Why do swimmers who are essentially sprinters–my children’s races don’t last longer than 1:30 and most are around 30-40 seconds–need to swim so many yards? Please explain why this is different from running where said sprinters might show up and do a few starts, run a few sprints and then call it a practice.
If your explanation is that they are trying to commit the correct form to muscle memory, then why do they need to do what is essentially interval training (leaving the wall on a certain interval)?
I have been watching my son these past two weeks since he jumped up to swim with the high school kids and it makes no sense to me.
Please enlighten me.
Spiced Rum hit it right on the head. If coaches could just put their kids in for a few 100 yards and call it a day, they would have done that ages ago. For whatever reason, it is the path to getting faster, time tested and athlete proven. I have yet to hear of one athlete that only trained a couple thousand a day and became national or world class. And i also suspect you short change the runners…
Don’t worry, if they remain sprinters into college and then, maybe-become world class, then they’ll do the same jerk-off workouts you see track sprinters do.
Mid-distance and long distance swimmers ridiculing sprinters and their “workouts” is a time-honored tradition. But your kids aren’t sprinters yet, they’re being cultivated.
Well, I oversimplified it, but they certainly don’t do any sort of volume. They may lift a lot of weights for explosive power and injury reductions, but they thought that a couple of warm-up laps around the track was a long run. And they never did anything like interval training. Everything they did was with full recovery.
Chad
The shortest event in swimming is the equivalent (time wise) to the 200 on the track, and chances are yourkids will have to swim distances from the 50 up to at a minimum the 200. Even a 100 isn’t a true sprint, it takes endurance to not die in the last 25.
track runners probably run more than you think, and they would run even more if they could and not get injured. Swimmers can swim as much as they do because they don’t get injured don so.
Committing the time and distance in the pool from a young age does help to build strong mechanics and muscle memory. Not unlike cycling, some of these muscles require extensive work to build strength. A combination of proper form, comfort in the water, mechanics and strength are all things that are built with this extended pool schedule.
That said, you won’t see the sprinters putting in the same workouts as the distance guys. Sprinters require great strength out of lean muscle and that is built through repetition.
I think a fine example would be people on ST that have just began to swim now, rather than as a kid. In most cases it is going to take a lot of time in the pool to see a good return. Even for a short sprint. Look at all the work Dara Torres puts in. Her race barely last’s 20 seconds. But I bet she’s putting long hours of in water and strength training.
What you may not see with track sprinters, who likely spend a great amount of time in the gym, is long lean muscle that you see in a swimmer. The two don’t exactly mirror each other in training aspects. A pure power event for both a runner and swimmer likely won’t have the same training put in to get there.
But your kids aren’t sprinters yet, they’re being cultivated.
Now that response actually makes some sense. However, swimming at the college level is pretty selective. None of the schools I ever attended even had swim teams–not even women’s teams thanks to title ix. I’ll be shocked if any of my kids swim in college and the longest event they will swim is still going to be less than the time it would take to run 800 meters.
I just fail to follow the logic and don’t understand why you would train someone who is essentially a sprinter just like a distance runner. That makes no sense to me at all.
What you may not see with track sprinters is long lean muscle that you see in a swimmer. The two don’t exactly mirror each other in training aspects. A pure power event for both a runner and swimmer likely won’t have the same training put in to get there.
Thank you. That is a response that speaks to the different requirements between swimming and running. I wonder if the difference lies in the fact that we walk everywhere on our legs, but our arms are just along for the ride. Just by moving about and playing as children we have developed our legs while our arms, back and shoulders are just along for the ride.
During any given day, compare how much time your kid spends walking to how much time he spends swimming. Now consider how many years he spent walking without swimming. By comparison, he is a walking savant. He would need to spend multiple hours a day, every day in the pool just to become as naturally skilled at swimming as he is at walking. We just don’t develop the skills (balance, muscle memory, core strength, etc) to swim as a consequence of our every day lives, so becoming a good swimmer requites that much more effort and time in the pool
track runners probably run more than you think, and they would run even more if they could and not get injured. Swimmers can swim as much as they do because they don’t get injured don so.
I have a neighbor here that was a collegiate 10,000m gal. She runs the local race circuit and owns that pretty handily, even for us masters folks. I think the last time I asked her what she typically runs a week just to maintain her fitness (mind you she will train longer for halfs) but typically for 5K’s, 10K’s she runs around 35 mpw, which is not a lot. In college she said it was more like 50mpw for the 10,000m distance.
I cannot remember right off hand but there was an Olympic sprinter that ran 70 mpw or more. I will have to look it up.
Swimmers most certainly can get injured with nerve impingement, shoulder issues so it isn’t totally risk free but much easier on the body than running. That is for sure.
. In college she said it was more like 50mpw for the 10,000m distance.
I’m also betting that of that 50 mpw, there was a higher percentage of hard days than the typical distance runner does, so if you compared total stress they would be more similar.
. In college she said it was more like 50mpw for the 10,000m distance.
I’m also betting that of that 50 mpw, there was a higher percentage of hard days than the typical distance runner does, so if you compared total stress they would be more similar.
Probably so. I will ask next time I see her out. I love it when she strides alongside me in the neighborhood and asks if she can join me for a recovery run. Yeah, uhm, just how slow you wanting to go?
Hey if i paid 500 dolars or more for my kids to swim i want to get the most out of my money. So that is in meters or yards swam. Which translates into more time for ME to workout also while they are in there. If their young though and swimming with the high school kids already be careful they do not burn out from swimming
Different sports train differently due to the disparate requirements of each sport. No, swimmers don’t train like runners. No, you’re not by a long shot the first person to have that question here on ST.
The next level of the question usually goes “should triathletes train like single-sport athletes?” and then the merde hits the ventilator and everything goes downhill from there.
