Ande's Swimming Tips: Swimming Faster Faster

[ande]

Swimming Faster Faster: Tip 7

When a friend asks me to help him swim faster faster,
the first thing I do is ask him to swim an easy 25.
Like I wrote in tip 6
NEXT, with out any coaching
I ask him to sprint an all out 25 for time
as he is sprinting I look for things to fix.
And we take notice of his time.

Mentally I make a list of what to correct and we first target the easiest things to fix that will make his time improve the most.

usually it's simple skill stuff.

Can he improve his:
dive or pushoff?
Streamline?
Break out?

What is he doing with his arms, legs, head and torso?

Does he need to kick faster, bigger, smaller?
How many strokes is he taking?

Does he need to take longer strokes?
Is he catching water or slipping?

Does he need to improve his touch?

What about his mental stuff before and during his timed swim?
How motivated was he?
How relaxed was he?
What does he need to do mentally in the moment
to perform at a higher level?

Sometimes I'll ask them to do a 50 or even a 100.
This will throw in the importance of turns and splitting

What's interesting is
in these 10 - 15 minute stroke tip sessions
I've seen some amazing improvements.

Next I'll give the swimmer one or two things to focus on.
We'll do a few easy 25's where they concentrate on doing the corrections.

Then we'll do another sprint to see if there was any improvement.

One time I was working with a young lady
I had her swim a 25 fly and she did it in 16.3 seconds.
Then I gave her a two tips,

Tip 1 was to flatten out her body, not kick so much, and move her arms faster

Tip 2 was to get more psyched before and during her swim

I had her practice them for a few 25s
Next I asked her to rest a few minutes then
she got back up on the blocks and tried out her new skills and she swam the 25 in 14.9.

Sometimes it helps to video tape the swimmer and let him see for himself.

I watch them sprint above the water and below.

So my point is there are things about how you swim
that SLOW you down
I encourage you to
FIX 'EM
and
SWIM FASTER FASTER

Ande

[ande]

Swimming Faster Faster: Tip 8
Lug Less Lard

OK this one is about a touchy subject but I'm gonna mention it because it part of the swimming faster faster formula.

It has to do with our bodies.
The way we are shaped and what we weigh.
There's more body stuff I'll touch on later like
strength, flexibility, injuries, and other stuff

I'll use my self as an example.

I'm 6'3" and currently weigh around 210.
World class male swimmers who are my height tend to weigh way less. Usually between 165 - 190.
The most I ever weighed in college was 194.

As an almost 42 year old guy I find it's very easy to put on the pounds and a bit of a challenge to take them off.

Part of my situation is genetics.
my dad is 5'7" and weighs around 200
my mom is 5'4" and is about the same
my brother is 5'10" and weighs over 300
my sister is 5'3" and weights over 200
my dad's twin sisters are 5'1" and have weighed over 350 lbs.

I'm convinced if I ate what I wanted and didn't work out,
I would have a serious weight problem.

I'm convinced I'll swim faster if weigh a little less.
like 195 - 200
Keep in mind if you weigh to little and are too skinny you'll lose too much strength.

I've proven I swim slower when I weigh more.
I've weighed as much as 238 pounds and I was much slower at that weight.

Losing weight isn't something that happens over night
It requires a decision and consistent action over weeks and months.

What I'm proposing is for masters swimmers to get closer to their ideal weights in a healthy sensible manner.

skip eating disorders, diuretics, crazy crash diets and other foolishness.

I believe if my body is closer to it's ideal weight, I'll swim faster.
I've discovered when I don't pay close attention to this,
things can quickly get out of hand.

My zone meet is less than 3 weeks away.
I hope to make sensible eating choices and shed a few pounds as the meet draws near.

What's your ideal weight to swim faster faster?
What do you need to do to get there?

part of this is about swimming faster faster
but more importantly it's about being healthy and having strength endurance and energy to do what you want.

We swim faster faster when we lug less lard.

Ande

[kernow]

As always, an interesting post.

I'm currently on a calorie restricted diet, as I need to lose around twenty pounds; I've lost like 4-ish pounds in two weeks. But, yeah, weight is a big thing with me...

