try learning breath control. Instead of breathing every stroke cycle try every three or four. I bet you see a :02-:03 drop in times.
As for what the spread should be, I'm no bookie. I usually have a 5-10 sec difference.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Aztec , please change your signature !

Those are the same splits I do , no joke. Yes, I know it is pathetically slow as well. Happy to hear the responses from the forum to your question though.

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"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" - Les Brown
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment" - Jim Rohn

D2 - Ok, so the spread seems to be in line w/ fair value. :-)

As for breathing less, whew, that's tough. I can eek out a 50 breathing every 4, but after that, it's no can do. I take a huuuuuuge gulp of air when I do take a breath on that 4th stroke toward the end. I've worked hard on this, and just can't seem to do without lots of good old O2. :-) I get crosseyed when I see those repeats that call for 3-5-7 breathing. My god! I can't even do that w/ a large pull bouy!

I can't breathe for crap on the other side yet either. Curses. I've worked hard on that too, but I really struggle w/ it more than anyone I've seen. Strange.

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**************
Too f@ckin depressed from various injuries to care about having a signature line.

Sponsored by Blue Shield PPO.

Hey, what's wrong w/ my sig? I EARNED that title!!!!

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**************
Too f@ckin depressed from various injuries to care about having a signature line.

Sponsored by Blue Shield PPO.

That is a big difference dude. If you can rotate at 50 second 50s that is 1:40 100s, which is not that far off a 30min half iron swim, which, I believe, is solidly MOP. Give or take a few mins, but that is roughly correct.

The thing is, for tri swimming, how shattered are you at that pace? Based on a sample of one, if you are only a little quicker but have to work much less hard to achieve that pace, that can only be a good thing.

Also, swimming comes slow to some of us, especially those that took it up as adults. It sounds lame but it just takes time....

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kiwipat

per ardua ad astra

Kiwi, you are too good to me. A 1:40 pace is, by my math, more like 35:20 half-IM (which is MOP as you suggest). I don't think I could hold that 50y pace for more than a few hundred.

My goal for '06 was 29:59, but reality is kicking in and I admit that just isn't going to happen. I've done 44:XX (June) and 40:30 (July).

You ain't kiddin' about progress coming slowly when you pick it up as an adult, as I did late last year (or really early this year in earnest), at age 39! What I just can't understand though (and this literally keeps me up at night), is how I'll EVER get that much faster. On the bike, I can crank 350w for a few mins. I can see how it can be done. Same on the run, as I can blast out a 4:30/mile pace for, well, OK, not very long. But when swimming, even a dead 25y sprint takes me 19 seconds. I can't replicate 1:10/100y pace -- a pace that lots of people say takes 'no effort' -- no matter what I try. You'd think I'd have to have some radical errors to be that far off. I can SEE the flaws in the strokes of people blowing by me in other lanes.

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**************
Too f@ckin depressed from various injuries to care about having a signature line.

Sponsored by Blue Shield PPO.

well, the frustration you feel is evident. Thing is, most people (in tris anyway) do not hold 1:10 pace. Those that say this is effortless are swimmers, and they have about a zillion metre head start on you - forget them, you will never make that up.

But, you have made progress, no? Forty mins is BMOP, but it is still in the game.

I am aiming to do a 35min half iron swim in 2006. Might not happen, but I am in there swinging!

I swam a 1:20 100, a couple of times, with fins. You know the thing that astonished me? Not the speed, but the THICKNESS of the water. It got so sticky, I swear, I was swimming in concrete. I felt like I was just yanking myself through the water. Swimming way faster than normal is good for people like you and me because it reminds us that drag is everything. Get your body position horizontal (or close to it), then it gets easier.

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kiwipat

per ardua ad astra

Aztec -

Be of good cheer! I didn't start swimming in earnest until 2000, when I was 51. By the time you're my age now (56), you'll be swimming extremely well compared to where I'm at presently (my drill times are very close to your times).

As for your signature, it's been a favorite of mine for a while, and I'll continue to enjoy watching it change as you continue to improve.

Very good point this KIWIPAT. As a slow swimmer myself I once ( or was it twice ? ) managed to do a quick 50m.

At the end of it , I was flabbergasted by the difference in the feel of the water.

Very well worded , thanks.

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"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" - Les Brown
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment" - Jim Rohn

Happy to help.

Of course, the sad part is that good swimmers have this feeling all the time, and just know how to adjust their bodies so that they minimise the drag.

They must look at the rest of us, splashing around, and just shake their heads.

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kiwipat

per ardua ad astra

Think I may throw the flippers on tonight and see. I swam 1.39 in Kona , 2 weeks ago ,last bike in my rack....finished MOP though. Thanks for response.

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"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" - Les Brown
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment" - Jim Rohn