What exactly is it?

[Anti-Hero]

400 yards in 14 min. can be done at a very leisurely pace. Everyone in my class came in ~ 9 min. and we are no Michael Phelps'.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

... even an old, fat dude can do it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Kingpatzer]

Since this is the DIR forum . . . The answer is work on your fitness. 400 yards in 14 minutes really isn't very hard.

And it really isn't hard!!

Granting that I swim nearly every day, I'm still a good 50# over weight and 42 years old. I can do a timed 400 in 6'30" -- give or take a second or two.

The trick to getting to this is to first, get a good stroke technique. Just like diving, you have to have good basic fundamental techniques or everything else is harder. Many swimming instructional books have drills in them for technique. Follow them!

Then, swim intervals. Figure out what your 50m fastests sprint time is. Add 40 seconds to that, then swim on that interval using a lane clock.

For example, my 50m sprint is about 40", so I swim 50s on 1:20. Do a mile this way with a 200 meter warm up and cool down, and 2 minute breaks every 400.

Spend a month or so doing that. Then start swimming your warm up, a timed 400, then your 50 intervals for the rest of the mile, then a cool down.

Your 400 time will drop very, very fast.

 

[nadwidny]

... even an old, fat dude can do it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

You must have been watching me when I did mine.

 

[lamont]

I really sucked ass at swimming and still kind of suck ass. But it was relatively easy to get my 400yd time down to about 10:30 just by doing the work to learn how to swim freestyle for that far.

I don't know how people manage to get sub-7 minute 400yd times since my fastest sprint is 50 second 50yd laps and i can't keep that up for 8 laps, but the GUE tech1/cave1 swim test is really easy, and i can even muddle through a cave2/tech2 distance...

 

[Kingpatzer]

I don't know how people manage to get sub-7 minute 400yd times since my fastest sprint is 50 second 50yd laps and i can't keep that up for 8 laps . . .

The same way people learn to run faster or bike faster, or lift more weights. Just do it with that goal in mind. Starting out it's pretty easy to drop a lot of time just fixing technique so that you eliminate drag and maximize the effectiveness of the efforts -- getting the most force out of a stroke, getting your kicking timing right so that you can easily roll for breathing. Getting enough roll down the long axis of your body so you're getting good reach on the stroke and you can breath in your own wake thus reducing drag on breathing strokes. Getting so that you can breath bi-laterally so you can have a good 3 stroke or 5 stroke breath cycle, which helps set a better rhythm. And so on. All that drops a ton of time off of most people.

Once the technique is pretty solid, then it's just doing sprint work to build up speed, and at intervals to build up circulatory capacity.

I'm no where close the most in-shape guy at my Y, but I am often passing guys in much better shape than me, and it's almost entirely from doing technique drills. It does help that my kid is on the high school swim team and critiques my stroke with a fairly well-polished eye. But a lot of that is in various swimming books as well.

 

[b1gcountry]

I really hate it when a big fat guy gets in the lane next to me and smokes my butt swimming. I always make myself stay in the pool until after they're done so I can tell myself I have better endurance. Technique is as important as anything in swimming.

Tom

 

[lamont]

Getting so that you can breath bi-laterally so you can have a good 3 stroke or 5 stroke breath cycle, which helps set a better rhythm.

Yeah, that is a major sin of mine, I always breathe on the right and have a 2-stroke breath cycle.

 

[Kingpatzer]

Yeah, that is a major sin of mine, I always breathe on the right and have a 2-stroke breath cycle.

Easiest way to fix that is to get some pool fins and swim while stroking only with your weak arm, only breathing on that side. Keep your other arm stretched out in front. The fins will keep your speed up, focus on breathing by getting a good roll along the long axis of the body, NOT by lifting your head.

 

[gulfdvr68]

Easiest way to fix that is to get some pool fins and swim while stroking only with your weak arm, only breathing on that side. Keep your other arm stretched out in front. The fins will keep your speed up, focus on breathing by getting a good roll along the long axis of the body, NOT by lifting your head.

Ooh, forgot about that. Just rolling saves on energy because. Your legs will be able to stay level causing less drag. Well I'm going to hit the pool on wednesdays now. I'm in pretty good shape but at 40 technique counts.