Swim more. I’ll leave it up to fishes to give specific advice/workouts. But that really isn’t much time to drop a lot of time. So, you likely need much more volume than you plan.

the coached sessions provide enough volume for your goals; session #4 should be focused on 25m and 50m (almost) all-out efforts with large recovery times. session #5 should be strenght training (@gym or @home), especially core, lats, shoulders and triceps. good luck

You have a plan, which is step one. I would do a 100M test now to see where you are. Then repeat that every 1-2 weeks. Seeing improvement will keep you motivated, but also don't be discouraged if your test speed doesn't improve every time. For me at least, I'll see a plateau and then a jump in performance, then another plateau, etc.

1:30 for 100 meters isn't easy but I think very doable if you're able to hold 1:45 / 100 meters for longer distances.

I am an adult onset swimmer, and my all-in 100m short course is right at 1:30 now. I have never hired a coach, so I achieved my gains by watching a lot of videos, experimenting, and swimming about 6 km/week for a long time. My personal view of swimming is that speed comes almost entirely from correct technique coupled with training to sustain that ideal form at volume.

Going from 1:50 to 1:30 in 14 weeks is very aggressive. You will have to quickly identify your form issues and then work on improvements while ramping up your volume to at least 5 km/week. If the coached swims are giving you great attention to your form, you should be able to get there.

I agree with JollyRoger. That 4th session should be devoted to speed. Warm up with some form drills and some kicking, then 4 or 8 x50 as fast/easy, easy/fast, all easy, all fast...those are effort levels by 25 meters. That should get you warmed up pretty good. After that I would do some hard 25's on 40 secs....shoot for 20 secs or better. Do as many of those as you can before you fail. Take a breather if you fail and try again. When you fail the second time, call it a day and warm down or use the rest of the time to do form drills. The number of those intervals you can hit in 20 secs (over 4) the better your chances of swimming an "all out" 100 in 1:30 or better. You can move on to hard 50's in later sessions...give yourself equal or greater rest when you're working on pure speed.

Lionel Sanders had a great blog post years ago about learning how to swim fast. Biggest take away was you want to focus on a high elbow catch. Lots of videos and articles about it but one mistake I made was thinking it meant high elbow in the water. It should really be called elbow ahead of wrist/ shoulder line catch. Swimming fast in my experience comes down to learning how to catch and pull the water properly in a continuous motion.

Also learn how to swim slow. Maintain proper technique while going easy and focus on the catch and pull. Might take longer than 14 weeks though.

If you are swimming 1.50/100m there is probably some fundamental flaws with your stroke that will limit how fast you go. You will get quicker with more volume, but that would soon plateau if your technical issues aren't addressed. Get a video analysis done where you can see your stroke underwater. I would imagine your main issue would be body position.

If you are simply wanting to get to 1.30/100m once, an easy way to gain a few seconds is to work on your tumble turns, stream lining off the wall and breakout. Especially if you are in a 25m pool, you can easily knock 2 - 3s off each lap. I've hardly swam this year, 6 month out the pool due to COVID, got back in 8 weeks ago and swam 10 x 100m around 1.45. I've only swam 1 - 2 times a week and am now down to 1.20 - 1.22/3 for 10 x 100m. Most of that improvement isn't fitness, but remembering all the little things that when combined mean a decent drop in time. e.g not breathing when you breakout after stream lining

This one (I think).

Butterfly

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I swim fast because I'm afraid of sharks.

Thanks for looking. Interesting analogy with the invisible ladder, but that wasn't the post I was thinking of, even though he mentions the early vertical forearm.

This is the one, from 2014

^^THIS....thank you for spelling this out. I have been doing it wrong for a long, long time not noticing that my arms were slipping through rather than holding the water. Now, I have a lot of work ahead of me to de-train my poor catch....

Swim faster

I know that sounds silly but to swim faster you have to swim faster. You can have all the structured swim workouts you want, great coaches, training aids, ect but at the end of the day you have to swim faster to get faster.

Yes!!!!!

What does that even mean?

Easy steps for getting better at swim:
- get to the pool consistently 3-4x a week
- do some hard efforts every session
- enjoy it

For noob swimmers I tell them to use a pull buoy a lot until their arms have some fitness, otherwise you're probably burning a bunch of matches with a horrible kick and body position.

