400 IM Race analysis.

I went through my 400 IM video with a fine-tooth comb today. I counted my strokes and timed all turns + swim times. Then I figured out my DPS, stroke rate, and velocity in yards. Because the only data I have to compare it to is in LCM, I also did some conversions to meters times. I used the 1 yard = .9144 meters conversion factor and converted each length to its corresponding meters distance. I know that there is a larger discrepancy than just the straight conversion due to the extra turns, but I figured this would give me some ballpark figures to work with.

The quick numbers,
yards:
leg SR DPS Velocity
100 36.28 2.80 1.69
200 26.20 3.37 1.47
300 36.42 2.17 1.32
400 32.21 2.91 1.56

meters:
leg SR DPS Velocity
100 36.28 2.56 1.50
200 26.20 3.09 1.35
300 36.42 1.98 1.20
400 32.21 2.66 1.42

2000 OT Qualifiers:
leg SR DPS Velocity
100 50.72 1.85 1.55
200 36.08 2.33 1.45
300 41.57 1.75 1.24
400 43.90 2.12 1.61

There are many factors that don't make this an exact comparison -- the first original fastskin had just come out in 2000 and I wore an FS Pro, arguably a faster suit. I figured my DPS and velocities off of a conversion of .9144 meters to 1 yard. If I do some crude conversions using the Swimming World conversion utility, I get something like 5 seconds slower in fly, 9 in back, 7 in breast, 11 in free.

There are a few trends that jump out pretty quickly. My freestyle is the furthest off of the elite performance data, by almost .2 m/sec. My backstroke is next at .11 m/sec off, and my 2 short axis strokes are only off by .05 m/sec and .04 m/sec on the fly.

My stroke rate is a lot lower: almost 14 strokes/min on fly, 10 stroke cycles per minute in the back, 5 on breast, and 11 cycles per minute in free. My DPS is higher, but again, I get 2x as many turns.

That indicates, without a doubt that as an IM'er, freestyle is my weakest leg. It's interesting that the backstroke is the second weakest leg, since the 200 backstroke is arguably my strongest event right now.

Some thoughts on technique and turns after several viewings:
* My turns and transitions are pretty slow. I probably lost seconds on the walls.
* I came up pretty high on the fly. Need to keep the arms closer to the water.
* My left arm was not straight on the backstroke. It kept bending. Lani said I do this from time to time in prac. Not sure why the inconsistency.
* My breaststroke pullouts were decent. My DPS and stroke rate both fell off on the second 50 of my breast, though. My split reflects that.
* My turnover is too slow on the freestyle. I get good power but don't get my arms going fast enough. My turns were very very slow on the free... especially the 1st one.

Another thing I need to start working with in practice is tempo. I don't think I've really ever done any swims where I'm just trying to hit certain tempos. I get good DPS, sure, and pretty good power. I think, though, that it's like pedaling a bike uphill in a lower gear: I can get good power that way, but it's much faster and easier to put the bike in a higher gear and let my legs spin more.