judging the distance from the wall is hard. Sometimes its easier to use the line on the bottom of the pool. The T at the top of the centerline is suppose to be the same distance from the wall at every pool. When you are practicing try to take note how many strokes you take when you pass over it until you do the flip. When I am racing I will start flipping one stroke after the T. This means no matter what pool you jump into your count should be the same. Practice at the speed you would like to do the 500 in. The speed will greatly affect your count.
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500 yard swim
- Thread starter matt6599
- Start date
when doing distances longer then a 50 or a 100 you should be looking straight down. this keeps your spine straight. which keeps your hips from sinking. When your spine is straight your body will be more balanced thus making your stroke more efficient. looking forward only helps during sprints where you want your hips a bit lower in the water so you can drive the kick. if you look to far forward you will increase your drag.
I am no fan of the flip turn. I find I get just as good (if not better time) without it. When I do flip turns, its really seems to mess up my breathing cycle. So I say, if your comfortable doing them, great, if not...its not going to make that much of a difference as far as the PRT is concernd.
I'm a college swimmer, have swam competitively all of my life. My suggestions for doing well on a 500 yd swim are this:
1. You should practice longer or the same distances than your race will be. Therefore, if you're swimming a 500, your practice should be on things that are at least 500 long, most of the time. Not to say you can't do some shorter stuff to mix it up.
2. Flip turns: The "T" is always the same distance from the wall at every pool, and the solid color on the lane lines should be the same distance at every pool (although this often changes as lane lines get beaten up). To find the proper distance from the wall where you should start your turn, do the following.
Place your feet flat on the wall and strech your body out down the lane facing away from the wall. Point your arms straight down to the bottom and note where they are pointing, i.e. how far from the T they are. This is the point at which you should start your flip for the turn. Whatever stroke takes you past that mark should be the stroke that you start flipping on. Always flip straight over and hit the wall on your back. You do not roll over on to your stomach until you leave the wall, this is the fastest and most efficient way to do a turn. When you come off the wall, do some dolphin kick or flutter kick until you are at least outside of the solid lane line. NEVER breathe on your first stroke, it breaks your rhythm and slows the entire length down. You should be able to turn on either your left or right arm to avoid the need to take short strokes to turn on your strongest arm.
3. A workout should generally consists of 4 parts. A warm-up, generally long, probably about 800-1000 yards. Next some stroke/drill work, about 500 yards. After that, some "set" work. This is hard and fast swimming where you really get your workout, about 500-1000 yards. End with about 200-500 yards of cooldown. This gives you about a 2500-3000 yard set workout. For someone who's swam his entire life (i.e. me) this take about 1-1.5 hours depending on what I do and how hard I take it. 2000 yards can take me as little as 30 minutes. A good general guideline is that a sprint 100 should take about 1 minute to 1:10. When you're doing longer work, like 500+, a 100 can take as long as 1:30-1:40 in practice. A good 500 time in competitive swimming is about 6 minutes (not in college, you basically have to be below 5:30 to be competitive outside of D1, which is insane-fast). Anyway, that's my suggestions about swimming. Any questions, feel free to post.
1. You should practice longer or the same distances than your race will be. Therefore, if you're swimming a 500, your practice should be on things that are at least 500 long, most of the time. Not to say you can't do some shorter stuff to mix it up.
2. Flip turns: The "T" is always the same distance from the wall at every pool, and the solid color on the lane lines should be the same distance at every pool (although this often changes as lane lines get beaten up). To find the proper distance from the wall where you should start your turn, do the following.
Place your feet flat on the wall and strech your body out down the lane facing away from the wall. Point your arms straight down to the bottom and note where they are pointing, i.e. how far from the T they are. This is the point at which you should start your flip for the turn. Whatever stroke takes you past that mark should be the stroke that you start flipping on. Always flip straight over and hit the wall on your back. You do not roll over on to your stomach until you leave the wall, this is the fastest and most efficient way to do a turn. When you come off the wall, do some dolphin kick or flutter kick until you are at least outside of the solid lane line. NEVER breathe on your first stroke, it breaks your rhythm and slows the entire length down. You should be able to turn on either your left or right arm to avoid the need to take short strokes to turn on your strongest arm.
