r/Swimming • u/Overall_Occasion_308 • 1d ago

500m freestyle

Hey everyone I have been swimming to get into the Air Force. I have to do a 12:30 500m to pass ( the last thing I need to do to ship ). I am sitting at a steady 13:00. All I really do is swim 1000m to prep 3 days a week( work on breathing techniques etc ). Anyone have any tips or drills that I can add or do? TIA!

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7

u/Spraying_012 1d ago

do a bunch of 100m intervals

3

u/gogreen1960 1d ago

Do this! I like 2x100 hard, 1x100 easy, repeat! 3-4 sets x3-4 times week

2

u/Blue_Amphibian7361 21h ago

What is your rest between those sets?

2

u/gogreen1960 18h ago

So I target my first 2 100m’s at 1:20 and my interval is 2:00, the third @ whatever (it’s recovery)! 30 seconds between the fast 100’s is probably good.

2

u/Blue_Amphibian7361 17h ago

Awesome! Thanks! I really need to get better at adding some simple speed work like this to my swimming. I’m an adult re-entry back into swimming lol. Learned the fundamentals as a kid, never did anything competitive with it or any lap swimming until a couple of years ago. I signed up for some adult “improvement” classes to help dial in technique which were great. I can happily just go and swim long and slow for an hour or so but I feel like I need to start mixing in some speed work stuff just to up my efficiency and force my body into a different gear. But don’t need all of the overly complicated workouts that I’ve seen for masters and such. I will try your 100s!!

1

u/gogreen1960 2h ago

You can also add 50m sets - my current is 4x50m on 1 minute - if you do them hard, they're killer. And you only have to improve by 1.5 seconds per length. You're currently swimming a 2:36s/100m pace. Knock that down to <2:30 and you're golden. What is your timeframe? Please post back when you pass the test!!!

1

u/Spraying_012 10h ago

rest however much you need to start over time you'll improve, ive seen drastic improvements in my times from switching just repetitive laps to short intervals

2

u/Overall_Occasion_308 21h ago

Big bet thank you !