14 weeks - ok. Yeah to echo what others said, swim as much as you can. I think you can add 2/day gym workouts some days as well to focus on a few things including strength, HIIT, cardio, and core.

For the how on getting stronger and more explosive push offs could be box jumps, jumping air squats, running up stairs.

For arm strength and explosiveness, the ski erg could get you some HIIT. Push-ups are good as well as planking. I generally think on your fists is superior. Single arm Arnold presses are good for shoulder strength. The row erg is good too. For the row machine, I think the goal should be HIIT.

For core and legs, flutter kicks, scissor kicks, leg raises to pushing up with lower back off mat. You could also do some kickpad work if you wanted to in the pool to condition your kicking. Mountain climbers, burpees, 8 count bodybuilders.

I think the breast stroke is a nice break from freestyle if you want to keep putting hours in the pool without feeling like youre working super hard.

Then also cross train your cardio engine with some running, jump rope, cycling.

Finally, I think punches and kicks on the heavy bag are great for developing explosive power if you know how to kickbox. 2-3lb weights shadow boxing, and also arm circles and sun gods with and without weights.

Good luck - have fun.

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

We actually have to do flip turns and a start jump as well, so that's not even optional. Right now, I'm still dying on those because they seem to take my breath away.

@all

Thanks to everyone for their inputs!! Super valuable! I did some fast 50s the other day and my fastest with the jump and turn was 43 seconds, so I think I'll just have to keep adding the fast stuff, like all of you said! The coached sessions aren't really with a coach who can pinpoint my flaws since two classes are part of the mandatory college swim class (we're being taught freestyle, dolphin, breast and back) and one is a swim course with like 20 people. But, each session has lots of technique in it, so that should definitely help.

I do also run/bike and do core workouts!

I'll focus on a fourth session with speed elements then. Thanks again for all of your help!

I'm going to try this, thanks a bunch!

thanks you two, very interesting

Basically, I have no idea what the outline of the class actually looks like. I'm studying sports science and swimming is a course taking place twice a week over the course of four months. So far, mostly all of the sessions have been technique drills only. That's what I meant by "heavily technique based". I guess this might change in future sessions.

Generally speaking, to get faster you need to
- Swim at least 4 days per week. At 2 days you are barely staying fit for swimming and will eventually start to creep backwards
- Improve deficiencies in your technique - which can only be done with an organized & good Masters swim coach .. who will run a proper workout & critique your technique
- Proper dry land training will help build strength, where needed
- Your work outs need to be sufficiently challenging to build strength and endurance .... which is hard to do "on your own" & get you back to a good Masters swim program
- Be prepared to follow this regimen (all of it) for 3 or more months. the longer, = the more improvement you will make
- Not be in your 60s or older ... at which point "not losing ground per year" is a very meaningful goal.

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Such a Bad Runner

- Not be in your 60s or older ... at which point "not losing ground per year" is a very meaningful goal.

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Not to be picky but as a "participant" in this AG, there's a fella in there that went from duathlons 10 years ago to swimming in the 25 minute range for 1500m...SOB can run as well. So age has absolutely nothing to do with it. .......:0) (I know picky picky picky).

There's always "that guy". In this case he's probably a natural or exceptional athlete moving into a new (to him) sport. A more average experience would be more like my own (at (67). I'm training harder, picking up nagging injuries, my technique is better than it was but I can barely do as well as last year. Oh well.

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"They know f_ck-all over at Slowtwitch"
- Lionel Sanders

I agree about "that guy" the other poster referred to. If he has been swimming for a few years, then he likely reached his peak and won't be getting faster. He will only slow down slower than most of his age group competitors. And there is no way he is maintaining his run performance each year after 60.

I was having a bit of fun, but in reality the response to my post, validated the OPs original post.
Anyone can, at any age, on taking up the sport get faster.
Including the OP.

The age caveat was unwarranted.

ski erg for HIIT training if you have access to one

https://www.instagram.com/...igshid=1pgy9a2wgx5m9

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Don't neglect strength training. Real strength training, not "triathlon" strength training. Remember, Nathan Adrian could alternate press 135lbs in each hand on a balance ball before the 2012 olympics.

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

Did the OP say she was looking to break an American record in the 100?

Nathan Adrian was a very athletic young man with decades of training.
He was probably doing 40,000 - 80,000 yards week, with lots of work on turns and dives. Maybe working with a sports psychologist. Probably a dietician.

