The Swimming Thread - Pool/OW
Discussion
Phelps is potentially going to be allowed to swim at the worlds now:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/swimming/31725258
Does this get shown in the UK? It looks like BBC2 have shown it in previous years so I hope so
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/swimming/31725258
Does this get shown in the UK? It looks like BBC2 have shown it in previous years so I hope so
Good that they are letting him swim. Can't wait to see what he can still do.
RE: Cramps
Yep, arch of foot cramp is a common occurance which I believe is simply from having you toes pointed for ages. I get it often under hard swimming sets and often from a push off where you go from flat footed to pointed, snapping into streamline. Can sometimes get it from fly kick which is probably from doing it wrong, feet should be relaxed.
Another hard session yesterday.
Very long warm up:
300 fc
2 x 1500 no fc
3 x 100 pull
6 x 50 kick
12 x 25 easy down, build back.
then:
6 x 50 on 3 minutes from a dive. Max
10 x 100 steady on 1.40 (choice).
5 x 100 as
100 Max, 100 Easy
100 Max broken at the 75 by 10 second, 100 Easy
100 Max broken at the 50 and the 75 by 10 seconds.
swim down.
6 x 50 on 3 minutes is a killer if you do it properly. Managed 26 on the first, 27 for the next few then 28 on the last one but that was from a push not a dive.
Had to do IM for the 100's because I was knackered and then on the last one, caught someones arm coming the other way (me doing max fly, them doing max free... so I have a very large lump on my arm above the wrist).
RE: Cramps
Yep, arch of foot cramp is a common occurance which I believe is simply from having you toes pointed for ages. I get it often under hard swimming sets and often from a push off where you go from flat footed to pointed, snapping into streamline. Can sometimes get it from fly kick which is probably from doing it wrong, feet should be relaxed.
Another hard session yesterday.
Very long warm up:
300 fc
2 x 1500 no fc
3 x 100 pull
6 x 50 kick
12 x 25 easy down, build back.
then:
6 x 50 on 3 minutes from a dive. Max
10 x 100 steady on 1.40 (choice).
5 x 100 as
100 Max, 100 Easy
100 Max broken at the 75 by 10 second, 100 Easy
100 Max broken at the 50 and the 75 by 10 seconds.
swim down.
6 x 50 on 3 minutes is a killer if you do it properly. Managed 26 on the first, 27 for the next few then 28 on the last one but that was from a push not a dive.
Had to do IM for the 100's because I was knackered and then on the last one, caught someones arm coming the other way (me doing max fly, them doing max free... so I have a very large lump on my arm above the wrist).
Otispunkmeyer said:
Think one of my mates still has some kind of record for the brownsea swim... He is a nutter though and used to do the 25 km swims in places like loch Lomond.
I've only been swimming once a week for the past 2 weeks. I felt terrible in the pool yesterday so that has to stop! Normal service this week I hope!
Also I acquired a new training tool.... sponge on a rope!
Who was it? I won the non-wetsuit category in 2010 and 2011.I've only been swimming once a week for the past 2 weeks. I felt terrible in the pool yesterday so that has to stop! Normal service this week I hope!
Also I acquired a new training tool.... sponge on a rope!
I had a recovery week last week and at the end did a 30 min TT. Still felt quite achy despite having had a couple of days off.
I did 1700m. Was reasonable pleased with the distance although when I had finished I felt like I hadn't put everything in to it so think I could have squeezed a bit more out
I did 1700m. Was reasonable pleased with the distance although when I had finished I felt like I hadn't put everything in to it so think I could have squeezed a bit more out
944fan said:
I had a recovery week last week and at the end did a 30 min TT. Still felt quite achy despite having had a couple of days off.
I did 1700m. Was reasonable pleased with the distance although when I had finished I felt like I hadn't put everything in to it so think I could have squeezed a bit more out
You probably need to do a few before you get a feel for how hard you can push.I did 1700m. Was reasonable pleased with the distance although when I had finished I felt like I hadn't put everything in to it so think I could have squeezed a bit more out
The speed profile on mine was like a collapsed sofa. Fairly brisk at the start, tiring in the middle, but you pass a point where you begin to feel a bit better and the times pick up! My last 50 was my second fastest! Definitely needs a more measured approach at the start.
