How much do you swim before competition?

I have championships next weekend and local competition on 25.03 . I will have to swim 100m and 50m backstroke, 50m free(relay) - on both Until now I didn't find good way to cut the distance on my trainings week or few days before start. I think of no swimming at all for a week. How much do you cut?

-----------
Gosia PL

 

"Gosia" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have championships next weekend and local competition on 25.03 . I will have
> to swim 100m and 50m backstroke, 50m free(relay) - on both Until now I didn't
> find good way to cut the distance on my trainings week or few days before
> start. I think of no swimming at all for a week. How much do you cut?
>
>
> -----------
> Gosia PL

You're only swimming a measley 200, why would you cut anything for a day, much
less a week? That's silly!

 

> "Gosia" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>I have championships next weekend and local competition on
>>25.03 . I will have to swim 100m and 50m backstroke, 50m
>>free(relay) - on both Until now I didn't find good way to
>>cut the distance on my trainings week or few days before
>>start. I think of no swimming at all for a week. How much
>>do you cut?
>>

The shorter the distances I race, the longer I taper. The
real problem is tapering for endurance events such as an
ironman in which it's important not to lose the ability to
go long. If the swim event is very important and the
distances very short, I have tapered as long as three weeks.
Two days before I don't swim at all, but it's very important
for me to be in the water the day before for at least 500
yards and the same day for almost the same amount. The week
before, I cut my swims in half, retaining a few sprints at
not quite full effort.

rtk

 

" exk7" <" exk7"@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
>
> > "Gosia" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >
> >>I have championships next weekend and local competition
> >>on 25.03 . I will have to swim 100m and 50m backstroke,
> >>50m free(relay) - on both Until now I didn't find good
> >>way to cut the distance on my trainings week or few days
> >>before start. I think of no swimming at all for a week.
> >>How much do you cut?
> >>
>
> The shorter the distances I race, the longer I taper. The
> real problem is tapering for endurance events such as an
> ironman in which it's important not to lose the ability to
> go long. If the swim event is very important and the
> distances very short, I have tapered as long as three
> weeks. Two days before I don't swim at all, but it's very
> important for me to be in the water the day before for at
> least 500 yards and the same day for almost the same
> amount. The week before, I cut my swims in half, retaining
> a few sprints at not quite full effort.

Do you keep at least one long swim just as long at least
until the final week?

a.

 

>You're only swimming a measley 200, why would you cut
>anything for a day, much less a week? That's silly!
>
Measley 200 is harder for me than long distance. I'm better
in

 

For an ironman I go the whole distance of the swim just a
few days before, most of the bike leg 10 days earlier, and
only a ten mile run one week before. If I were swimming the
1650 at a swim meet I would keep the long swim, otherwise
no. Some time ago when I was doing sets of ten 50's in 40
seconds, going on the minute, I would do a single 50 in 35
seconds without taper. With a long taper, I went down to 31.
I was fifty something then. Now I'm slower, but the long
taper is still appropriate for me for very short distances.

andrew smith wrote:

>
> Do you keep at least one long swim just as long at least
> until the final week?
>
> a.

 

Measley 200 is harder for me than long distance . I don't
know how to use all my power in such a short swim. It is not
nice feeling that after 50m I still have reserve of energy.

----------------
Gosia PL

 

" exk7" <" exk7"@adelphia.net> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> > "Gosia" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >
> >>I have championships next weekend and local competition
> >>on 25.03 . I will have to swim 100m and 50m backstroke,
> >>50m free(relay) - on both Until now I didn't find good
> >>way to cut the distance on my trainings week or few days
> >>before start. I think of no swimming at all for a week.
> >>How much do you cut?
> >>
>
> The shorter the distances I race, the longer I taper. The
> real problem is tapering for endurance events such as an
> ironman in which it's important not to lose the ability to
> go long. If the swim event is very important and the
> distances very short, I have tapered as long as three
> weeks. Two days before I don't swim at all, but it's very
> important for me to be in the water the day before for at
> least 500 yards and the same day for almost the same
> amount. The week before, I cut my swims in half, retaining
> a few sprints at not quite full effort.
>
> rtk

Hi Ruth

I am swimming in our national masters champs (long course)
on Sat/Sun
20/21 March. I am swimming 50m, 100m, 200m & 400m free & 50m
back. I won't place anywhere but would like to swim some
PBs and ideally match or better my times from the world
champs in Christchurch 2 years ago (which are still my
best 50m times).

I currently swim around 2.2km 3 or 4 times a week -
currently Sun, Tue, Thur & if possible Fri. My Sunday swim
this week was a 2km open water swim event. My only
opportunities to swim in a 50m pool are on Fridays, which
would include the day before ie Fri 19th. Last week I did a
good session working on my 400m pacing in the 50m pool, and
one specific sprint speed session. I am feeling my speed is
very under-done at the moment.

Any suggestions on what I could do over the next 2 weeks to
optimise my performance?

TIA

Liz D

 

Liz D wrote:

> Hi Ruth
>
> I am swimming in our national masters champs (long course)
> on Sat/Sun
> 20/21 March. I am swimming 50m, 100m, 200m & 400m free &
> 50m back. I won't place anywhere but would like to swim
> some PBs and ideally match or better my times from the
> world champs in Christchurch 2 years ago (which are
> still my best 50m times).