In contrast, I also broke 1:30 for 100:
When I NINE YEARS OLD!!!
AND doing 3 short workouts/week during the summer!!
No weights- I was too busy playing.

But the OP, she has lots of time for low return activities!!!
She should do high yardage, weights, see a sports psychologist.
That's what Nathan Adrian did.

I've seen video of him doing 70lbs, I find it very very hard to believe he could do 135lbs in each hand..? Link because if true that's absolutely insane.

This made me chuckle a bit, terrible advice. "triathlon strength training". Any middle of the pack junior triathlete can swim 1:30s all day long. I swam under 1:30 when I was like 8 or 9 and I was just an average club swimmer. Don't need to bench anything to swim 1:30s.

Just to add my two cents, I do realize that my goal is still ridiculously slow for some. I'm a terrible swimmer, I never learned it properly as a kid and I just picked it up some years ago to participate in triathlons. I'm a really strong runner and a good cyclist, and swimming is just hard for me.

I am seeing some progress in the pool with finally swimming regularly though (even if in the past week it's "Only" been 3 times a week).

By the way, I'm 28 ;)

Thanks guys

Don't worry, you are in the majority for triathlon. You'll always get comments like the one above that any 6 year old can do their repeats of 1:30 and the likes. Not everybody swam in a club as a kid. I struggle to make 1:30 even in a standalone 100m let alone on repeats, and my best IM swim is like 1hr 08m. That's middle of the pack, not back of the pack, and it gives me lots of crap cyclists and runners to chase down and make the day more interesting.

How are you progressing?

Cheers, Rich.

Hi, I got my swim times down from 1.50 to 1.30 per 100m in 12 weeks by simply swimming 5 times a week the exact same set. 16 to 20 x 100m reps with 20s rests. That's it. Not rocket science. No warm up, no drills, just 100 reps day in day out (not even that!). Good luck buddy! 😀

Exactly, thanks. It's soooo much easier if you swam as a kid, particularly if you swam regularly and in a club.

Plus, as a woman, 1:30 is much harder to achieve than it is for guys. I feel like many here are going off of their times, their years of experience and countless hours in the pool. I don't have that.

I'm continuously working on my technique now, so my slow times come purely from not swimming enough. I swam a total of 10 times this year until September. So it's just comes down to training regularly. I've never been to the pool 3 times a week, let alone 4. Simply by now swimming 5-7k per week, I already see progress after as little as 3-4 weeks.

I think I'm on the right path and I will time my current 100m time next week to see where I'm at.

Thanks again for your input everyone!

Don't feel bad.

It's actually VERY hard for the typical AGer in tri to go from 1:50/100m to 1:30/100m. Even if it's just for a single 100 all-out effort, I'd say it took me nearly 4 entire years of serious pool training for me (male) to accomplish exactly that.

And I wasn't messing around for those years - I swam almost as much as I possibly could - it's just that for the entire first 2 years, my shoulders couldn't take any load over 7k/wk before getting super sore (and yes, I was fully aware that bad stroke mechanics contribute to this, and I worked on stroke technique non-stop, obsessively during that full time.)

I'd even say less than 50% of AG triathletes (maybe a lot less!) ever get fast enough to swim a single 100 at 1:30/100m pace even at a full-tilt sprint. (Note that this forum is not at all representative of typical AG triathletes!)

Don't take this as offense, but honestly, if you cannot swim a single 25 at 1:30/100m pace right now, I'd be quite skeptical that you will be able to accomplish your stated goal. Of course, nothing is impossible, and yes, there are definitely individuals who are much more natural at taking to swimming - no different from folks who can run sub18min 5ks on next to no run training, and you might be one of them if lucky.

To be clear the comments about what 9 year olds are capable of was not an insult of you.

The comments were an insult to any one who is telling you that you need to be doing highly specialized training based on something some olympian are other might be doing. (The people recommending dry land HIT exercises and weight training may have been joking. But slowtwitch has a very long history of gym membership sales people give bad advice).


What you need is basic swim practice. Develop a good stroke, learn flip turns, do 3 or 4 practices per week. And have fun. The same things you would do if you were 9 and on a summer swim team.

