Saw it this morning! The wierd thing is the guy kept going and going and going. Knocking 'em out at exactly 2:00/100.
I had my easy day and was in the water for all of 45 mins. He got in with me, but when I finished my long shower and dressed, he was still going and going and going; no stop, no break, just sucking air and splashing away at steady twos.
I have to say, I really respect his grit. Every time I passed him, I could see him flailing even faster. Imagine what he could do iffin he took the time to learn a bit…
Saw it this morning! The wierd thing is the guy kept going and going and going. Knocking 'em out at exactly 2:00/100.
I had my easy day and was in the water for all of 45 mins. He got in with me, but when I finished my long shower and dressed, he was still going and going and going; no stop, no break, just sucking air and splashing away at steady twos.
I have to say, I really respect his grit. Every time I passed him, I could see him flailing even faster. Imagine what he could do iffin he took the time to learn a bit…
Yeah, I see things like that quite a bit when I’m swimming at the local gym.
Imagine the calories he is burning.
Until I refined my stroke I bet you I was burning a least 2X the calories of anyone els out there.
I was never anywhere near 40 strokes though.
I saw a woman a few weeks ago take 37 strokes in 25m of breast stroke. She had turn over like you couldn’t believe and just kept going and going. She must have taken 10 strokes between the flags and the wall as I kept thinking, OK, this has to be the last stroke, but then she’d do another. I’d guess she did about 1000 m like that. Hell of a workout.
Imagine the calories he is burning.
Until I refined my stroke I bet you I was burning a least 2X the calories of anyone els out there.
I was never anywhere near 40 strokes though.
I’ll bet that taking really inefficient strokes (think: no resistance) burns up fewer calories than efficient strokes. That’s one reason why poor swimmers drop their elbows, and how these 40/25 “swimmers” can be such Energizer Bunnies.
(we have one at my YMCA, who has been doing the same thing (35/25 and 2:00/100yd for more than an hour at a time) for decades)
Gotcha beat.
Guy at my YMCA swims a 3:00/100 pace and takes 37-38 strokes per 20 yards!
He swims in sweatpants (not kidding, they are full length sweatpants that are black and say GYMNAST in giant white letters on the leg) but wears a swimcap because he says it makes him faster.
He swims every single day (including weekends), swims for 1:15 non stop and has swam at the same 3:00/100 pace for at least the last year. He also swims at a god awful angle as his feet are about 2 feet plus underwater, every 3rd stroke his left leg does some awkward half kick/half breastroke kick thing and he’s been known to kick the person swimming next to him. There’s no lane lines in this 4 lane pool either so when he pushes off the wall he does so with his head way above water and his feet way below so he makes a huge wake. If you are coming into the wall when he is pushing off you better breath to the other side or else your getting a lungfull of water from his wave.
Every single day I swim there he makes it a point to tell me I’m a ‘speed’ guy but he’s a marathoner when it comes to swimming. Then he goes into the locker room and walks around in his dripping/soaking sweat pants and gets the entire ‘dry/dressing’ area of the locker room soaked. And no he doesn’t have anything wrong with his legs that would require him to wear pants everywhere (such as scars).
Gotcha beat.
Guy at my YMCA swims a 3:00/100 pace and takes 37-38 strokes per 20 yards!
He swims in sweatpants (not kidding, they are full length sweatpants that are black and say GYMNAST in giant white letters on the leg) but wears a swimcap because he says it makes him faster.
He swims every single day (including weekends), swims for 1:15 non stop and has swam at the same 3:00/100 pace for at least the last year. He also swims at a god awful angle as his feet are about 2 feet plus underwater, every 3rd stroke his left leg does some awkward half kick/half breastroke kick thing and he’s been known to kick the person swimming next to him. There’s no lane lines in this 4 lane pool either so when he pushes off the wall he does so with his head way above water and his feet way below so he makes a huge wake. If you are coming into the wall when he is pushing off you better breath to the other side or else your getting a lungfull of water from his wave.
Every single day I swim there he makes it a point to tell me I’m a ‘speed’ guy but he’s a marathoner when it comes to swimming. Then he goes into the locker room and walks around in his dripping/soaking sweat pants and gets the entire ‘dry/dressing’ area of the locker room soaked. And no he doesn’t have anything wrong with his legs that would require him to wear pants everywhere (such as scars).
That is AWESOME! Please add to “Strange Denizens…” thread (if you havent’ already )
I agree - - I think a high and inefficient turnover burns fewer calories and takes less actual effort. I wasn’t quite at 40 strokes per 25, but I had a high stroke count even for my size (23 or so). I worked one on one with a coach two weeks ago and did video analysis under water and stuff this coach had been telling me for years finally made sense. I’ve always prided myself on my endurance but now that I’ve been really focused on doing my pull correctly and keeping my head down and still, I’m getting pretty tired pretty quick - - although I am a bit faster already. I’m going much faster at the shorter stuff and not feeling like I’m exerting myself any harder, but it really shows in the longer stuff - - I’m faster but seriously tired…although in the past two weeks much less tired so I guess I’ll keep plugging away.
