Meet strategies

Swimming Technique, Oct-Dec 1998 by Sweetenham, Bill, Goldsmith, Wayne

No matter what kind of swimming competition you atter, there are always lessons to learn and goals to achieve.

Editor's Note: In the article, "Seize the Opportunity" (see page 17), it was stated that all types of swimming competitions can provide the opportunity to reduce the role of "luck" in swimming performance and increase the likelihood of success. With that in mind, following are 25 meet strategies for the practicing coach:

1. Single-event Meets

Compete in only one event and get everything 100 percent right. Expect to win. Focus on doing everything correctly from warm-up to swim-down. Perfect the breathing pattern, stroke rate, stroke count, meals, pacing, warm-up, swim-down, etc.

Goal: Learn to perform under pressure and get things right for the big races later in the season.

2. Multiple-event Meets

Swim many events with varying periods of rest to learn the value of swim-downs. Swim with a tough attitude and the expectation of personal best times.

Goal: During early- to mid-season, match the fitness developed in practice with similar challenges in competitions.

3. Heat Meets

Swim exceptionally fast heats in one event per day and rehearse recovery techniques for a faster final.

Goal: Educate on fast heats, race skills and race-day recovery.

4. Final Meets

Swim heats conserving yourself as much as possible, i.e., breaststrokers and flyers should reduce their kick for the heats and increase dramatically for finals. IMers should reduce their kick in both fly and breast or rest in fly.

Goal: Learn to "get up" at night and swim very fast.

5. Lane Meets

For a deck-seeded meet or timed final, enter a slow time and have the athlete expect to perform (win) from an outside lane or even an outside lane in a slower heat.

Goal: Swimmers should learn they can win from any lane.

6. Percentage Meets

Have the athlete swim a percentage of his or her race-goal time bv working the same percentage of the event, i.e., a 400 IM might do a 200 IM in 50 percent of their goal time with exact stroke counts and splits, etc.

Goal: Race pace, specific pacing and skill development.

7. Back-end Meets

As with most mid-season meets, it is very difficult to practice going out at top speed while under heavy training. The best way is to have the swimmer just focus on bringing the last 100 or 50 home in goal race pace, then slowly bringing the front end of the race into line with the onset of rest and recovery in taper or a sharpening-up period.

Goal: Develop precise pacing skills. Develop race confidence, swimming in a tactical manner consistent with the training program.

8. Select Meets

This can be a team meet in which every swimmer contributes to a team point score. Another select meet would be a meet for 11-12-year-old team members only-where only a certain age group participates in the particular meet so they can develop a sense of tradition. Or, your swimmers can attend a meet where only a certain group of swimmers (i.e., any one stroke or distance) is involved.

Goal: Develop team spirit and team unity. Make groups within the team feel special.

9. Senior Meets

This is a meet in which all swimmers must compete, but the senior swimmers just compete in the team warm-up and the first open event, then come back for the last open event of the day. This is similar to a heat and final, allowing the senior swimmer freedom to study, etc., away from the pool.

Goal: Treating senior swimmers like senior swimmers and being flexible to the demands of senior education.

10. 3-2-1 Sweetenham Meet Philosophy

Compete at three meets slightly below standard, two meets at maximum potential and one meet as an "impossible" challenge.

Goal: In the first category, learn to win and build confidence; in the second, learn to race against swimmers of equal talent and training preparation; and lastLy, with the "impossible" challenge, learn to lose, face challenges and overcome disappointment.

11. Simulated Swims at Meets

Racing opportunities under championship conditions can be achieved through planned and organized simulated swims at minor meets. This can be done in the warm-up pool or before or after events in the main pool.

Goal: Prepare for the unique psychological pressures of a major meet.

12. Add-on Swims ("Get-it-right" or "Fix-it-now" Meets)

Should a swimmer execute an event with a fundamental mistake, perhaps the best time to learn how to perform it correctly is now. The swim should be repeated (straight or broken) in the warm-up pool or in the main pool after events.

Goal: Immediate feedback to correct a fundamental problem for effective correction.

13. Multiple Meets

This would include two to three or more consecutive meets in which the swimmers must "stay up" for a long perod of time. Competition performance and specific skills can be evaluated, analyzed and corrected for the next meet. (Competition analysis and video-taping is vitally important at these meets.)

Goal: Part of the toughening-up process that enables the coach to examine the swimmers' technical proficiency under fatigue conditions.