Anyone who has swam under 5 for the 500 please post your weekly yardage at the time you broke it and any advice you have for me as this is my personal goal for offseason. I have to laugh at all these high school kids around the country going 4:4x for 500 and want to know how I can get there to. Please help I am at 5:30 right now.
I swam about a 4:40 in high school, but was a sprinter i.e. 100 fly, 100 free, 50 free. 4 years of 6 practices a week pretty straight through all the seasons. Most practices were about 6000 yrds except for saturdays that were usually closer to 10,000. Then again we would really ramp up the yardage at the beginning of our season to a bunch more than that.
probably not what you want to hear, and maybe you have more inane talent than I did, but that is what it took to swim under a 5:00 min 500 when I would do it in competition…mind you I maybe did it twice in competition…but the only time I swam it slower than that was at the beginning of high school when I wasn’t in the kind of shape I was in after 4 years of shape.
I broke 5 twice in college. ~80k a week.
SCY? or Meters?
What are your 100 and 200 free times?
I was a high school swimmer with 75k per week but I was on the slower end of varsity my best 500 yds was 5:13.
I was mid 4:40’s in high school. I came from a high volume age group program. 9-10 practices a week. Mornings were about 5K, Evenings were about 6-8K. 3.5 hours on saturday with yardage that could approach 15K on a real brutal day.
How old are you? Hate to say, but that seems like a fairly unrealistic goal coming from a 5:30 currently. I would shoot for say 5:10 to 5:15? Prove me wrong though.
Was low 4:50 scy in college (DIII), and swam a crap ton to get there. Like 13-15k per day with Sundays off.
Swimming is not all about the volume that you put in. Technique matters WAY more in the pool than does any other endurance based sport.
I know a high school kid who does it off of 5 days a week of 3 to 4k a day. He has a lot of talent though.
If you’re talking LCM : unless you’re 10 or 11 years old atm with the “right” parents, then no amount will likely get you there. If you are in this situation then 5-8 years of 15-20hrs/week x 48-50 weeks/year is my guess.
I can’t work out the whole yds to metres conversion thing so don’t really know how fast this equates to for a 400LCM swim but going under 4min is pretty handy!
all great replies I appreciate the help. I am doing a 2:07 200 free and 5:30 500 from a push and open turns. The weekly volume for everybody is that all in singles or some days doubles. I am will do whatever I can to achieve this goal!
Broke 5:00 in high school. I didn’t inherit my dad’s athletic genes, so it took many years of 50-70,000 yards/week over 9-10 practices, plus 3-4 total hours of dryland, for 50 weeks per year to get there. Going from 5:30 to under 5:00 in one season will be tough - the same jump took me four years. However if you have good genetics and low hanging fruit (like mega-low yardage currently or easily fixable technique issues), by all means go for it.
Open turns?
Advice: learn and perfect fast flip turns. Dive off the blocks for a few more seconds. Swim with fast high schoolers if possible, or maybe with a fast masters group if you can find them.
5:00 is tough to reach (I never quite got there). I remember it as a huge milestone for the kids who could do it. They were swimming every day – sometimes double practices – up to 10k yards, and were very talented and gifted athletes. I remember efficient turns were really key and can get you a lot of time.
Anyone know what 500 scy equates to in LCM?
Ie What would you be looking at for a 400LCM?
QT for 400 free SCM at our (Aus) national SC Champs is 4:00 so interested how sub 5 for 500 scy would compare as just getting the QT means you’re a pretty bloody good swimmer.
Mens 400 LC = 4:01
Mens 400 SCM = 3:52
Mens 500 SCY = 4:28
.
All these weekly totals seem insane. I went 4:48 off less than 30k (5-6k, 5x/week). But was a sprint free/back guy, so strong kick and good speed.
Unless you are competitive swimmer training full time, you will not go under 5min. You will not come even close.
As a kid I swam 10 months a year for 10 or so years. I starting at about 25,000 yds a week and within a couple years getting up to 60-80,000+ yds a week. 17,000 yds was a typical day in the summer, a bit less during the school year. I broke 5:00 around year 5 but that was before I was full grown so you might be able to make it a bit quicker 
I eventually went 4:36.
I did have the great misfortune to be swimming in the late 70’s and early 80’s when max yardage ruled. No one swims that much these days but, you still are going to have to swim way more, and way harder, then you are now if you want a shot at 5:00
Did 4:05 SCM in high school. Didn’t taper for the 400 after that. I swam sub 4.05 in training a few times in University. That is a 4.37 500Y.
We swam around 70 to 80k (metres) most weeks. Peek weeks 90 to 105k.
200 Fly was my event.
4.00 ~ 4.35 in yards.