Even Michael Phelps makes pace mistakes!

(Clay Evans on how pacing can determine a world record)

EVEN MICHAEL PHELPS GETS IN TROUBLE WITH HIS PACING! Yes, even swimmers at the Olympic Gold medalist level make pacing mistakes. It becomes very difficult, especially when you are at that level and going for a world record. Even after breaking Ian Thorpe's world record in the 200 free this year Phelps doesn't get it right for his 400 last weekend and admits it. See the LA Times article [Link]

Phelps went out too fast with a 1:50.2+ in the first 200 and then came back too tired. He ended up doing a 1:57+ in the second half. That is a seven second difference. Still he was an incredible 4:47, one of the fastest 400 swims ever in history. That is only three seconds off the American Record. His coach knew that if he had gone out 2 seconds slower he probably would have been able to come back 5 seconds faster and have an overall time that might have set a new American Record. That is the give and take of pacing.

Every swim coach knows that they have to teach their swimmers how to pace. That is the only way you will achieve the maximum result in a race. The good news is, even if you only want to burn off calories, you will do it with far better results if you also pace your workouts.

Pacing does mean doing repetitive sets in your workouts. Not all the time, but certainly half. As adults past our prime we can all have different goals as to the content of a workout.

However, at SCAQ we have swimmers with goals that include competitive ocean swimming, faster pool swimming and Triathletes. All swimmers can get their goals accomplished. Remember, it is okay not to do the exact distance and stroke a coach dictates. Just stay on the Coach's interval and do the essence of the set without disrupting the lane.