3. A workout should generally consists of 4 parts. A warm-up, generally long, probably about 800-1000 yards. Next some stroke/drill work, about 500 yards. After that, some "set" work. This is hard and fast swimming where you really get your workout, about 500-1000 yards. End with about 200-500 yards of cooldown. This gives you about a 2500-3000 yard set workout. For someone who's swam his entire life (i.e. me) this take about 1-1.5 hours depending on what I do and how hard I take it. 2000 yards can take me as little as 30 minutes. A good general guideline is that a sprint 100 should take about 1 minute to 1:10. When you're doing longer work, like 500+, a 100 can take as long as 1:30-1:40 in practice. A good 500 time in competitive swimming is about 6 minutes (not in college, you basically have to be below 5:30 to be competitive outside of D1, which is insane-fast). Anyway, that's my suggestions about swimming. Any questions, feel free to post.
yep, rearden's right.
go online or to the bookstore, and research 'total immersion swimming'. here-- i'll even give you a link:
http://www.totalimmersion.net/
i swam in college, and found that most swimmers learn these techniques without being told what they're called. they will help make you more aerodynamic, and more powerful in the water. (unless, of course, you're an eel by nature.) focus on your hip roll-- it's key to being a fast swimmer, and will throw everything off, if it's not right. there's a rhythm to swimming too-- kicks per arm stroke/breathing. this is good, good stuff, and it works in just about any aquatic environment you'll ever find yourself. (even better once you have your gear.)
if you do rearden's w/o, make sure you drink plenty of water. you'll dehydrate in the pool, and never know it. 2500 is going to be a lot for you, so eat properly as well.
go online or to the bookstore, and research 'total immersion swimming'. here-- i'll even give you a link:
http://www.totalimmersion.net/
i swam in college, and found that most swimmers learn these techniques without being told what they're called. they will help make you more aerodynamic, and more powerful in the water. (unless, of course, you're an eel by nature.) focus on your hip roll-- it's key to being a fast swimmer, and will throw everything off, if it's not right. there's a rhythm to swimming too-- kicks per arm stroke/breathing. this is good, good stuff, and it works in just about any aquatic environment you'll ever find yourself. (even better once you have your gear.)
if you do rearden's w/o, make sure you drink plenty of water. you'll dehydrate in the pool, and never know it. 2500 is going to be a lot for you, so eat properly as well.
Touch turn im sure. You swim towards the wall, touch the wall with your hand, turn and kick off... As for goggles, I assume they must allow you to use them. I hate swimming without especially in public pools were the chlorine is pretty damn intense.
The #1 biggest thing to save time is getting a good flip and kick off. My buddy who I swim with (and apparently was on the jr. olympic team) was saying I do it wrong. When I flip I have my toes facing the bottom when I push off. Apparently, its far more effecient to turn 90* into the wall, and the other 90* off the wall. Now that the weather is nice and I am swimming more, I will see how it effects my times...
Edit: Listen to Reardens post, he sounds like he knows more than I do. Further, in my defense when I started my thread there wasnt a page 2 so I wasnt being as redundant as it seems.
The #1 biggest thing to save time is getting a good flip and kick off. My buddy who I swim with (and apparently was on the jr. olympic team) was saying I do it wrong. When I flip I have my toes facing the bottom when I push off. Apparently, its far more effecient to turn 90* into the wall, and the other 90* off the wall. Now that the weather is nice and I am swimming more, I will see how it effects my times...
Edit: Listen to Reardens post, he sounds like he knows more than I do. Further, in my defense when I started my thread there wasnt a page 2 so I wasnt being as redundant as it seems.