I learned to swim by reading a book in 2010. I can run a 2:50 marathon and have a half iron bike PR of around 2:10, but my best 1000yd in the pool was at a 1:44/100 pace. So I had plenty of fitness but my technique obviously sucked. In 2012 I paid for five one-hour private lessons with a legit coach. The lessons were in an endless pool with multi-angle video, mirrors etc. I didn't do much swimming in the sessions, it was hardcore instruction. After only four lessons lessons I had to go on a bunch of business trips so never did the final lesson. I went back to swimming and applied as best I could what I had learned. After a few weeks I did a 1000yd TT and it was at 1:32/100 pace. Literally no fitness improvement whatsoever, just four private lessons, and I got 12 sec/100. Several months later as I ramped up training I got that down to 1:30/100 once my swim fitness closer to in-season. I know that with more instruction I could do a LOT better. But honestly if you're looking for very quick improvement, the private lessons for me revealed a LOT of low-hanging-fruit in my technique.

 
Well...
My humble opinion is - trying to be fast one time and trying to get faster for a long time are different things.

As a former sprinter - strength and short efforts are key to be fast. Volume is important to get swim endurance

Overall base on your time trying to improve technique can shave off a lot of time, long and short.

one of my go to sets are 20x 100y for 1:30 ( swim and rest ) - I can do that since a have the background and the proper technique so I don't get as tired as someone that is fit but would struggle with the water.


Don't worry , I`m happy when I can maintain 9 min per mile running 5 miles ( because....guess what....my technique sucks!! )

There isn't a technique to running.

Basically, your body will move in a way that is the best for you.

I find alternating 100s with a pull buoy and just swimming helps me to feel what going faster should feel like. The buoy lifts you hips and legs, lessening the drag and making you faster. Pay attention to how th water feels over your shoulders, along your abdomen, and legs when using the buoy. Then mimic that feeling when free swimming by engaging your core, tucking your chin, making your breaths as economical as possible (i.e. just barely getting your lips out of the water). It’s all technique. I’m no swimming titan and repping 1:30s is well within my ability, but I was swimming 2:10 a few years ago. Flip turns are free speed too, at least in the pool. It doesn’t count in open water obviously.

I stand corrected. He was pressing 150. I thought it was in each hand when I first saw it. Surely, 8 years later he is pressing more than that.

https://www.youtube.com/...p;ab_channel=TeamUSA

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

Ok, everyone, let's all take a chill pill...it doesn't matter if you don't believe me. Weight training is important for swimming. If OP isn't lifting, this could be low-hanging fruit. I see a significant difference in my swimming when I focus on my lifting.

N=1, etc, but what would I know...I've only been swimming on swim team since I was 6, and both of my parents were solid NCAA D1 swimmers who gave me lots of sound advice and tips.

There's a lot of things that OP can do to swim faster. This was my advice. Strength training is important for a lot of other aspects of life and athletics. I'd suggest doing it anyway.

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

Hi! Just to clarify, I swam 50m @1:26min/100m pace last week at the end of a training session. I think my current 25m time is 16 seconds.

That's very impressive! I might do a single coached session soon, I just wanted to see first how I can improve by just swimming regularly and going to coached swim lessons (with multiple people).

I definitely have to work on those flip turns!!! Regardless of the fact that we have to do them for the final, I'll definitely need those extra seconds.

.

Oh - then you definitely got this! I'll bet you can do it today if you can do a 1:26 at the end of a training session . That's a very fast 25m - I'll almost guarantee you can do it right now then!

I find it odd that you can swim a 50 and 25 that fast but then open your thread with 1:50/100m for a one-off. Those numbers definitely don't match up at all. With that sort of 50 and 25 times, you should already be sub 1:30 for a one-off 100 all out.

Honestly, I lack the speed endurance for the 100! I couldn’t swim those times a month ago either (and I opened up the thread at the beginning of October I think). So my last known time to swim a 100m quick was around that time 😂 plus, after the 50s (which were with the start jump and the flip turn), I was done. Lactate overload in the legs, no breath. I couldn’t have held that pace for a second longer. Basically what I need are some tips for good sessions that improve that speed endurance 😊😊

Update: I finally timed it today, no jump but with flip turns. Don't know how accurate the time is 'cause I timed it myself.

Visual timing said 1:35. My watch said 1:32.

I'm completely baffled. Didn't think I was ANYWHERE near that yet.

