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400m swim

Hi guys,



If i swam 1500m I'd average roughly 6min30/400m and in a time trial I'd swim it in around 6mins - 6mins10.



I've no idea how that compares to other tri nuts and would really like to gauge where i am regarding my swimming.



what kinds of times are you guys swimming?



I am I doing ok?



cheers,

Lee

Comments

  • BoycieBoycie Posts: 189
    Lee,



    Swimming is my weakest discipline by a long way. I didn't really start swimming until I started tri's 3 years ago and have had niether the time or money to invest in proper lessons. As a result it takes me about 6 mins to swim 250m. So as a newcomer to tri I would say you're doing ok, you would certainly beat me out of the water.



    David.
  • Hi Boycie,



    My weakest leg is cycling, its not totally cr*p and it is improving but I'm sure you'd fly past a few miles down the road leaving me to split dust!!
  • BopomofoBopomofo Posts: 980
    Hello Lee, 6:30/400 pace for your 1500m is pretty handy. You'll probably be in the top 25-50% with that pace.



    Is this a theoretical time i.e what you can do in the pool? If so, I would suggest allowing an extra 1-2 minutes total for the 'real thing', as a mass start can really slow you down (or at least really slows ME down)- unless you are prepared to sprint off the front.



    6:00/400 is right on the money. You should be pleased with that.



    Keep it up!
  • DedeDede Posts: 35
    Hi, if you can swim 400m in 6mins thats not too bad, presuming you're swimming flat out, if you have the stamina and able to swim beyond 1500m, you will probably cover 750m in approx 12min 45secs to 13mins progressively to a sub 27mins 1500metre swim, but this is a swim whereas you probably swimming at your max in good conditions. It all depends how fit and efficient your are with your swimming and technique. Good standard age groupers are swimming 1500m in 21-23mins. 11 year old club swimmers are swimming sub 25mins. If you're a novice sub 30 mins is a landmark, then aim for sub 28mins. A seasoned triathlete will swim sub 25mins. Me I'm 43 and about 98kg swimming 400m in 5.45sec, when training lunch times with a bunch of swimmers the 400m warm up I swim is sub 6.10 I've swum lake swim pb 750m 11.53 during a sprint tri.
  • My 1500m swim time is usually around 28 mins i recently swam it in 27:10. How can i get my times down further? any suggestions?

    I'm always concious of technique.

  • BopomofoBopomofo Posts: 980
    You said 6:30/400 in your original post, sounds more like 7:30/400 to me.



    Regardless, you're still doing well. Stringing together a full 1500m is a pretty good acheivement in itself, compared to Mr. Non-Tri Sofa Dweller, and 28mins is a competitive time.



    Tips to improve your stroke.... well, there are books written on this, so I'll keep it very high level:



    1. Make your stroke long. Stretch out forwards, then push the water all the way down to your mid-thigh.

    2. Make sure your body roll is correct. Doing 1 will help that.

    3. Alternate breathing. If you don't do this now, then learn. Do every other training length on your 'wrong' side at first, to get the hang of it. Then start alternating. You'll need to reduce your perceived effort a bit while you get used to the lower breath rate, but you'll probably be going quicker from the start.

    4. Ice skating. I read this in the book 'Swim, Bike, Run' by Wes Hobson et al. You need a quick arm recovery and a good power stroke, so think of the "hard push, glide" motion of ice-skating. Try really whipping your recovering arm over the top... it gives power to your driving arm.

    5. Don't just swim up and down every time you go to the pool. You wouldn't train for any other discipline like this, so don't do it for swimming. Do speed work, maybe 10 x 100m at 2 minute intervals until you get quicker, or 10 x 50m at even faster pace. Go to a master's class, or get some coaching. On the other hand, if you do this already and only do a long swim very occasionally, then start building the long swim into your weekly training... Maybe 3 swims per week: 1 fast full-stroke sets (say 8 x 200-300m), 1 drills, 1 distance (2km+).



    Other people here can add more. These are the big points that help me.. I've been really lazy lately and neglected my swimming a bit. I'm back up to 6:00/400 as of start of the year. I've got a 400m time-trial next Tuesday, so I'll keep you posted!
  • Sorry, typing error! i meant 28mins per mile(1600m)! how does that work out? maths isn't a attribute of mine as you may have guessed!



    Thanks for the tips,



    Lee
  • i can nearly do 200 metres after the good advice from Bopomofo, alot of my swim time is taken up doing slow swims concentrating on technique. Nearly ready to under go a timed 200 metres.



    Cant wait to be on here talking about times for 1500m!! I only need to hit my 200m in 6 minutes but am sure i will be reducing and ammending that before my first tri.
  • Just did my first 400m TT today so thought i'd drop a line on this thread. Managed a 5:27 so was quite pleased, though bit of an irrelavnce as I'm actually training for IMUK so 400m isn't exactly my benchmark.



    Anyone with a comparable 400m time that can compare 3.8k benchmark (am hoping to break an hour).
  • BopomofoBopomofo Posts: 980
    Blimey! 5:27 is damned fast, really. You'd be top 5 in most super-sprints with that time, I think.



    My last 400TT was 5:47, 15s faster than the previous month, so I think I'm recovering from my end-of-year laziness. To be honest I had almost 3 months of unplanned, random training, probably averaging about 1-2 training sessions per week. It really affected me badly.



    I don't swim IM distances myself usually. Might give it a go sometime soon, just for a laugh. My usual training session is 3300m of drills and intervals, and that takes an hour. I'd guess that 3.8km of straight front-crawl would come in at a bit over the hour myself (ie about 6:30 per 400), so you should be on target to do your hour.
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