Training the 100 vs 200 Butterfly

Hey swimmers! This is coach Milo.

Welcome to another Q&A session where I answer questions from you all on the internet.

Today's question is:

"Training the 100 vs 200 Butterfly"

Summary:

Milo says the 100 and 200 butterfly should absolutely be trained differently, describing the 100 fly as the combination of the 50 and the 200: the 200 demands endurance, the 50 demands speed, and the 100 needs a bit of both. To be good at the 100, you train the 200 to learn to spend energy more efficiently, but you also have to build genuine sprint ability through gym strength and fast, short butterfly swims, because if you can't sprint in practice it won't happen at the meet. For the 200 fly, he recommends cross-training with middle-distance and distance freestyle. His pacing target: a first 50 about three seconds slower than your best 50 fly time, then second, third, and fourth 50s within a second of each other, achieved by adding effort, not speed, on each successive 50.

Answer:

It should absolutely be different. The 100 butterfly is literally the combination, or the baby, of the 50 fly and the 200 fly. For the 200 fly you need endurance, for the 50 fly you need speed, and for the 100 you need a bit of both. So if you want to be good in the 100, you have to train for the 200, because swimming the 200 teaches you how to spend your energy better and be more efficient and smarter than in the 100. But if you want to be a great 100 butterfly, you've got to build sprint ability, so you have to pay attention to and physically build strength in the gym so you can sprint. If you can't do it in practice, it's not going to happen at the meet. So build strength and build speed, and doing fast, short-distance butterfly swims helps you build that speed. For the 200 fly, I always say it's really good to cross-train and do a lot of freestyle, and to train middle-distance or distance freestyle, because it teaches you to spend your energy better. The goal is for your first 50 to be about three seconds slower than your best 50 fly time, and then the second, third, and fourth 50s to be within a second of each other, all about the same effort. To hold that, you have to make that first 50 much easier than you'd normally want it to be. Go easy on the first 50 and give a little more effort with each subsequent 50. Notice I said give a little more effort, I didn't say go faster. You don't want to go faster, you want to give a little more effort. It's like pressing the gas pedal slowly, knowing you have to conserve your energy.