Dear Mr. Sloth, Everybody will disagree but make one swim a very easy nonstop effort.
The body can learn some things doing this.
(It works for me).

Masters swim squad sessions. Was the thing that got me from where you were (actually slower) after 15 years of solo swim sessions 3 x a week, doing coached plans for half that time, to a pb of 6:03 / 400m non drafting.

Big difference was getting out the water after the sessions with the same burn/ache in my arms / lats as in my legs after a run/ride. I just can't push myself that hard on shorter intervals when solo even when aiming for a time. But stretching to stay on the feet of the person infront for 2/3 hours a week, it's really what got my improvements. Part of that was that I could 'test' changes in technique to see if they made me close the gap to the feet or they made the gap grow. Things like how wide the arm entry was, or how deep to go with the hand.


Interestingly I've had a pretty regular swim programme for the last 6 months but not made the improvements as before as I've been leading the lane. One session I jumped up a lane I felt that extra fatigue at the end of the session.

When you were swimming solo, were there not any faster swimmers swimming in the lanes near you??? I rarely go to formal Masters workouts but at my pool almost every day someone gets in who is faster. Lots of fast high school and college swimmers, and also a number of former D1/D2 swimmers at my pool, so I pretty much always have tired arms and legs at end of the workout. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I’ll state the obvious. Yes the body will learn some things, like ingraining bad techniques when you’re tired and can’t hold form.

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Let food be thy medicine...

500 w/u
24x25 every 3rd hard on 10-15s
100 best pace, rest 90s
repeat 2-3x

Maybe I was lucky, or actually because I planned, but no. I always swam in locations/times that I had a lane to myself. And sharing with a D1 wouldn't have been any use, for me the benefits come from sharing with someone doing the same sets but 10-15s per 100m faster. You get the 10 seconds in just drafting, but the last bit comes from that 'boost'. Sharing with someone way quicker is useless as that just means I'd need to stop and let them past every 8 lengths and I'd be on their feet for 5m.

I think you need to do a few things
1. Stop swimming alone. Get in the pool where you can be coached by someone who can watch you and correct you. You’ve been posting on here for months and years and I haven’t seen any improvement in your times. That tells me you don’t have enough proprioception to self-correct. Some are gifted that way, some are not.
2. Spend 30 minutes a day working on core strength. This will probably pay more dividends per minute than slogging out 100’s with increasingly poor technique. You will be able to hold your position better, which alone will make you faster.

3. You have to wear a Speedo. If we’ve learned anything this year, it’s that a super tiny swim brief is the secret to speed. It doesn’t matter if Caleb Dressler and Michael Phelps are wearing speed suit jammers, you need a minute pair of budgie smugglers.


4.
If you’re going to use tools like paddles or fins, rotate frequently without them so you can learn to mimic the power etc but without the aid.

Just what we need,another swim thread for us to get all worked up over.

 5-6 x per week then improved 12 seconds per 100. I'm jealous of that improvement curve!

if you are happy with what you can do a fast 200 in at the end of a training, then you just need to get more fit. if you are not happy, then you need to get more speed.

main set ideas

60x25

4 rounds of 200,150,100,50. get faster by round.

6x300 get faster by the end

longer cool downs

more important than the sets are getting back in the 5-6 days rhythm and consistency

write notes and a training log of what work outs you do and your times. write down what your 152 stroke felt like, write down what 55 per 50 feels like, then 48 per 50, then what 2:00 per 100 feels like. is kick more dominant, or right or left arm feeling something different.

when you get a break through in your stroke, then swim easy and stay in the water longer to make the feeling imprint in your brain then write it down after.

Thnx, waverider and the rest of you. I appreciate the ideas.

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

I think that if you joined a masters swim club and swam hard with them 3 times a week you would make more progress than swimming 5 times a week on your own, regardless of how you structure the solo sessions. You'd also have two extra slots each week you could devote to bike or run or strength or (other). If you take the same approach as you did in previous years, you will likely get the same results.

Honestly, if your body position in the water is solid, and your catch and pull is solid, I'd ditch doing drills altogether and just swim your ass off.

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"one eye doubles my eyesight, so things don't look half bad" John Hiatt

I am going to sound super super harsh.
But with that swim volume your times in no way reflect what you should be achieving given the amount of training you are putting in.
I can have a CSS of 1:29/100 (LCM) with a sub 30 HIM and a 1:03 IM swim based on just three swims a week and with only learning to swim about 7 years ago. No I am not a natural.
I swim in a squad with a coach who does underwater video analysis and technique assessments as part of his coaching business.
With those times you are putting out relative to volume you likely have some major technique issues holding you back.
You would likely to be far better off investing in some technique assessments with a good coach and dropping to 4 swims a week if you need to so that you can fit that in.
If you just train more with your current technique you are likely just ingraining multiple bad habits and technique issues.
Also, swim with people who are faster than you. Join a masters program etc. But you won't get faster by just swimming on your own against yourself all the time.

Brenton's interview with Kat Matthews is well worth a listen:
https://podcasts.apple.com/...7353?i=1000636857047
https://effortlessswimming.com/podcast/

Thnx for all the swell advices and Slowtwitch style tough love. Had a pretty solid swim last night. V. Encouraging

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

Magic bullet #1: Get a coach and learn proper technique
Magic bullet #2: Get a coach and learn proper technique
Magic bullet #3: Get a coach and learn proper technique
Magic bullet #4: Get a coach and learn proper technique

No way someone puts in the effort you do in swim training and goes anywhere near 2:00/100m without serious technique issues. All the suggested workouts above will only do what Amnesia put so succinctly.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

It ain't your front end, it's your back end. Buoy and band. Learn body position. I guarantee you are dragging ass. Use a buoy or TWO. Learn what it feels like to be horizontal, not 45 degrees in the water.

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Wow. Y'all are talking about a 2:00/100m pace like it's slow. I'm thrilled with my last triathlon swim pace of 2:25/100m.

Hey Ken. Thanks for the passionate response.

From 1999-2016, I did master's swimming twice and sometimes three times per week.

It did take me from "triathlete found dead in lake" to completing my 1st Ironman swim...in 90 minutes, and eventually to 80 minutes.

Went through about 4 or 5 instructors, so a wide (ish) variety of techniques and analysis. My last coach was also a physiotherapist and was able to spend a substantial 1 on 1 time with him .

That's where I first heard the word proprioception.

He said that was a noticeable deficit of mine. We worked on it, to the point of him physically moving my body to get the body motion and the timing better. The new patterns were not ingrained as I was only swimming at that time 4 times a week.

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast