and agree with the premise of your post. That said, I agree with Abigail. It is really hard (and dangerous) to apply 'rules' to swim performance. I have known quite a few women over the years who can break 5:00 in a 500 free, and not touch :50 in a 100.
Think about these splits:
57
59
1:00
1:00
59
Way under five minutes. No indication that a:49 is remotely possible. Same swimmer could probably hold double 00s for a 1,000 free.