[geochuck]

Very interestig indeed. As an amature swimmer I weighed 212 6'2" and a half competeting in the Olympics and other games. As a marathon swimmer my ideal weight was 230 lbs and I swam a faster 100 than I ever did as an amature.

My last race as an amature I weighed 235 and Kurt Pluntke a swimmer called out from the stands "Hey fatso, go home" I won the race and beat the world record holder for 100m fly. I really believe it is the desire and not your body shape.

George

[kernow]

"My last race as an amature I weighed 235 and Kurt Pluntke a swimmer called out from the stands "Hey fatso, go home" I won the race and beat the world record holder for 100m fly. "


LOL! Good for you!

Chunky monkeys of the world, unite!

[ande]

hi george,

So how old were you?
What was your time?

What's you're best event?

What do you believe is the ideal weight for you to perform at your very best right now?

Ande

Originally posted by geochuck
Very interestig indeed. As an amature swimmer I weighed 212 6'2" and a half competeting in the Olympics and other games. As a marathon swimmer my ideal weight was 230 lbs and I swam a faster 100 than I ever did as an amature.

My last race as an amature I weighed 235 and Kurt Pluntke a swimmer called out from the stands "Hey fatso, go home" I won the race and beat the world record holder for 100m fly. I really believe it is the desire and not your body shape.

George

[geochuck]

In 1956 I was swimming the100 MLC Front Crawl in 57+sec In 1962 100 MLC Fly 59+ sec. 30 years ago I weighed 235 then, my last amature race. I will be 72 in May.

In 1964 while I was training for the marathon races I started racing at 255 and did 54.5 for 100 MLC Front Crawl. I started the season in July and finished the season in October after being sick in Egypt (bad fish for dinner) weighing 182.

Three years ago I weighed 335lbs but with a little swimming, cycling etc I am presently 255 lbs and will race in Edmonton In July at about 222 lbs.

I think I would like to be 218 to be at my best.

George Park

[newmastersswimmer]

Well since were on the subject of weight I will give my testimony again .....(actually I love giving it as many times as I can in fact).....Like Ande, I also come from a family with obesity problems.....I thought growing up that maybe I was different b/c I was the only one in the family that wasn't overweight growing up (in fact I was skinny as a rail) ....but I also swam twice a day growing up....I could eat endless amounts of anything I wanted and still be a rail (even though both of my brothers and my sister all struggled with weight issues....also my Mom and Dad were also very heavy.....My two brothers have each been well over 300 LBs at various times and my sister who is only 5' 2'' has been up near 180 or so (in the not so distant past) .....she is, however, now running on a treadmill regularly and eating good foods and has lost a great deal of weight....way to go sis!!....shes now under 135).....When I rounded 30 I started putting on the weight (I was at 175 Lbs after 4 years of swimming in college back in 1987 and I am 5'11'' tall).....I was up to around 250 Lbs at 35 and so I started swimming for a masters team in Knoxville for about a year and got down under 200 again......but since I didn't stay with it ...and went back to my old bad eating habbits coupled with no exercise.....last May (at 39 years old) I topped out at 275 Lbs ...My ankles were swelling up like grapefruit....The doctor told me I needed immediate lifestyle changes b/c I was a heart attack waiting to happen....So I started working out again and eating better soon after I got the bad report from my doctor.....I now weigh 193 Lbs (82 pounds lost since just last May!!).....I still take the blood pressure medication though (unfortunately thats a lifelong deal it turns out).....I want to be around 185 or lower for Nationals this May (maybe even 180??).....I feel 110% better now and I am swimming much better.....I am now 40 years old and I feel like I am not all that far away from where I was at at age 20 (believe it or not??).....I can't sustain it as long as I use too but I can hit times at practice that are somewhat comparable to my workout times in college (a little slower perhaps and not as often....but still not that way off from where I use to be)......It is strange how much can change in such a relatively short period of time when you really put your mind and body into it.


newmastersswimmer

p.s. this message was originally intended for this discussion but somehow I accidently created a new thread with this message when I first posted it??...Sorry about that!....please disregard the other copy of this message on this discussion board.

