Training in SCY and racing in LCM

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  • #2661
    nickswim
    Participant

    Has anyone had issues training in yards and then racing in LCM? For example, racing a 100 fly in yards and going 51.6, but then at a LCM meet shortly after going 1:00.7? The 51.6 converts to 58.77 LCM.

    #2671
    Amsepamse
    Participant

    I don’t think that 51.6 yards “converts” to 58.77 LCM. This would assume that the first 10 meters are equal in speed to the last 10.

    #2690
    dmuecke
    Participant

    Look at the current world records SCM and LCM. Even the best swimmers are slower in 50m pool. Consider the factor in your race prediction. I personally use 1.035.

    #2729
    lipearse
    Participant

    Hi All,

    I have re-read Bulletin #47. The following paragraph got my full attention:

    If the team is able to train in a short-course pool, only short-course times should be used. Shortcourse
    swimming is faster than long-course swimming and so swimming fastest is preferable… Long-course times
    should never be swum in a short-course pool because they actually will be slower than the desirable
    long-course repetition time.

    I subsequently have a few questions:

    1. Could someone please explain to me (preferably with a worked example) how swimming USRPT long-course times in a short-course pool is counter-productive and is slower than the desirable repetition time.

    2. If a swimmer only competes in LC pools, how do they calculate their target repetition time for a USRPT set to be swum in a SC pool? (Can the LC be converted using LC:SC conversion ratios, or is their another, more precise method?)

    I assume this may only be a problem when a swimmer swims a significant Personal Best (PB) time after training at a certain RP-velocity. For example, a swimmer has been training at 2:20.00 pace for 200m freestyle. They swim a new PB time of 2:12.00 in a LC pool. How should the swimmer calculate their new target repetition time?
    Assuming they hadn’t swum the PB, their target repetition time may have gradually been reduced to around 2:16.00 pace. from just training and having a training effect. With the new PB they should obviously be swimming at 2:12.00 pace or faster for repetitions in subsequent USRPT sets. But would they actually be swimming slower than the desired pace (not practicing a faster technique velocity) if they used that new LC PB to calculate their target repetition time? How should this be correctly calculated?

    Cheers

    #2730
    kevin
    Participant

    1. Long course times are slower than short course times since you have a turn and push-off extra per 50m in short course. A turn and push-off are always faster than continued swimming, you should take that into account when converting the pace to short course. At push-off you would reach a speed between 3.5m/s and 3m/s, during the glide a speed between 3 and 2.5m/s but good swimmers only reach about 2m/s during swimming (see: http://www.swimmingscience.net/2010/07/start-vs-push-off.html). So, suppose you target a pace of 30s/50m in long course, when training in short course, you should target e.g. 29s/50m (or even faster) to take away the advantage of increased speed after the turn.

    2. Different coaches use different conversion methods. In my opinion it also depends on the swimmer, some have slow turns, some have fast turns, some have better push-offs, … It helps to have both LC and SC times for the same events. Then you can simply derive the conversion for a particular swimmer.

    A related topic: http://forum.usrpt.com/forums/topic/400-free-set-recovery-question/

    #2731
    lipearse
    Participant

    Thanks Kevin,

    Are most USRPTers using conversion ratios when calculating their Target Repetition Time from long-course PBs?

    #2735
    Amsepamse
    Participant

    If this is a huge problem, it is possible to simplify to just accept that LC/SC are not exactly convertable. If so, you can use a strategy to only change practice target times when swimmers complete their sets (e.g. 20X without Three fails or two consecutive fails).

    I realise that this is individual, and some swimmers will never be able to complete more than 12x and still improve, while others might need in excess of 25x @target pace to actually improve. Look where they plateau and you should have a fair estimate.

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