I was gonna write up yesterdays set but to be honest it was so boring I can't even be arsed to remember it. Hopefully something more interesting appears on Tuesday's set!
I'm just getting back into swimming, after a 20 year break. I've joined a masters group and did my second race meeting yesterday.
How do you guys cope with lactic acid buildup when doing multiple races in the same meet?
In November I did a 50m free as my first race, which was fine, but all my races after that were a disaster, heavy arms and shoulders after the first 50m, just dead.
It was the same yesterday, although slightly better. I did a good warmup, kept an eye on nutrition, did a warm down after each race, and my first two races (50 breast, 100 IM) were ok, although the crawl leg of the IM didn't feel strong. But after that it was the same. Even after a long break for lunch and an hour of waiting after that, I completely died in the last 15m of 100 free.
I still improved my times, but have the feeling that I could have done better. Any solutions, or just train more?
How do you guys cope with lactic acid buildup when doing multiple races in the same meet?
In November I did a 50m free as my first race, which was fine, but all my races after that were a disaster, heavy arms and shoulders after the first 50m, just dead.
It was the same yesterday, although slightly better. I did a good warmup, kept an eye on nutrition, did a warm down after each race, and my first two races (50 breast, 100 IM) were ok, although the crawl leg of the IM didn't feel strong. But after that it was the same. Even after a long break for lunch and an hour of waiting after that, I completely died in the last 15m of 100 free.
I still improved my times, but have the feeling that I could have done better. Any solutions, or just train more?
Reading this thread I'm becoming aware of how lazy I am with my swim training. I pretty much just stuck to front crawl in the pool but vary my pace a bit with the occasional set of 8 55 second 50m and a few 25s thrown in. Occasionally. 
I know I could do plenty of work to improve the speed, but my focus has to remain on cycling & running this year; they're my weaknesses. If I manage to improve my 10km swim time (2:58) in May I'll be happy with that. Should be possible, I'm slimmer and fitter overall this year compared to last. Just need to keep up the pool mileage, which I am finding a bit tougher.
I know I could do plenty of work to improve the speed, but my focus has to remain on cycling & running this year; they're my weaknesses. If I manage to improve my 10km swim time (2:58) in May I'll be happy with that. Should be possible, I'm slimmer and fitter overall this year compared to last. Just need to keep up the pool mileage, which I am finding a bit tougher.
Session posted on Strava by a triathlete friend the other day:-
500 warmup
10x50m sprint
250 easy
10 x 100m on 1:30
250 easy
5x 200m on 3:00
500 easy recovery
Looks simple but the 200s are the same pace as the 100s. Pace is too quick for me, but I like the idea. Of course, as a tri freak he only cares about front crawl ;-)
500 warmup
10x50m sprint
250 easy
10 x 100m on 1:30
250 easy
5x 200m on 3:00
500 easy recovery
Looks simple but the 200s are the same pace as the 100s. Pace is too quick for me, but I like the idea. Of course, as a tri freak he only cares about front crawl ;-)
V-spec said:
I'm just getting back into swimming, after a 20 year break. I've joined a masters group and did my second race meeting yesterday.
How do you guys cope with lactic acid buildup when doing multiple races in the same meet?
In November I did a 50m free as my first race, which was fine, but all my races after that were a disaster, heavy arms and shoulders after the first 50m, just dead.
It was the same yesterday, although slightly better. I did a good warmup, kept an eye on nutrition, did a warm down after each race, and my first two races (50 breast, 100 IM) were ok, although the crawl leg of the IM didn't feel strong. But after that it was the same. Even after a long break for lunch and an hour of waiting after that, I completely died in the last 15m of 100 free.
I still improved my times, but have the feeling that I could have done better. Any solutions, or just train more?
Grin and bear it to an extent... How do you guys cope with lactic acid buildup when doing multiple races in the same meet?
In November I did a 50m free as my first race, which was fine, but all my races after that were a disaster, heavy arms and shoulders after the first 50m, just dead.
It was the same yesterday, although slightly better. I did a good warmup, kept an eye on nutrition, did a warm down after each race, and my first two races (50 breast, 100 IM) were ok, although the crawl leg of the IM didn't feel strong. But after that it was the same. Even after a long break for lunch and an hour of waiting after that, I completely died in the last 15m of 100 free.
I still improved my times, but have the feeling that I could have done better. Any solutions, or just train more?
