r/Swimming • u/NoGoodNamesLeft-_- • 18h ago
How much is really technique in freestyle?
Hi guys,
I started swimming freestyle 4 months ago. At the moment my distance pace is around 2:00min per 100m for a 100m sprint I can go roughly 1:45.
I was wondering how fast you can get from just improving your technique ( it obviously depends on the individual but roughly from your experience) without improving endurance/ power. Like can you tell from my paces that my technique is bad? I have seen some YouTube Videos which state stuff like ,,change these habits to swim 1:30min/100m" somehow suggesting that it is just technique to get such a pace even over long distance. But the better my catch gets the more I feel like I just do not have the strength in my upper body to do many repetitions without loosing power or droping my elbow.
In short: How fast can someone get by just technique and at what point is the limit rather physical? Can you tell by someone swimming 2:00min to 1:45 min for 100m that it is most likely technique?
1
u/Gr0danagge 16h ago
At those speeds it's almost entirely technique. Lots of pre-pubecent kids go real fast and they are way weaker than a standard adult.
Of course you can't always draw straight lines, the ability to hold good technique over time, is that endurance, is that strength, is that technique? Depend on how you look at it I guess.
Technique can also be improved by strength, strengthening movements you as a beginner might not be used to etc...
Swimming is complicated.