sprint speed

Question
My daughter just finished her 1st season on the high school swim team and has been swimming competively for a couple years.  She's a big tall kid for 14 and has a nice long stroke, but has no sprint at the end of any of her races.  She does well in the 200yd free, 200yd im(pr 2:42) and 500yd free(pr 6:44), but needs another "gear" at the end of her races.  What kind of things should she be doing to develop stroke turnover and a sprint that won't hurt her shoulders or her endurance?  Thanks.

Answer
Hi Brad...

Great question!  This is a fundamental issue with many swimmers as some are "distance" types per se and some are "sprinters."  For instance, I like to think of my self as an all-around or what we call "utility" swimmer but in actuality I am more of a sprinter who had to swim some longer races and stroke events.  She seems to be the opposite of myself where she is probably a great distance swimmer but needs to put a little punch in at the end of her race.  Don't worry, you can become better at "the other side."  Lets try to outline some strategies.

The 3 key things for a sprinter are speed, strength and stroke.  She sounds like she might have some of the last two qualities but we need to improve her speed.  Lets work backwards and save the most important for her for last.  

First, for her stroke she will have to change it up a bit at the end of her race.  I have two strokes in freestyle which I switch back and forth between depending on what race I am doing and even in what part of the race I am in.  I actually try to do a slower and altered version of my sprint stroke at the end of my 500.  This is what she needs to be thinking about.  I would have to see her distance stroke but in general, she will have to really hone in on taking less breaths, picking her head up and pulling harder and more deliberate through the water.  For my distance stroke I use a one-armed carry over to one side type of thing like Tom Dolan.  At the end of the race I stop breathing every stroke and turn my body position forward and increase my turnover.  She needs to be thinking of the end of her race as if its like a 50 free.

Second, strength is a key for a sprinter (in my opinion) more than a distance swimmer.  Most parents and possibly the swimmers themselves have always worried about girls either bulking up or hurting their shoulders from increased muscle building activity on the top torso.  I understand the concern.  I do believe that for women you may take a less intense approach even though the muscle building in the arms and shoulders should be done.  She should probably start with a graduated effort in the dryland arm training (if she is doing that) as well as pull in the water more and do light weights.  This should eventually give her more strength and will help her at the end of the race.  Will this hurt her distance stroke?  This has been an age-old question.  Some coaches believe that muscle is heavier than fat and so the more muscle you have, the more it may hinder you in longer races.  They believe that the endurance is the key and that intense muscle building should be reserved for quick races. I agree to an extent however I have always felt that more muscle IS better than less.  Why do you think that swimmers of today go faster than anybody else has ever gone before?  Bigger and stronger bodies is definitely part of it.  For the program that I am suggesting, she shouldn't be worried about losing her endurance or distance ability.  Increased strength will also help her in the "Stroke" events.

Finally, lets specifically talk about speed.  We are always trying to generate hydro speed in the water but to what degree?  A sprinter is trying to get to the wall fast.  To do this, even though this may sound mundane or obvious, she needs to actually think in a different way on her last lap or two.  She needs to think like a sprinter and believe that if she doesn't get to that wall in time, somebody is going to kidnap her cat.  I don't know if that is a good analogy but I think you know what I mean.  It takes attitude to increase speed and it will hurt but that's the price for shaving off a couple seconds or beating out somebody at the end of a race.  She has to take herself out of that steady, monotonous, calm mode of being a great distance swimmer and "flip the switch" so to speak.  Even with this differing attitude we of course want to keep a good stroke going with good technique but it has to be quick.  She needs to look around her in the pool and "go after" anybody close to her.  Other than the mental state, she needs to do the things we talked about to increase speed.  She needs to increase turnover while maintaining good rythm and technique and pull stronger and harder.  She needs to take less breaths even though it may hurt and she needs to increase the beat on her kick to match the pull.

I hope this helps!

Thanks again...

LM