Swimming 400 meter IM?!?

Question

I'm 13 years old. Tonite i'm swimming the 400 meter IM in an outdoor pool. I swam it last week for the first time and got a 6:15. I went out well in the fly, not too fast, didn't get tired. Backstroke's my weak stroke, but I kept a good pace. When I began my best stroke, breaststroke, I was very tired and fell behind. The freestyle I was also very tired on. I thought I paced myself well on the fly and back. I don't know, I guess. I really want to improve my time. Any tips?!? THANKS!

Answer 1

Pacing is really key to doing a longer race. Since you are doing a 100 of each stroke I would suggest pacing within each 100. Push it on the first 25, keep a nice even pace on the middle 50, and then go hard on the last 25. Be aggressive on your flip turns as they aren't taxing on you but if done right and fast they can shave time off. Also, if you lose momentum on a flip turn you lose momentum over all and become tired quicker. You are always going to be tired at the end of the race and the only way to drastically improve your time is to pratice, get stronger, and work hard.

Answer 2

holy cow! good luck, i can barely swim a 200 im!

Answer 3

It's just pacing and endurance. There might not be anything you can do right now, but when you're training work on your IM strategy. Also, make sure your technique is top-notch. If you're even doing something slightly off, it can use up tons of energy.

Good luck at the meet :)

Answer 4

calm down in the fly in the back swim them as if u where taking out a 200 fly or 200 back dont act like it is a 100 for the breast u just have to sprint ur hardest and for the free bring it home with strong walls and great finish!

Answer 5

The one thing that was most effective for me in my training for the 400 IM was training with extra distance.  I trained in a long-course pool of 50 m length, and I'd add an extra length to each stroke, effectively swimming 600 meter IMs during training.  After a few weeks of that I found that I had no trouble at all doing a 400 IM with lots of energy.  Some people I knew preferred to train the correct distance (400 m) but with a weight belt on.  Seemed to work ok for them.  But I preferred my way for me.  Cause all the great technique in the world isn't going to help you much if you get so tired you're only swimming half speed.

Answer 6

thats a great time but since its outdoors, you might wannna wear goggles with "sun glasses" or wahtever its called so you dont go spiraling around the lanes in backstroke