BEHIND THE BEST TIMES

 "Swim your own race.  Be in competition with no one but yourself."

The best times in swimming come from a mix of physical, technical, and  mental factors working together.  There's no magic ingredient-- you hit your peak performance when all these systems align.

Let's dive into what actually drives best times;

• Stroke efficiency-- DPS is one of the strongest predictors of your race performance.  You must be able to hold that DPS at high stroke rates and when fatigue.  This comes from consistency in practice.  Pretty simple stuff. Right.
• Stroke rate-- Speed= stroke rate+ distance per stroke.  Learn to push your stroke rate up without losing DPS.  Critical for sprinters.
• Starts and turns-- Explosive starts and turns are where you can outperform your competition in races.  You might not be able to win races here but you can definitely lose a race or swim harder to come from behind.
• Lower body power-- Don't be lazy in your kick sets in practice.  Strong legs drive starts, turns and that sprint to the wall.
• Swimming velocity-- faster top end speed is a key factor in your race performance.  This all means you need several race strategies depending on the event you are swimming.

MAKING PROGRESS TOWARDS YOUR BEST TIMES

Progress is not magical its takes commitment, dedication and focus.  Focusing on the drills and your technique during workout is critical especially at a young age.  The reason is simple because progress towards those best times will begin as you get faster and older.  Performing each set and repeat with a purpose will keep you on track for those best times.

Know how to pace the event your racing in and don't be afraid to challenge yourself somewhere in the race.  Have the confidence in the event your racing and be the swimmer you've trained to be.  Focus on the the execution of your race.

SET OF THE WEEK: DIVISIONALS  this was Tuesday 

meet warm up

4x50 free @1:00 descend to fast

4x25 kick @40 descend to fast

4x50 @1:10 (IMO/free or stroke /free)

SPEED DRILL 16X25 (4SETS OF 4)  swim the stroke your swimming Saturday and stay with each stroke thru each round

 3x25 spin drills @45

1x25 fast stroke @45

rest 15 between each round.

Back shoulders up arm tempo

Breast and Fly with free kick

Free head up and steady

swim down

IM SWIMMERS 3 rounds on me

25 fly

50 fly to back

25 breast

50 back to breast

25 free

50 breast to free

swim down

TRIVIA TIME

Last week’s answer: When the league started the first difference from today and then was that the 8 and under's did not swim fly.   There were also only 12 swimmers who qualified in each event.  The 13-14 and 15 -17 age group (yes it was 17) all swam 100's at divisional's and all stars.  And yes I had to do those 100's.