Rethinking the Womens-200 Meter Freestyle

A During the past great summer of swimming, the best 4x 200 meter freestyle swims by American Women Swimmers were as follows: 1.58.02, 1.58.50, 1.58.7, and 1.59.3.. Needless to say, that’s pretty doggone slow. The good news is, the rest of the world is just as bad as we are. The bad news is, “someone” is going to catch fire and leave everyone else in the dust. That “someone” needs to be American Swimmers.

Explanation: The “traditional” splits, discussed for decades among coaches, is the first 100 split being swum within two seconds of the individuals’ best 100 freestyle swim. Then the 2nd 100 being split within two seconds of the first 100 in the swim. That’s been the “norm”.

The men swim it that way…..a 49 plus 100 freestyler goes out at 52 and comes back at 53-54 and so on.
Now lets look at American Women in the 100. The same four women noted above have 100 times this summer of 53.5, 54.6, 55.2, and 55.3.

IF we apply the “traditional splits”, their first 100’s should be 55.5, 56.6, 57.2 and 57.3. Then returning within 2 seconds of that and our 200 meter free times SHOULD BE: 153+, 154+, 156+ and 156+.

We’re kind of a long way off, wouldn’t you say?

Again, the world is no better right now than we are. And the Women’s 200 has been soft for DECADES, not years.

When you analyze their “true” 200 free splits the answer is extremely simple (but not easy to fix)…….our women (the world’s women!) go out much too slowly. We still think that 58 second first 100 is “doing something”. No way. NO WAY.

Like all things athletic, as soon as the famous “someone” has the courage to take it out like a “real woman”, and goes fast, so will lots of other people.

There are 10-15 women around the globe with the “reasonable expectation” of being able to take it out at a low 56 or a high 55 and still bring it home well, if they commit to doing it.

Lets not get to Beijing and discover we are the country who didn’t get the message. Instead, lets be the breakout nation.
Recently a group of very elite coaches with more than 15 Olympic Gold Medals among them, speculated on what “needs to be done” to get there. Here is some of what they came up with:

1. Split Preparation in Practice…prepare your athletes in training to do the 4 x 50 broken swims in the pace for what they SHOULD be doing, not what they have done in the past. Get that 55 second hundred person taking the first 100 out in 57 or even 56 high. Know the splits, work the splits.

2. The 200 is going to hurt. Athletes need to prepare themselves in practice to accept the pain and continue training/competing. It’s a long sprint, not a short distance event.

3. Logically explain to athletes how far from what should be reality, this event is. The reward for “taking a chance” is huge….someone will break through and everyone else will “get left”. Be the “someone”.

4. The best endurance work in the world cannot replace a speed reserve to make the 200 work. You can’t go 1.54, if you can’t swim a 56. Get speed and then extend it to the race distance.

5. Coaches look all the way down the pyramid…train children from an early age to “take it out and go for it”. Conservative efforts will get you conservative results. Courage and daring will bring the big reward. Encourage athletes to think that way. Take a risk!

The women’s 200 free is the most open event of all the medals in Beijing…and at every meet in the USA on the path to Beijing.

Swim Fast! JL