Sorry my comment was aimed towards the poster implying that you need to bench press god knows how much to be a decent swimmer. I reckon 1:30/100 m might be hard for some folks but some swim coaches go as far as saying that "any swimmer" does not need any specific sets until their 400 m time is below 6:00. I find this a bit too hard to go without main sets, but whatever, they do have point.

Just read you already got your time down to 1:32/100m, congratulations ! and I am certain that you didn't have to bench anything, which was my point. With the speed you have on the 25 m, you should have no issues getting your 100 m to around 1:20, just keep building at it.

This is awesome what do you accredit it too? I've been trying for 6 months to get my time into the 1:30s and you did it in a week. Lol.

Honestly, I barely swam before and now I'm on week 4 of coached training sessions. So I've had about ten sessions since, in which we do tons of technique work. While none of those sessions are with a personal coach who gives me personalized tips, I think that getting in the water regularly helps immensely with my feel for the water.

Plus, I never timed it with a flip turn before, I've never done the dolphin kicks after pushing off the wall before and I think my stroke is a little bit more efficient now. Although, I'm very well aware that I have tons of work to do still.

Haha, not bench pressing here (yet). Just more swimming and more core work actually (which I've neglected immensely before).

Thank you! I think my new goal will be to swim a sub 1:30 for the test. I'll re-time in 2-3 weeks.

Oh and I don't know if you caught that, but this was the time for an all-out, one-time effort for 100m. I could not possibly hold that pace for any longer. Any swims I've done during tris before were well above the 2min/100 mark. Granted, I've never done proper swim training before because I hated getting in the pool in the past. So motivation is apparently a big factor for me too! Makes sense :D

To clarify, since I'm taking a weird amount of heat for my comment, I said not to neglect strength training. Not to stop swimming and hit the gym 5x a week. N. Adrian example is obviously an extreme example. I thought that the ST community would understand that. I didn't think that I actually suggested that you do "highly specialized" dryland training. How many times do we see people suggest the same type of thing for other sports? This is why swimming is stuck in the 80's. Swimmers (even myself, at times) are unwilling to try new things to advance our sport or drop their times. Just my $.02.

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

Just curious, but how do you have time to go to the gym 5x a week and train for triathlons? Or are you a swimmer "only"? I find it impossible already to train all three disciplines equally (which obviously, you don't always have to), add in my core workouts, yoga sessions etc. Besides the time management, how can you physically take that much training?

I feel so bad reading so many stories of getting improvement in a short time. I'm still currently at 1:50 on 2:10 100 m repeats. I got no improvement whatever in my first few years of swimming and finally I got a lesson last year and started making progress. However my training was totally interrupted since February and after 7 months and all my progress and technique since then had lost, and I have to redo everything again.

For me, using a pull buoy is much slower because it inhibits rotation.

Eblackadder, am I correct in guessing you are male? As a woman who was coached in swimming while quite young, I’m significantly slower WITH the pull buoy than without. The pull buoy does not change my body position so the only effect it has on my swim speed is that I don’t have the extra power from the kick; thus I’m slower. I was training for tris for a while before I even realized some people were actually faster with the buoy and it does seem mostly to be men who don’t have a good natural body position. Same with wetsuits: they barely help me and in salt water I feel as if I’m above the surface and having to reach down. It has to do with distribution of body fat and learning body position early.

Just to say, your advice to use a pull buoy to experience greater speed may or may not work for our heroine in this thread. But it’s cool that works for you 👍.

Here's my n=1 story with PBs and wetsuits -

In my first 5 years of swimming in tri (AOS not good swimmer during that time!) I was significantly slower with PB, and wetsuit gave no advantage. Was so bad with the PB slowdown that I'd have to ditch it in masters swims when the PB sets started up as I'd go from leading my lane to the slowest in the lane. Without the PB, I'd be in the front of the lane even as most others got faster with the PB.

Interestingly, now I'm further along and with significantly stronger pull muscles, I'm now the opposite, with approx a 5 sec speed advantage with either PB or wetsuit in the pool. I suspect I had good body position before but just didn't have the pull strength to capitalize; with the PB though, with a stronger pull, the small energy saved from keeping the back end up could be put to use in a more powerful pull. At least that's my theory, as I didn't make any body changes or real technical changes during that flip in PB swim times. Was actually a shock to me when I retested it last year and found it was the case that I'd flipped.