Navy Diving Requirements
GOOD EVENING. I HAVEN'T SWIM IN A WHILE AND I WOULD LIKE TO START SOON. I'M TRYING TO GET READY FOR THIS PT IN ORDER TO APPLY FOR NAVY DIVING SCHOOL. I CAN DO THE PUSH UPS, SIT UPS, PULL UPS, AND THE 1.5 MILE IN BEFORE 12 MINUTES. BUT I ALSO HAVE TO SWIM 500 YDS. HOW MANY LAPS EXACTLY DO YOU THINK THAT IS? IS IT LIKE 5 FOOTBALL FIELDS?
GOOD EVENING. I HAVEN'T SWIM IN A WHILE AND I WOULD LIKE TO START SOON. I'M TRYING TO GET READY FOR THIS PT IN ORDER TO APPLY FOR NAVY DIVING SCHOOL. I CAN DO THE PUSH UPS, SIT UPS, PULL UPS, AND THE 1.5 MILE IN BEFORE 12 MINUTES. BUT I ALSO HAVE TO SWIM 500 YDS. HOW MANY LAPS EXACTLY DO YOU THINK THAT IS? IS IT LIKE 5 FOOTBALL FIELDS?
BORICUA10 said:BUT I ALSO HAVE TO SWIM 500 YDS. HOW MANY LAPS EXACTLY DO YOU THINK THAT IS? IS IT LIKE 5 FOOTBALL FIELDS?
I guess you could think it that way. But I prefer to swim in pools, not football fields, and most pools are 25 yards, so figure 10 laps. It's summertime, and the only way to get good at something is to practice, practice, practice...
Thanks for the info. Went and gave a try, just to see if I could do better than the required 14 min swim.....Finished the 500 yd swim in 12:46. Not bad for a 32 yr old......Although, I wish I could do it freestlye.....The want it done with either sidestroke or breastroke.....I'm faster doing sidestroke. Is it true that if you shave your legs you could swim faster?
Yes that's true. Keep in mind that swimmers (swimteam) don't shave all season until the big races. That way there is less drag and they should be able to top their best times from earlier in the season. My personal opinion - you wouldn't catch me shaving my legs for a PFT swim. I doubt it would help me anyway...
Don't forget the speedo!!
Don't forget the speedo!!
Shaving your legs (or any other part of your body exposed to the water) really only knocks off a few tenths of a second if you’re lucky, but more likely a few hundredths of a second. If you want to cut time work on your rhythm and how you make the transition off the wall (whether you feel more comfortable with a turn or a flip) because the transition off the wall can easily cost you 1-3 seconds if you really fumble and not to mention severely mess up your rhythm.
Also, make sure you swim straight. It seems pretty self evident but I can’t tell you how many times I have seen someone run into the sides of the lane. I swam competitively for 7 years (5-12) and in that time I saw a lot. So swim straight!
Oh and one last thing. Don’t worry about how many breaths you take. Once I was one-onehundredth of a second off a Jr. Olympic time on 50-free. My coach said it was because I took too many breaths (I believe I took 3-4 breaths). Anyway, the next meet we had I did the same event and didn’t take a breath. My time was significantly slower all because I messed up my rhythm. This story doesn’t necessarily apply to the post but it does have a small lesson—don’t sweat the small stuff and always establish a rhythm.
Also, make sure you swim straight. It seems pretty self evident but I can’t tell you how many times I have seen someone run into the sides of the lane. I swam competitively for 7 years (5-12) and in that time I saw a lot. So swim straight!
Oh and one last thing. Don’t worry about how many breaths you take. Once I was one-onehundredth of a second off a Jr. Olympic time on 50-free. My coach said it was because I took too many breaths (I believe I took 3-4 breaths). Anyway, the next meet we had I did the same event and didn’t take a breath. My time was significantly slower all because I messed up my rhythm. This story doesn’t necessarily apply to the post but it does have a small lesson—don’t sweat the small stuff and always establish a rhythm.