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Good 500 Time?
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I am planning on tracking my swimming a little closer this year.

What would you consider to be a good 500 time, 1000 time?

I have done Louisville 5 times. This year doesn't count because of short swim but the other 4 were between 1 an 1:10. Louisville is somewhat current assisted.

I searched the forums and couldn't find a thread on this. Thanks
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Calvin386] [ In reply to ]
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You in metres or yards ?
Pool / cozzie, or OW and wetsuit ?
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Calvin386] [ In reply to ]
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You can get a sense of time standards here:
http://forums.usms.org/showthread.php?27224-2017-Masters-Motivational-Times
Download the pdf.


There isn't one simple answer.
I'd say 5:06 or so is very good, but the nice thing about the chart is that it'll give you a range of times, based on actual masters swimmers.
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Calvin386] [ In reply to ]
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Additionally, I wouldn't put much of any stock in OW swim times; they're just too variable.
Track fitness in the pool, as you're saying, and you'll be able to see much smaller changes in stroke and fitness.
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Re: Good 500 Time? [BobAjobb] [ In reply to ]
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BobAjobb wrote:
You in metres or yards ?
Pool / cozzie, or OW and wetsuit ?

If someone is asking about a 500 time, it's virtually guaranteed to be in yards, in the pool.

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Calvin386] [ In reply to ]
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Calvin386 wrote:
I am planning on tracking my swimming a little closer this year.

What would you consider to be a good 500 time, 1000 time?

I have done Louisville 5 times. This year doesn't count because of short swim but the other 4 were between 1 an 1:10. Louisville is somewhat current assisted.

I searched the forums and couldn't find a thread on this. Thanks

I'd consider 4:28.7 to be a good 500 time.

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Calvin386] [ In reply to ]
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Do a set of 100s on 20 seconds rest and whatever your pace is multiply it by 5 and make that your goal time. For the 1000 multiply it by 2 and add 30-60 seconds. Based on your IM swim time I would say 630-45 would be solid I’m guessing you are going to start out a lot slower than that.
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Re: Good 500 Time? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax wrote:
Calvin386 wrote:
I am planning on tracking my swimming a little closer this year.

What would you consider to be a good 500 time, 1000 time?

I have done Louisville 5 times. This year doesn't count because of short swim but the other 4 were between 1 an 1:10. Louisville is somewhat current assisted.

I searched the forums and couldn't find a thread on this. Thanks


I'd consider 4:28.7 to be a good 500 time.

That would be like a national record for anyone over 30. I thought *I* was being kind of a dick by throwing out a time under 6:00...
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Gonefishin5555] [ In reply to ]
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Gonefishin5555 wrote:
Do a set of 100s on 20 seconds rest and whatever your pace is multiply it by 5 and make that your goal time. For the 1000 multiply it by 2 and add 30-60 seconds. Based on your IM swim time I would say 630-45 would be solid I’m guessing you are going to start out a lot slower than that.
I think your pace attrition is too high.
For the 100, 30 seconds seems more right. At least.
I can only hit my 500 pace in practice with a lot more rest. One test set I've heard thrown out is 10x100 odds fast evens easy at a very comfortable interval.
It's possible as you become more of a pure swimmer, the paces you're able to race at get higher, though.
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Trexlera] [ In reply to ]
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Trexlera wrote:
JasoninHalifax wrote:
Calvin386 wrote:
I am planning on tracking my swimming a little closer this year.

What would you consider to be a good 500 time, 1000 time?

I have done Louisville 5 times. This year doesn't count because of short swim but the other 4 were between 1 an 1:10. Louisville is somewhat current assisted.

I searched the forums and couldn't find a thread on this. Thanks


I'd consider 4:28.7 to be a good 500 time.


That would be like a national record for anyone over 30. I thought *I* was being kind of a dick by throwing out a time under 6:00...

I thought the "0.7" was pretty funny. As if, 0.9 would not longer be good. Because 53.74 / 100 is awesome and 53.78 is laughable.
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Re: Good 500 Time? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax wrote:


I'd consider 4:28.7 to be a good 500 time.


FFS, I'd hope so! That's less than 1sec/100y off the pace of Katie Ledecky's best 500 ever, and damn near good enough to qualify for men's NCAA D1 championships.


In the context of this forum (adult triathletes, many without a competitive swim background), I 'd say sub 6:00 for men under 55 years old, and sub 6:45 for women under 55.

That would put you somewhere around a (unofficial) USMS "A-time" for most age groups 25-54. An A-time would be 120% of the average of the last 3 years 10th best time in the age group for that event.


[EDIT] After looking at the USMS motivational time charts again, I realized I was looking at the AA column for women. Changed my bogey time from 6:30 to 6:35[/EDIT]

"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"
Last edited by: gary p: Dec 13, 18 12:07
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Trexlera] [ In reply to ]
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Trexlera wrote:
JasoninHalifax wrote:
Calvin386 wrote:
I am planning on tracking my swimming a little closer this year.

