200 IM help - swimming?

Question

So... I'm most likely going to be swimming the 200 im at my next meet. I have swam it several times before, but I am still not sure how to pace myself. I usually go out semi-fast on the fly, but by the time I get to backstroke, I'm tired out. When I finally get to free, my arms are about to die because of LA build-up. Breaststroke is probably my weakest stroke, and my strongest is probably fly. Splits from my last meet were 30-ish for fly, 36-ish for back, 43/44-ish for breast, and 35 for free. Any tips on how to pace myself? Thanks!

Answer 1

IM swimmers have to well rounded in every stroke.



Since fly is your best stroke go out fast, don't shorten or tighten up on your stroke, keep it long and strong and use your start and turn (if in a SC pool) to maximise your efficiency. Whatever you do, don't hold your breath or breathe every 3 or 4 strokes on your fly because this will definitely cause your muscles to fade because of the lack of oxygen. I recommend breathing every 2, but just remember to keep your head still and chin low. Keep a high stroke rate, and when racing against others, set yourself a goal to be in front by backstroke.



From your turn from fly to back really use the under water phase (it is faster and covers a lot of distance without using a significant amount of energy). Since you are on your back you don't have to worry as much about breathing intervals, so that's one problem off of the list. Kick hard, your arms will be more tired than your legs (have you ever heard the expression 'they're going to their legs'? it means that the arms a finished and legs have to do the work) and keep a good stroke turnover, really work on catching the water and finishing your stroke cycle. Since your back stroke is quite weak, it and the breast are the areas you need to work on the most (try harder during the race at and really use the turns).



Breaststroke appears to be your weakest stroke, like fly keep it long and strong, do not elongate the stroke too much, but do not make it so short you're not gaining anything from the glide. Really use your turns on breaststoke as you can get a good 7 metres off the wall at speed. Do not pull up to high or dive to low as this causes drag and will most definitely slow you down.



Freestyle is where you should really use your legs, don't breath too much either as this adds about 0.4 to 0.8 seconds on to your stoke turnover. You need to be mentally strong to finish the last 50m fast, do not worry about your muscles dying cause the race is almost over so give everything you've got.



Keep the fly at around 29 to low 30 pace, back stroke really needs to be about 34 - 35, breast 42 and free 32 - 33. So in short, work the first 100m use breast stroke to get your breath back and max your freestyle. That would give you at time of sub 2.20.



To combat the LA then you must try your hardest in sprint sets and Lactate Production and Lactate Threshold sets to be able to over come the Lactate Acids build up. Also, work on your stamina and go out for a run or go to the gym.



Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Your best bet is to just about sprint the entire thing. Like you, butterfly is my strongest stroke. You have to sprint for the entire fly. If you can go out in about a 29, you would have a solid lead over the field. Your back doesn't seem as strong, so try to remain at the front of the pack for back. With you breast-stroke, you need to go all out. Pretend this is your last part of the race. The most important aspect is your kick. Your arms will obviously be tired after fly and back, so try to have a very powerful kick. Finally, bring the race home in your free. Leave no energy in the tank. My earlier this year my time was very close to yours, but then I began to sprint more, and dropped a significant amount of time. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 3

In the IM you almost have to focus on your weaknesses more than your primaries, for example my primaries are free and back, fly is ok, but i have a week breastroke, I've swam the IM many times when i push backstroke because it is my best stoke i end up going slower. Ive had my best results when i bring out fly at about 95% back about 90% breast all out and free all out, I'm almost to the point where i feel i can almost sprint the whole race, but that is very tough to achieve.



So my advice to you would be to have fast fly, then long strong backstroke, push the pace on breastroke make sure you get in nice long pull out no matter how out of breath you are. And then free give it your all use whatever you have left. Its going to hurt there is no way to avoid that but in my opinion this should give you the best results.



GOOD LUCK :)

Answer 4

When you do a 200 IM you want to pace yourself the right way. You should start out NOT sprinting because you would just get tired. It would be the best option to probably start out by not sprinting but just normal speed. Then as you get towards the end of the 200 you should start to sprint. Kind of like building up. That's just my opinion.

Answer 5

Speed up each 50.

That's my coach's advice.