In training, or at least in our training, we end up doing a lot of short fast work with recovery swims in between. I skip the recovery half the time and just have passive rest. I think training how you race is the way to go, if you don't have the swim down facility (and at many short competitions, you don't) then i would try recreate that at times in training to get used to it.
Also the set like I did above... 6x50 max on 3 minutes. Perfect set to get the body used to swimming fast repetitively.
Failing that I find it always helps to go for a walk about, perhaps take a shower and do some dynamic and static stretching to sort your muscles out. Don't just get out the pool and sit down on the side again. If you have a swim down pool, then go straight to it, no stopping. Out of the race, into the swim down. Aim to do at least 4 x the distance you just swam and do it with a good pace, not drifting up and down slowly. It will hurt, but you will feel better after.
Plus you've had a 20 year break!! theres being fit, then theres being swim fit. The reason you tie up at the end of a 100 free is because you aren't the latter. Neither am I, the last 15 in a 100 is always pure pain, but flat out from the start is the only way to swim 100's. We don't train enough to be swim fit anymore.
Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Monday 9th March 22:02
Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Monday 9th March 22:03
Dimski said:
Reading this thread I'm becoming aware of how lazy I am with my swim training. I pretty much just stuck to front crawl in the pool but vary my pace a bit with the occasional set of 8 55 second 50m and a few 25s thrown in. Occasionally.
I know I could do plenty of work to improve the speed, but my focus has to remain on cycling & running this year; they're my weaknesses. If I manage to improve my 10km swim time (2:58) in May I'll be happy with that. Should be possible, I'm slimmer and fitter overall this year compared to last. Just need to keep up the pool mileage, which I am finding a bit tougher.
Don't blame you. On the shorter tri's at least the swim has to be of least concern. A friend of ours is absolutely excellent at running and cycling. She's not that quick at swimming though. Something way over 7 minutes for a 400m free. If she were as fast as I was, she can really only look at being faster by 3 minutes. Not a lot. I'd be out the pool first, but she'd be blowing by me on the run like I was going backwards. The cycle and the run are more important IMO. Changes a bit when you have to do 1500 m mind, but even then I bet some of the guys can more than make up for a slower swim on their cycle and run.I know I could do plenty of work to improve the speed, but my focus has to remain on cycling & running this year; they're my weaknesses. If I manage to improve my 10km swim time (2:58) in May I'll be happy with that. Should be possible, I'm slimmer and fitter overall this year compared to last. Just need to keep up the pool mileage, which I am finding a bit tougher.
V-spec said:
Session posted on Strava by a triathlete friend the other day:-
500 warmup
10x50m sprint
250 easy
10 x 100m on 1:30
250 easy
5x 200m on 3:00
500 easy recovery
Looks simple but the 200s are the same pace as the 100s. Pace is too quick for me, but I like the idea. Of course, as a tri freak he only cares about front crawl ;-)
doing that all free would bore me to tears! Would have to mix it up with some IM and Back.500 warmup
10x50m sprint
250 easy
10 x 100m on 1:30
250 easy
5x 200m on 3:00
500 easy recovery
Looks simple but the 200s are the same pace as the 100s. Pace is too quick for me, but I like the idea. Of course, as a tri freak he only cares about front crawl ;-)
Camille Muffat and a few other French Olympians (Muffat is 400m gold medalist in London) have died in a helicopter crash in argentina. Sad day 
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-318092...
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-318092...
V-spec said:
I'm just getting back into swimming, after a 20 year break. I've joined a masters group and did my second race meeting yesterday.
How do you guys cope with lactic acid buildup when doing multiple races in the same meet?
In November I did a 50m free as my first race, which was fine, but all my races after that were a disaster, heavy arms and shoulders after the first 50m, just dead.
It was the same yesterday, although slightly better. I did a good warmup, kept an eye on nutrition, did a warm down after each race, and my first two races (50 breast, 100 IM) were ok, although the crawl leg of the IM didn't feel strong. But after that it was the same. Even after a long break for lunch and an hour of waiting after that, I completely died in the last 15m of 100 free.
I still improved my times, but have the feeling that I could have done better. Any solutions, or just train more?