What would you consider to be a good 500 time, 1000 time?

I have done Louisville 5 times. This year doesn't count because of short swim but the other 4 were between 1 an 1:10. Louisville is somewhat current assisted.

I searched the forums and couldn't find a thread on this. Thanks


I'd consider 4:28.7 to be a good 500 time.

That would be like a national record for anyone over 30. I thought *I* was being kind of a dick by throwing out a time under 6:00...

Well, I never said it was the ONLY good time out there. It's just one of them.

;-)

It's kinda like asking what a good 70.3 time is. There isn't really an answer for that.

If the OP wants to know something about training paces, or a rae pace for a sprint distance, or what pace you need to be able to swim to get in the xth percentile of the field, then those are different questions.

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Trexlera] [ In reply to ]
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Trexlera wrote:
Gonefishin5555 wrote:
Do a set of 100s on 20 seconds rest and whatever your pace is multiply it by 5 and make that your goal time. For the 1000 multiply it by 2 and add 30-60 seconds. Based on your IM swim time I would say 630-45 would be solid I’m guessing you are going to start out a lot slower than that.

I think your pace attrition is too high.
For the 100, 30 seconds seems more right. At least.
I can only hit my 500 pace in practice with a lot more rest.


I'm with you on that set. I couldn't make many more than five 100's at 500 race pace on 20 seconds rest. Seven, maybe eight. And I'd be wrecked for the rest of the workout.

I actually use 100's on 20 seconds rest to pace-train for the 1000y free. (I can make +/- 20 reps). 16-20 x 75's on ~20 seconds rest correlates much more closely to my 500y race pace. FWIW, my pace difference between the two is ~5%.

"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"
Last edited by: gary p: Dec 13, 18 11:30
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Re: Good 500 Time? [gary p] [ In reply to ]
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gary p wrote:


In the context of this forum (adult triathletes, many without a competitive swim background), I 'd say sub 6:00 for men under 55 years old, and sub 6:30 for women under 55.


I think for the majority of triathletes sub 6:00 is a dream that will not ever be attained. More like 6:20 and 6:45/:50 for M/W to be off or near the very front of the AG swim in the majority of races anyone will do. (local/regional/70.3/IM)

OP:

To be a FOP M AG swimmer you need to be holding about 1:21-:24 for your longer repeats without falling off in the back end of a 2000+ yard main set without taking a lot of time between reps. If you can do 300,400,500,600 on the 1:25-:27 pace and hold your repeat times you're going to in a very good position in T1.

If you can do repeats on that pace you're going to be out of the water in the top 8 in your AG almost every race you do.

While having a fast 500 or 1000 is great, and will go a long way to getting you to the front of the race, being able to swim within :02/100 for that for 1700-2200yds will put more people behind you after the swim.

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Last edited by: desert dude: Dec 13, 18 11:33
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Re: Good 500 Time? [desert dude] [ In reply to ]
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desert dude wrote:
gary p wrote:


In the context of this forum (adult triathletes, many without a competitive swim background), I 'd say sub 6:00 for men under 55 years old, and sub 6:30 for women under 55.


I think for the majority of triathletes sub 6:00 is a dream that will not ever be attained. More like 6:20 and 6:45/:50 for M/W to be off or near the very front of the AG swim in the majority of races anyone will do. (local/regional/70.3/IM)

OP:

To be a FOP M AG swimmer you need to be holding about 1:21-:24 for your longer repeats without falling off in the back end of a 2000+ yard main set without taking a lot of time between reps. If you can do 300,400,500,600 on the 1:25-:27 pace and hold your repeat times you're going to in a very good position in T1.

If you can do repeats on that pace you're going to be out of the water in the top 8 in your AG almost every race you do.

While having a fast 500 or 1000 is great, and will go a long way to getting you to the front of the race, being able to swim within :02/100 for that for 1700-2200yds will put more people behind you after the swim.

^ what the Dude said, realistically...
for men over 55 to go ~6:30 will put them out of the water at or near the front in their AG, in any distance. Assuming they can handle OWS as well as they handle the pool. The work it takes to get faster may not be worth the time/energy investment in the real world.

Enjoy the journey

I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________
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Re: Good 500 Time? [gary p] [ In reply to ]
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Okay I see your point but it’s counterintuitive that if you give an mop triathlete more rest per 100 that this pace will be closer to the pace they will maintain when you take away all their rest and ask them to swim a straight 500. So I used an interval with less rest to force them to slow down to something closer to their obtainable 500 pace. I don’t know I just made that up to try to give them something more realistic than a 4:28.
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Re: Good 500 Time? [BobAjobb] [ In reply to ]
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BobAjobb wrote:
You in metres or yards ?
Pool / cozzie, or OW and wetsuit ?

