Summer 1, Week 6 Technical and Conditioning Focus: Negative Splitting and Rhythm
Summer 1, Week 6 Technical and Conditioning Focus: Negative Splitting and Rhythm
- Macrocycle: Summer 1: March 24 – June 1
- Mesocycle: April 14 – May 4: IM Build-Up
- Microcycle: April 28 – May 4
- 400 IM: Negative Splitting and Rhythm
Hello Swim Families!
Following a successful weekend of racing at the 2025 Oz Classic in Wichita we now launch into week 6 of the Summer 1 macrocycle. Our IM Build-Up mesocycle will finish out this week as we transition to focusing on the 400 IM, or at least, the elemental parts of the 400 IM that make it such an instrumental event to train for.
At the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, Michael Phelps won the 400 IM in then-World Record times, defying what the world (but not Phelps and his coach) thought was possible. Phelps’ records have since been broken by Leon Marchand (also under the guidance of Phelps’ coach, Bob Bowman), though there is a further interesting story of Phelps and the 400 IM.
In Beijing in 2008, Phelps claimed that was his last 400 IM. And yet, he started swimming it again in 2011 and qualified to swim it at the 2012 London Olympics, finishing 2nd to Ryan Lochte in Omaha. For Phelps, at that point in time, the 400 IM was a “training event,” something he felt he needed after taking extended breaks from the sport following the 2008 Games.
In London, Phelps, the then-World Record holder and 2-time Olympic champion finished in a shocking 4th-place, missing the podium. Ryan Loche won the race, and for 350 meters it looked like he might break Phelps’ record, though ultimately, he fell short, while still demolishing the rest of the field.
Phelps knew he couldn’t beat Lochte in the 400 IM in 2012, though he expected to at least get a medal. This did not go according to plan; however, if Phelps had not at least trained for the 400 IM in the leadup to the 2012 Games, he may not have come away with 4 golds and 2 silvers—an impressive haul by any mortal’s standards.
This week, we focus on the 400 IM. That does not mean long, grueling sets and tons of butterfly; rather, the strategy that goes into swimming such a race, and how training for it benefits the whole swimmer.
Learning how to negative split a race and keep a consistent rhythm are essential to swimming races that are longer than 200 yards/meters, and it is vital to understanding one’s own physicality.
Stroke tempo changes and underwater kicking are also vital to mastering events like the 400 IM, 400 freestyle, and anything longer.
I have long emphasized that swimmers count their kicks and strokes on every lap they swim to develop a rhythm and pattern. To return to Phelps, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the final of the 200 butterfly, Phelps’ goggles filled with water, and he essentially swam the race blind. However, Phelps knew his stroke count and relied on that to carry him through the race, which he won in World Record fashion. Gold medal number 4 of 8 for Phelps in Beijing.
Internalizing stroke counting is vital to efficient swimming and strategic racing!
Our next swim meet will be the 2025 TSA Beach Bash in Topeka! It is a very fun meet featuring everything from a pool party to coaches’ relays! It is also outdoors at a waterpark! Once registration for that meet is open, I will let you know.
In the meantime, please sign up for the 2025 Little Apple Invitational, our home meet! We are celebrating 60 years of the Manhattan Marlins in 2025, and we want all our amazing members to be a part of it!
As always, we are so grateful that you are a part of our team, and we look forward to your continued participation in the upcoming season!
-Coach Reid