I had a 15 year break and found the first few competitions hard - my body really struggled to rid itself of the stiffness, despite warming down. I'm not surprised you tired in the 100 free. I found only doing 1 race per session to be the maximum if I really wanted to target a time or keep swimming well throughout the day; gone were the days of doing 7 races in an evening gala as a 12 year old and sticking in 7 PBs! This was especially key at Nationals where I was needed for relays which had good medal and record breaking chances, so I'd have to think about my programme if I wanted to really perform in all my races.How do you guys cope with lactic acid buildup when doing multiple races in the same meet?
In November I did a 50m free as my first race, which was fine, but all my races after that were a disaster, heavy arms and shoulders after the first 50m, just dead.
It was the same yesterday, although slightly better. I did a good warmup, kept an eye on nutrition, did a warm down after each race, and my first two races (50 breast, 100 IM) were ok, although the crawl leg of the IM didn't feel strong. But after that it was the same. Even after a long break for lunch and an hour of waiting after that, I completely died in the last 15m of 100 free.
I still improved my times, but have the feeling that I could have done better. Any solutions, or just train more?
As I race quite a wide range of events, I found I had to just do certain ones at certain meets and that meant maybe only doing an event once or twice a year even though I went to events every couple of months.
By the end of the weekend at Nationals, it would really start to take effect, the wheels really fell off in the 400 free on Sunday afternoon after three days of racing - I'd been quicker on the first 400 of the 800 the previous day. Don't worry too much about it.
I swam breast stroke at county level as a teenager 40 years ago but never was much good at crawl. Now in my 50's I've started swimming again (since Christmas I've built up to 1500m in 30 minutes three mornings a week). I fancy some open water swimming but I realise breast stroke isn't ideal, can anyone give me advice on improving my crawl or does anyone have any experience of the 'Ocean Walker' stroke and how to learn it?
Edited by vanordinaire on Tuesday 10th March 20:33
Thanks for the replies guys. Good to know I'm not alone. Some interesting tips too
I have a "swimathon" at the weekend, as many 25m lengths as we can in one hour, with a team of 8. It should equate to one 15 second sprint every 2 minutes for an hour. Let's see how the lactic acid features in this one! My club holds the record with something like 250 lengths, but I don't think it was a masters team that did that.
I have a "swimathon" at the weekend, as many 25m lengths as we can in one hour, with a team of 8. It should equate to one 15 second sprint every 2 minutes for an hour. Let's see how the lactic acid features in this one! My club holds the record with something like 250 lengths, but I don't think it was a masters team that did that.
vanordinaire said:
I swam breast stroke at county level as a teenager 40 years ago but never was much good at crawl. Now in my 50's I've started swimming again (since Christmas I've built up to 1500m in 30 minutes three mornings a week). I fancy some open water swimming but I realise breast stroke isn't ideal, can anyone give me advice on improving my crawl or does anyone have any experience of the 'Ocean Walker' stroke and how to learn it?
I see some people doing breaststroke and the less completive OW events.Edited by vanordinaire on Tuesday 10th March 20:33
Probably the best thing to do for your stroke is get someone who knows what they are doing to have a look at it. They can then give you tips and drills on how to improve it. I went from not being able to do more than two lengths to where I am now with only about 5 sessions. I could recommend someone but I notice in your profile you are in Scotland so the geography wont work. Sure you can find someone near by.
6 degress?
You're still mad
Anyway last nights main set actually hurt. Tri guys need not apply
12 x 125 as
50 fly, 25 back, 25 breast 25 free
25 fly, 50 back, 25 breast, 25 free
25 fly, 25 back, 50 breast, 25 free
25 fly, 25 back, 25 breast, 50 free
They were on 2:20 which is quite generous, but we were getting a good 30 seconds rest. So the pace was decent. I do like IM sets though, really enjoyable.
A few guys got out less than half way through, the lack of freestyle really hurts their pace.
You're still mad
Anyway last nights main set actually hurt. Tri guys need not apply
12 x 125 as
50 fly, 25 back, 25 breast 25 free
25 fly, 50 back, 25 breast, 25 free
25 fly, 25 back, 50 breast, 25 free
25 fly, 25 back, 25 breast, 50 free
They were on 2:20 which is quite generous, but we were getting a good 30 seconds rest. So the pace was decent. I do like IM sets though, really enjoyable.
A few guys got out less than half way through, the lack of freestyle really hurts their pace.
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