Sorry I should have given more info.... 50 meter pool. I do not flip turn nor push hard off the wall. Just not necessary for OW swimmer
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Trexlera] [ In reply to ]
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Trexlera wrote:
You can get a sense of time standards here:
http://forums.usms.org/showthread.php?27224-2017-Masters-Motivational-Times
Download the pdf.


There isn't one simple answer.
I'd say 5:06 or so is very good, but the nice thing about the chart is that it'll give you a range of times, based on actual masters swimmers.[/quote

Thanks... I downloaded it. Glancing over those times in my age group, I have a lot of work to do. I assume the PDF factors in flip turns and hard pushes off the wall which I do not do
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Calvin386] [ In reply to ]
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Calvin386 wrote:
BobAjobb wrote:
You in metres or yards ?
Pool / cozzie, or OW and wetsuit ?


Sorry I should have given more info.... 50 meter pool. I do not flip turn nor push hard off the wall. Just not necessary for OW swimmer

Now you've done it! Dissed flip-turns and walls in front of a bunch of fish....oh boy.
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Trexlera] [ In reply to ]
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Trexlera wrote:
Additionally, I wouldn't put much of any stock in OW swim times; they're just too variable.
Track fitness in the pool, as you're saying, and you'll be able to see much smaller changes in stroke and fitness.

That's exactly what's on my mind. I really can't tell from OW swim times. I want to start tracking my 500 and 1000 in a pool
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Re: Good 500 Time? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax wrote:
Calvin386 wrote:
I am planning on tracking my swimming a little closer this year.

What would you consider to be a good 500 time, 1000 time?

I have done Louisville 5 times. This year doesn't count because of short swim but the other 4 were between 1 an 1:10. Louisville is somewhat current assisted.

I searched the forums and couldn't find a thread on this. Thanks


I'd consider 4:28.7 to be a good 500 time.

That would be really fast for me but as I said in other replies, I do not flip turn or push off the wall hard. Maybe I should start. It's not like I can't, I just don't.
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Gonefishin5555] [ In reply to ]
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Gonefishin5555 wrote:
Do a set of 100s on 20 seconds rest and whatever your pace is multiply it by 5 and make that your goal time. For the 1000 multiply it by 2 and add 30-60 seconds. Based on your IM swim time I would say 630-45 would be solid I’m guessing you are going to start out a lot slower than that.

That sounds like a good place to start... Thanks
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Trexlera] [ In reply to ]
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Trexlera wrote:
JasoninHalifax wrote:
Calvin386 wrote:
I am planning on tracking my swimming a little closer this year.

What would you consider to be a good 500 time, 1000 time?

I have done Louisville 5 times. This year doesn't count because of short swim but the other 4 were between 1 an 1:10. Louisville is somewhat current assisted.

I searched the forums and couldn't find a thread on this. Thanks


I'd consider 4:28.7 to be a good 500 time.


That would be like a national record for anyone over 30. I thought *I* was being kind of a dick by throwing out a time under 6:00...

Whew! I am in the 45 - 49 AG. If I improve in the pool to a 4:28, I will be first out of water at OA at Louisville next year.
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Re: Good 500 Time? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax wrote:
Trexlera wrote:
JasoninHalifax wrote:
Calvin386 wrote:
I am planning on tracking my swimming a little closer this year.

What would you consider to be a good 500 time, 1000 time?

I have done Louisville 5 times. This year doesn't count because of short swim but the other 4 were between 1 an 1:10. Louisville is somewhat current assisted.

I searched the forums and couldn't find a thread on this. Thanks


I'd consider 4:28.7 to be a good 500 time.


That would be like a national record for anyone over 30. I thought *I* was being kind of a dick by throwing out a time under 6:00...


Well, I never said it was the ONLY good time out there. It's just one of them.

;-)

It's kinda like asking what a good 70.3 time is. There isn't really an answer for that.

If the OP wants to know something about training paces, or a rae pace for a sprint distance, or what pace you need to be able to swim to get in the xth percentile of the field, then those are different questions.

I should have been more clear. I am in the 45 - 49 AG. I finish in the top 40 at full distance and top 20 at 1/2 distance. I guess I should have asked what a manageable 500 time would be to improve on past finish results in my AG
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Re: Good 500 Time? [Tom_hampton] [ In reply to ]
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Tom_hampton wrote:
Calvin386 wrote:
BobAjobb wrote:
You in metres or yards ?
Pool / cozzie, or OW and wetsuit ?


Sorry I should have given more info.... 50 meter pool. I do not flip turn nor push hard off the wall. Just not necessary for OW swimmer


Now you've done it! Dissed flip-turns and walls in front of a bunch of fish....oh boy.

You mean this might be my first time getting called to the carpet on ST... I feel like I've arrived
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