I would be way out of line if I attempted to advise anyone
about the best strategies for tapering for a meet. For sure
I know what has worked for me and some of that seems to work
for others, but I have only the smallest smattering of
knowledge about the physical changes that result from
various degrees of easing up on the demands of muscular
effort or endurance. As I mentioned, I find the subtlest
tapering to be that for endurance. I and most people I know
seem to need the psychological reassurance of maintaining
long workouts past the point when they do any good
physically. It's much easier and takes no courage to taper
for a fast 50 which, for me, depends on cutting back
severely. It amazes me how much strength hides behind a worn-
out muscle if it is allowed to heal for a couple weeks. For
a meet on Sat/Sun, I certainly would stay dry on Thursday,
following an easy week of less than half my usual distance.
But on Friday I would put in some sharp 25's or even less
and a long cool-down, mostly of easy drills. Tapering for a
middle distance is a mystery to me. I'd rather prepare for
and swim either 50's or 1650's. The 200 requires a judicious
mix of strength and endurance that I've never found.

Again, this is purely what works for me. Good luck!

Ruth Kazez

 

maybe the following article about tapering can help you

http://www.usswim.org/superstars/template.pl?opt=news&-
pubid=3839

Dani

 

i model my tapers around a three week paradigm, (20-21 days
out from meet).

first week (day 1-7), all VO2 is cut out, and volume is
lowered by 15-20%. Unbroken speed endurance is maintained.
short power sets done with paddles and cords.

second week (day 8-14), speed work is shifted to broken
swims, volume of speed work is decreased as weel progresses.
volume drops a further 20%. paddle work cut out. light
resistance, (cords and parachutes) maintained.

third week (day 15-21), all broken swims cut out, replaced
by builds, breaks, short sprints. volume at 40-50% of usual,
(approx. 10 days of 3K yards per session).

this is the model i used for this taper i was just doing. i
didn't maintain volume for the distance swimmers, and they
produced outstanding swims, (bunch of zone cuts, speedo
sectional cuts and quad-A times). i think if you're at peak
VO2 when you begin the taper, 30 minutes of aerobic work a
day will retard your detraining enough to that you'll not
have to worry about it. remember that yardage, even long
slow swimming, fatigues.

one thing i was VERY nervous about was cutting out all
speed work with 5 days left before the first splash. in
retrospect it worked out ok, but after having done brokens
every day to suddenly cut them was nerve wracking. as i
anticipated, they very practically wired to compete because
they hadn't swum fast for so long. i think the only events
that suffered were some of the 200's, and then it was only
in certain cases. i intend to go through the results and
see if i can find trends.

another point to note is that in terms of doing broken work,
the girls only did 2/3's of what the guys did. this past
meet was focus for those who did not have the maximum amount
of Speedo Sectional cuts...the others are in the last three
days of their tapers, and well, i'm starting to second guess
every move i've made in terms of training since january...

...but thats what makes it so damned interesting.

 

" exk7" <" exk7"@adelphia.net> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Liz D wrote:
>
> > Hi Ruth
> >
> > I am swimming in our national masters champs (long
> > course) on Sat/Sun
> > 20/21 March. I am swimming 50m, 100m, 200m & 400m free &
> > 50m back. I won't place anywhere but would like to
> > swim some PBs and ideally match or better my times
> > from the world champs in Christchurch 2 years ago
> > (which are still my best 50m times).
>
>
> I would be way out of line if I attempted to advise anyone
> about the best strategies for tapering for a meet. For
> sure I know what has worked for me and some of that seems
> to work for others, but I have only the smallest
> smattering of knowledge about the physical changes that
> result from various degrees of easing up on the demands of
> muscular effort or endurance. As I mentioned, I find the
> subtlest tapering to be that for endurance. I and most
> people I know seem to need the psychological reassurance
> of maintaining long workouts past the point when they do
> any good physically. It's much easier and takes no courage
> to taper for a fast 50 which, for me, depends on cutting
> back severely. It amazes me how much strength hides behind
> a worn-out muscle if it is allowed to heal for a couple
> weeks. For a meet on Sat/Sun, I certainly would stay dry
> on Thursday, following an easy week of less than half my
> usual distance. But on Friday I would put in some sharp
> 25's or even less and a long cool-down, mostly of easy
> drills. Tapering for a middle distance is a mystery to me.
> I'd rather prepare for and swim either 50's or 1650's. The
> 200 requires a judicious mix of strength and endurance
> that I've never found.
>
> Again, this is purely what works for me. Good luck!
>
> Ruth Kazez

Thanks for that, Ruth, taken with the caveat and disclaimer.

I generally have the feeling that most masters swimmers
(myself included) don't swim sufficient volumes or in a
scientifically controlled manner (such as "diabolo"
discussed) to make a real "taper" essential or desirable.
Those kind of swimmers taper *down* to volumes that are
still several times what I swim each week.

I think the main thing is not arriving at the meet too tired
(yesterday I was still feeling the effects of Sunday's 2km
open water swim, no more long slow distance of that
magnitude). I had a couple of weeks off swimming last year
following a minor foot operation which necessitated a week
of almost complete rest, when I got back in the pool I felt
great! Even though I hadn't swum for 2 weeks, I was really
rested & refreshed. But then I had to have another couple of
weeks off following a post-op infection and after that I
felt terrible for a couple of weeks. SO a bit of rest is
good, too much definitely not.

I find what works best for me for 200m & (especially) 400m
is to do "pacing" work, getting used to the kinetic feel of
the different pace I need to swim at to achieve my goal
times. This seems to be best done as close as possible to
the event. Luckily my 200m is Sat and 400m is Sun, so I can
use the warm-up periods on those days with that focus.

I'll let you know how I go.

Thanks

Liz D