[ande]

Swimming Faster Faster: Tip 9
Reasons for this Season

Each of us has swimming goals or intentions.
The things we hope to gain from training.

You might desire to:
+ swim Faster times
+ sport a six pack stomach
+ look and feel healthy
+ look better naked
+ Lower numbers on the scale
+ Beat a rival
+ Win a bet
+ swim really fast in the new age group you're aging up into
and there's countless other things we hope to GAIN
All of these are MOVING TOWARDS REASONS

There are also things we hope to avoid like:
+ NOT losing a race or a bet,
+ Not dying at age 55 of a heart attack
+ Not weighing 300 pounds
and countless other things we hope to AVOID
All of these are MOVING AWAY REASONS

All these things are our REASONS
They are WHY we do what we do.

It takes consistent action to accomplish our goals.

For me: I've got to get up and leave my house before 5:45 am
then drive 40 miles (most of it on IH 35)
to arrive at the Texas swim center for practice which starts at
6:30 am and goes to 8:00 am

Once I'm at practice
I have a choice on
how hard I choose to push myself
how intensely I train
how tired I'll feel
how much pain I'll feel

I've read that success is
following through on a commitment
when the emotion making that commitment has long faded

The point is
REASONS are why we do what we do

Imagine for a moment, Bill Gates created an award for swimmers.
Where his foundation would personally pay any masters swimmer $100,000 who improved his 100 free time by 4 seconds
If this were for real, across the country there would be pools full of VERY motivated swimmers.
My guess is many people would improve way more
than if they came in to the next season with no reasons.

Sit down some time with pen in hand and list your reasons.
The things you hope to GAIN
The things you hope to AVOID

Remind your self of your REASONS
just before you train and while you are training

The better reasons you have
the better choices you'll make,
the better actions you'll take, and
the better results you'll get.

In 1984 I had a breakthrough season
Around April Eddie Reese told me I had to have National times if I wanted to to remain on the UT swim team in the FALL.

My reasons for that summer season were
I did not want to get kicked off the UT swim team for NOT having national times.

Your reasons for this season will help you SWIM FASTER FASTER.

Ande

Try this stuff out
Let me know how it goes,
email me privately or post it in this thread.

Bonus question:
What would you do if you KNEW you only had a year to live?

[ande]

impressive

I wish you the best
let us know how it goes
I too, bet you'll be much faster at 222 than 255

ande

Originally posted by geochuck
In 1956 I was swimming the100 MLC Front Crawl in 57+sec In 1962 100 MLC Fly 59+ sec. 30 years ago I weighed 235 then, my last amature race. I will be 72 in May.

In 1964 while I was training for the marathon races I started racing at 255 and did 54.5 for 100 MLC Front Crawl. I started the season in July and finished the season in October after being sick in Egypt (bad fish for dinner) weighing 182.

Three years ago I weighed 335lbs but with a little swimming, cycling etc I am presently 255 lbs and will race in Edmonton In July at about 222 lbs.

I think I would like to be 218 to be at my best.

George Park

[geochuck]

From 1952 til 1960 I was not able to swim hard for long distances I would go unconcious. So I kept my workout to 300 warm up, 500 yards of 25, 50, 75 and 100 yard sprints, and a cool down swim of 200 yards. My sprints were always done at all out speed. But being definate about quality. During this time I swam in the 54 and Commonwealth games, 1956 Olympics ( a sad story ) 55 Pan Am Games (Came second to Clarke Scholes in the 100 meters free).

sprint times
25 yards 9.5
50 yards 23.
75 yards 36.
with short rests done with a dive

George

[breastroker]

George,
There are people here who don't know the full story of your times.

Your dive was probably totally flat, compared to a modern race dive at least a half second difference.

Your swim suit was what we would call a drag suit Again a quarter second per length.

Your times past 25 yards included a mandatory one hand touch on each wall, again half a second slower than a modern no hand flip turn.

Back then a LONG workout might have been 4000 yards. All without goggles.

Lane lines were useless, rope and cork. Certainly not the wave taming lines of today.

And you were probably asked to take salt tablets!

[breastroker]

One more thing I forgot.

Your probably were told NEVER to do weights, would make you to muscular.