So, for the newbies out here - How many strokes should I be taking in a 25 meter pool? I’m assuming that my current 30ish count is too high (j/k); however, I’m pretty sure that i’m in the low 20s.
Many different variables play into it – I think your arm span is one of them. 23 would be too high for some folks and just right for others.
Play around with your “swimming golf” score: your time for a 50 + Stroke Count. Figure out which stroke count gets you the lowest “golf” score and then try a variety of Total Immersion or other drills to bring it down. For me, keeping my head down and still altered my entire body position in the water making me much more aquadynamic. I also focus on my reach - - I pretend I’m a little kid reaching for the jar of peanut butter that my mom liked to keep out of reach.
So, for the newbies out here - How many strokes should I be taking in a 25 meter pool? I’m assuming that my current 30ish count is too high (j/k); however, I’m pretty sure that i’m in the low 20s.
Thanks!
My swim coach is trying to get me down to 17-18 consistently. I’m still a long way off from that, but yesterday with the pull buoy I was hitting 18 every 2nd length or so when I really concentrated on gliding, so there’s progress. I’m 5’11", so the equivalent may be a few strokes/length higher for someone shorter.
I’m right there with ya! This is my second year doing tris and I was doing close to a 3:00/100m last year. Yes, VERY slow - my goal for each race was not to be the last person in my wave out of the water (usually, I was the next to the last person). This year, I’m trying to get down to the 2:00/100m. I was happy to be doing 75m on 2:00 minutes at swim practice the other night.
So, for the newbies out here - How many strokes should I be taking in a 25 meter pool? I’m assuming that my current 30ish count is too high (j/k); however, I’m pretty sure that i’m in the low 20s.
Thanks!
My swim coach is trying to get me down to 17-18 consistently. I’m still a long way off from that, but yesterday with the pull buoy I was hitting 18 every 2nd length or so when I really concentrated on gliding, so there’s progress. I’m 5’11", so the equivalent may be a few strokes/length higher for someone shorter.
There is hope! I’ve been swimming with a ‘pre-masters’ group at my club for the last 5 weeks. These are small-group (7-8 swimmers) coached sessions 3x/week, working on nothing but drills (body position, rolling to a breath, proper catch, high elbows, etc). I’ve gone from swimming 25 yards in 20 strokes with a fist and 17 with an open hand on the first day to 13 with a fist and 11 with an open hand today.
So, for the newbies out here - How many strokes should I be taking in a 25 meter pool? I’m assuming that my current 30ish count is too high (j/k); however, I’m pretty sure that i’m in the low 20s.
Thanks!
My swim coach is trying to get me down to 17-18 consistently. I’m still a long way off from that, but yesterday with the pull buoy I was hitting 18 every 2nd length or so when I really concentrated on gliding, so there’s progress. I’m 5’11", so the equivalent may be a few strokes/length higher for someone shorter.
There is hope! I’ve been swimming with a ‘pre-masters’ group at my club for the last 5 weeks. These are small-group (7-8 swimmers) coached sessions 3x/week, working on nothing but drills (body position, rolling to a breath, proper catch, high elbows, etc). I’ve gone from swimming 25 yards in 20 strokes with a fist and 17 with an open hand on the first day to 13 with a fist and 11 with an open hand today.
That’ll come in handy when swimming races and triathlons are based on fewest strokes. Seriously, are you going just as fast with 11 strokes per length as you were with 17? I’ve got to believe you are gliding waaaay too much for that to be useful.
So, for the newbies out here - How many strokes should I be taking in a 25 meter pool? I’m assuming that my current 30ish count is too high (j/k); however, I’m pretty sure that i’m in the low 20s.
Thanks!
My swim coach is trying to get me down to 17-18 consistently. I’m still a long way off from that, but yesterday with the pull buoy I was hitting 18 every 2nd length or so when I really concentrated on gliding, so there’s progress. I’m 5’11", so the equivalent may be a few strokes/length higher for someone shorter.
There is hope! I’ve been swimming with a ‘pre-masters’ group at my club for the last 5 weeks. These are small-group (7-8 swimmers) coached sessions 3x/week, working on nothing but drills (body position, rolling to a breath, proper catch, high elbows, etc). I’ve gone from swimming 25 yards in 20 strokes with a fist and 17 with an open hand on the first day to 13 with a fist and 11 with an open hand today.
That’ll come in handy when swimming races and triathlons are based on fewest strokes. Seriously, are you going just as fast with 11 strokes per length as you were with 17? I’ve got to believe you are gliding waaaay too much for that to be useful.
I’m going faster with 11 strokes than I was with 17. I understand what you’re saying and agree that swimming with the fewest number of strokes, in and of itself, is not the goal but it is very indicative of good or bad form. When I’m swimming long sets now I’m at something closer to 14 strokes per 25y, but that number would have been in the 22ish range 5 weeks ago.
Swimmer number two when he came up to breath nearly rolled over on his back and then took two complete breaths before continuing swimming.
I saw a guy doing this in Atlanta last week. When he breathed he went almost completely on his back. It was pretty crazy. He seemed like an ok swimmer. Smooth stroke and all, just extreme body roll to breath.
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