Distance and speed, which one to work on first?

[vol]

I've been swimming a lot but without a concrete goal, so I swim neither far nor fast ;). I would like to add some pressure and start working on these two factors. Any advice as to whether I should work on distance first or speed first? Practice more continuous easy and slow laps, or fast 25m laps? Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[shuumai]

Originally Posted by vol

I've been swimming a lot but without a concrete goal, so I swim neither far nor fast ;). I would like to add some pressure and start working on these two factors. Any advice as to whether I should work on distance first or speed first? Practice more continuous easy and slow laps, or fast 25m laps? Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Personally, in my lack of experience, the order I work on things is technique first, then distance, then speed. How can you maintain speed without endurance and good technique?

In reality, I mix it up, with technique being a constant. But then, I work on a wide variety of things, so I advance sideways more than forward. So, in other words, I swim neither far nor fast as well. hehe

[MarkkuS]

I have tried to follow this improvement plan from 2003:
http://archive.totalimmersion.net/20...asydoesit.html

[CoachDave]

Technique...distance...speed

None of these stops you from working on the others. In fact, I think that if you work exclusively on one, you'll have more challenges in tackling the others.
Some focal points are simply easier to do at a stronger rate. In training for distance, a swimmer always makes time to train above their goal pace for that race. Some of the best technical work you can do happens when you are tired and your form wants to slip. I would reassess what you're training for and maybe see if you can mix up sets within your swimming to tackle multiple goals (multiple goals does not mean multipl focal points).

As for the 25s, I personally swim and coach a 25-yard stroke to be the 6th competitive stroke. There are too many things different in a sprint 25 that don't help much in easy or strong distance swimming