[hooked-on-swimming]

All that raises a question:are we really A LOT faster now than in 50s and 60s or have we just imroved the rules and the pools to give us the edge over the competitions decades ago?

[geochuck]

Originally posted by breastroker
George,
There are people here who don't know the full story of your times.

Your dive was probably totally flat, compared to a modern race dive at least a half second difference.

Your swim suit was what we would call a drag suit Again a quarter second per length.

Your times past 25 yards included a mandatory one hand touch on each wall, again half a second slower than a modern no hand flip turn.

Back then a LONG workout might have been 4000 yards. All without goggles.

Lane lines were useless, rope and cork. Certainly not the wave taming lines of today.

And you were probably asked to take salt tablets!

All of the above. It was like swimming in a wave pool. Did you ever swim in Jansen swim trunks? They were real dragsters and I don't mean fast. The only thing I changed was the dive I entered short and a long glide. Yes we had to touch with one hand and I used to get sick on tumble turns so always did pull up turns until 1956. No goggles, and workouts were about 4000 yards, but I did 1100 yard work outs with Kilputh land exercises. Our club used 3 lanes in a 25 yard pool and 100 to 200 turned out for practice of 90 minutes. Salt pills always and glucasaide. No weight but my coach told us to ride a bicycle and row a row boat. He also told us to paddle canoes. Which other coaches diagreed with.

George

[ande]

yes
swimmers are a lot faster faster today
than they were in the 50's and 60's

Some of it's because of better equipment and technique.

Today's swimmers are better because
They train further and harder.
They receive better coaching.
They have higher expectations.
It takes much faster times to be world class and break records.


If you take a look at all time top 100 age group swimming times
you'll see there's

a handful of times that still stand that were done between
1960 to 1969, a few from 1970 - 1979, more from 1980 - 1989
even more from the 1990 - 1999 and
a good chunk from 2000 -2004

I don't think there are any national age group records that
still stand from the 50's, 60's, and 70's.
I'm sure Andy Coan's 50 and 100 free are still solidly in the top 100, as are Mary T's fly times, and probably Tracey Caulkins times in everything. Another very impressive unbeaten time is Jesse Vassalo's 15:31 for the 1,500 LCM free in the 13 - 14 age group in 1976. I do believe that record still stands almost 30 years later.

here's the URL
http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/D...ainbow&Lang=en

What's interesting is in cycling there's a particular race,
I think it's one hour for distance on a track
that requires riders to use a bike and equipment that complies with 1972 technology standards.

Originally posted by hooked-on-swimming
All that raises a question:are we really A LOT faster now than in 50s and 60s or have we just imroved the rules and the pools to give us the edge over the competitions decades ago?

[ande]

I'm a big believer in quality training versus quantity.
If your events are 50's and 100's
It helps to have blazing speed.

We increase our speed by swimming very fast in practice.

many swimmers and coaches over train for sprints.

Some people get it.

Ande

Originally posted by geochuck
From 1952 til 1960 I was not able to swim hard for long distances I would go unconcious. So I kept my workout to 300 warm up, 500 yards of 25, 50, 75 and 100 yard sprints, and a cool down swim of 200 yards. My sprints were always done at all out speed. But being definate about quality. During this time I swam in the 54 and Commonwealth games, 1956 Olympics ( a sad story ) 55 Pan Am Games (Came second to Clarke Scholes in the 100 meters free).

sprint times
25 yards 9.5
50 yards 23.
75 yards 36.
with short rests done with a dive

George

[ande]

Swimming Faster Faster: Tip 10 Start with Starts

If your focus events are 50's and 100's, starts are critical.

Let's say the start begins with the swimmer's "take-your-mark-position" and ends when the swimmer breaks out taking her first stroke.

How much time does the starting process take from the beep going off till the first break out stroke and how much distance does the swimmer cover?

On the short end a swimmer might cover 5 meters with her start, large male swimmers and dolphin kickers are likely to cover between 10 - 15 meters with their start.

What percent of the race is that?
5/50 = 10%
10/ 50 = 20%
15/50 = 30%

What percentage of their training time do swimmers spend practicing starts?


