Minutes it takes you to swim 100 yards? (Page 2)

As you can see, the range varies drastically, even for one person, depending on the context.

20+ years ago in high school, I was right around 1:00 in meets, and :59 with a "flying start" in relays, and I could rip off sets of 100's on 1:30-1:40.

Now-a-days, my sets are usually on 2:00, holding the swim time between 1:40 and 1:50.  I haven't timed myself "all out", but I'm guessing it would be between 1:20 and 1:30.  In longer swims, I'll usually average out to 1:50 or so.

In a 100 yd sprint I can post a minute, then I collapse..lol

My last swim I did 21 minutes constant swim, in an endless pool so no push-offs or interruptions at a consistent pace of 1:50. My Last Tri last season clocked my 875 yd swim at  1:25 per and that was with going off course some.

Eric J

I never time myself, but of course my swim coach does - usually when she has me doing 100 repeats with :10-:15 rest I am around 1:38ish

but I know on off days I am 1:50s.

and in OWS I am WAY slower - the lack of the black line on the bottom against a light background.......

WOW!  I come back to the thread this morning and I've gotten a lot of really great responses.  Thanks so much for sharing.  I was really curious how well everyone does.  Now I know.  Thanks again, guys!

lkagop- Congrats on learning to swim!  You had said in another thread that the upcoming tri at Miami will be your first pool swim.

I've been including a 400yd swim in my workouts trying to practice for this event.  I figure after doing my 600yd warm up that the pace that I set will be the right pace for race day.  (but who knows, maybe I'll just be learning the hard way race day)  I've been pretty consistant at 1:46 per 100yd for the 400.  But I don't think you can just look at times.  All out I can do one 100 in 56 seconds...but that's just ONE 100yd.  I believe it was Albie who said something to the tune of time is relative.  I'm an Athena and Miami be my first tri, but I also swam competative in school and can do flip turns and you subtract seconds with a well placed and timed flip turn.

Good luck and I'm sure I'll meet you in April!

I sometimes spend the entire workout just trying to get to the other side of the pool.  Of course, I'm using a tether, so maybe that has something to do with it.  

Last time I checked my pace in a lap pool, I timed a 500 yd straight set in the middle of my workout and averaged 1:20/100.  I haven't been in the pool for a couple weeks though, so I'm sure it's dropped off a bit.  I should get out there and fix that right now!  Thanks for the motivation.

If I'm going all out, I can get under 2 mins for a 100m (afterwards, i'm pretty winded)

but I normally average around 2mins 30 secs (or so)

Swimming paces is hugely different as you can see.

For all of us the goal is always to get a little bit faster than our best.

My suggestion is get some top quality swim lessons. It is easier to change your technique before you develop a lot of bad habits. Ask other triathletes who they would recommend. Sometimes Master's swim coaches give private lessons. At my Y generally the swim lessons are for beginners and not very good.

I'm a BOP swimmer too 5 years later and I'm working with my 5th swim coach this winter and am finally making some progress. I think some folks swimming just comes more easily to than others. Swimming on a team as a kid is a huge plus for swimming years later as an adult.

Being fast in a pool (assuming its short course pool) can really come down to how well the flip turns are executed.  One thing I've seen is that below average swimmers are terrible at turns and do not use the wall to their advantage as this is when you are the fastest.  Two people might be the same speed between the walls (translates to a equal open water split), but be 5 seconds slower because they can't do flip turns well.  Comparing pool times of multiple people is not a measuring stick... use your own pool PB times.  You can't even use times from the same events as conditions may be vastly different.

 Focus on developing a nice smooth, steady, strong stroke and the time should drop.

I did my first tri this year and my swim split was 10:49 for a 1/2 mi swim plus a short run to the T1 mat.  That was without swim training.  When I started training, I got down to 1:15 intervals per 100 and 500s under 6:00.  At the end of sets I would be breaking 1:05.

I won't say what my personal best times are in the pool because I'm embarrased at how slow I am now in comparison.

x2... this isn't ST

I was consistently putting up high 1.20's low 1.30's in training for my IM.  I unfortunately averaged a whopping 1.55 per hundred at the race.  Having your own little space with a nice black line to follow is a whole lot different than trying to fight with 2000 other people for clean water.   Is someone gonna call me out too?

 It's especially inconsiderate when the people doing the calling out don't log there own workouts/race results here........

 X2 to this!  I often swim with a guy who can swim a similar (maybe slightly slower) pace than I do in the pool but his flip turn is....ummm... not the best?    I gain at least a body length, if not more with every turn.   It translates into large time differences in our pool swim times. 

To the OP, I don't know my 100 yard times since I swim in a 25M pool but my best time for 100m is 1:07 (not counting when I swam competitively as a teenager) and over longer distances (1000m+) I can hold about 1:25/100m.

Obviously form plays a large roll in speed at the 100.  But how much does upper body strength come into play? 

I am pretty back of the back----50 mins for a 1 mile swim---and took lessons to improve form, comfort, etc.  But I wonder if I build up the core, back, and arm strength if I would see significant improvement.

Thoughts?

Strengthening your core and arms will certainly help but concentrating on pulling from your Lats is key. Your shoulders will fatigue quicker than your back will and you'll be more powerful...

IMHO.......

Eric J