I can honestly say I've done very little start work this season and most masters swimming programs don't do much start training.

It's an essential factor that's often over looked.

In a recent thread here on the boards, Richard Abrahams, said he plans on doing at least 300 starts off the blocks between Novemeber and Nationals.

How do we become better starters?
Find someone who is a great starter and copy them.
Do a lot of starts and figure out what works best for you.

Watch a swim meet and see who hits the water first and comes up far and fast.

Ian Crocker has great starts. He dives in, takes several dolphin kicks, when he breaks out, people in nearby lanes tend to be at his waist then he adds more distance from there.

Steve Crocker from the early 90's had excellent starts.
I believe Steve once took out a 100 yard free in 19.6
TO HIS FEET!

The start begins with the ready position.
The position you assume when the starter says
"Take your Mark"
Do you place both feet up front?
Do you place one up front one in the back?
Where do you put your hands?
How do you apply pressure to your hands and feet?
Steve Crocker says you want your back leg to be like a cocked spring, waiting to be released.

Then there's the "BEEP"
Next is your reaction time.
How long does it take you to react to the beep and leap off the blocks?
How quick is your reaction time?
How good of a leaper are you?
What's your best standing broad jump?

next is what kind of entry do you make?
Are you an old style flat diver?
Do you diver in a single hole?
The hole divers are faster.

Next is the scoop where you transfer your speed to going forward.

How is your streamline?
How long do you glide?
When do you begin your kick?
How do you kick?
How many kicks do you take?

When do you take your first stroke?
How do you take your first stroke?

Be sure you don't have any equipment failures, some people lose or flood their googles on the start. Remember to tie and zip up your suit. Shaun Jordan actually forgot to tie his suit in a duel meet, he dove in and his suit was off. he kept going and finished his race.

As "Breastroker" Wayne writes it's all about NOT slowing down.

I encourage you to work on your starts and make them FAST.

Remember this principle,
"Anything you do and measure,
Will Improve."

Have a coach work on starts with you.
Time the first 10 or 15 meters.
Find out how long it take you to cover those distances and work to improve. Work to improve your best time and work to improve your average.

I've heard that Mike Bottom who coaches Gary Hall and many other elite sprinters sets up a starting beeper and places an electronic touch pad at the 15 meter mark. And times his swimmers on sprints. Using a pad eliminates timer error.

a final tip is work on starts just after warm up when you're ready fresh and sharp, rather than after a long hard set.

It's critical to sharpen your starts before your important competitions. Don't wait till the last week. Leave less to chance.

When you improve your starts, you will
SWIM FASTER FASTER

[ande]

"The outstanding characteristic of the expert athlete and musician is ease of movement, even during maximal effort. The novice is characterized by his tenseness, wasted motion and excess effort. That rare person, the “natural athlete,” seems to be endowed with the ability to play a sport (or a musical instrument) with ease. The ease is his or her ability to perform with minimal antagonistic tension. It is more present in some athletes than in others but it can be improved by all."
Bruce Lee - Tao of Jeet Kune Do

This is true in swimming, great swimmers make swimming fast look easy. They take long smooth powerful strokes.

Gary Hall, Michael Phelps, Ian Crocker, Brendan Hansen, and Natalie Coughlin swim with EASE. Most great swimmers through swimming history had beautiful strokes.

When you are training, concentrate on swimming with EASE.
Do it when you're swimming slow.
Do it when you're swimming fast.

Make swimming with ease your HABIT.

Eliminate wasted motions and tension.
Keep it together when you feel like you're falling apart.

Swim with ease even during maximal effort and you will swim faster faster.

Ande


What do you think of these swimming faster faster tips?
I'd love to hear your feedback.
Should I share more?
If you try them out let me know how it goes?

[Seagurl51]

Ande I love your tips!! I have tried several of them and noticed that they really do help. The other day I made a list of things I hoped to gain and avoid and came out with a bigger list than I thought I would have. Now it's hanging next to my bed and I look at it everyday when I wake up and when I go to sleep. I really like the one about pretending your the best swimmer. That one seems to be helping me the most. I would love for you to post more tips and keep them coming!!!

~Kyra