Why do shorter swim sets in the pool?

1)Interval training.

2)I dont' think the two are mutually exclusive.  I wouldnt' want to be doing anything from an Olympic or up without doing long distance swimming as well as the shorter routines.   The shorter segments are great for #1.  But I'd hesitate on trying to swim a 1.5km or 3km in a tri without actually swimming these distances first.  Its a different feel...

So my answer...both!

Your assumption sounds correct to me.  That's how I see it. 

Shorter sets/intervals allow you to focus on your strokes per length, distance per stroke, speed for intervals, and like you said, stuff that will help you feel the water as you cut through it.

As for OWS, you are partially correct as well.  Focus here would be sighting, drafting, swimming with other swimmers bunched up, practice getting bumped, sprint the first 200 then maintain race pace, stuff like that. =)

so you don't lose count of laps

so your form doesn't break down

2 from me...

As you mentioned, shorter sets are more conducive to improving form which is king when it comes to swimming.  In the pool during the winter, I mix it up though and will have one speed day which is either 50's or 100's.  One day of longer intervals like 500's.  One medium day of either a ladder or 300's or something of that nature.

In the Summer, I do almost all my swimming in a small lake.  I feel like I've done my homework in the pool and now it's time to apply.  I still do long sets in the lake.  There is a stretch about 400 yards that I will do sets of at higher intensity.  Sometimes I will do waypoint intervals where I pick landmarks in a triangle or square which have legs of 400 to 800 yards.  Maybe once a week I'll do a long continuous swim of 30 to 60 minutes.

For me, it gives me the chance to swim faster/harder for longer periods of time.  That short little rest between each 100 gives you just enough to recover and go again while if you are doing something like a 500 you have to back off quite a bit to finish it off.

When I do OWS I try to do some mix of intensity and straight swimming.  Where I swim typically is a 800m triangle and I mix up swimming hard and easier.  It's way less structured than in the pool but I try to avoid "just swimming" (though I sometimes do).

Imagine the difference between swimming 1,000 non-stop (aka one long assault) and 10x100 with 15 second rest. Can you swim 1,000 yards at the same pace as you would doing 10x100 w/:15 rest?

The rest isn't slowing you down or hurting you; the rest allows you to recover just enough so that you can swim those 10 sets at a much faster/harder pace than a non-stop 1,000.  At the end of the session, you've still swam 1,000 at greater intensity, increasing your endurance and aerobic capacity and training your heart rate to come down enough so that you can maintain a quicker pace.

Using 1,000 as a clean number, not as a suggestion.

I had posted the original question - thanks for the new thread and answers.

It's a good question that I'm still struggling with as a pretty new swimmer.

I took everyone's advice here for a year and did almost entirely 100-200s, quite hard, like 10 x 200 or 20 x 100, and honestly, while I improved, my OWS didn't get great results despite really busting my butt. I improved, but nowhere near as much as I did when I started doing the longer intervals regularly, like 300-500s, which really seemed to translate directly to the effort and intensity required for Oly distance swims. 

I know the first critique is that "I'm not going hard enough on the 100s", but while that might be true, I can say with fair certainty that I'm going nearly as fast as I could on the 100s, barely able to complete the final 5 within 3-4 seconds of the original pace. They hurt like heck. Similarly, the 500s hurt like heck. 

I do wonder if part of the problem is that with my lack of swim background, my arms/back are limiting me so much that I simply can't get a truly effective sustained workout with the short stuff since my 100s are so slow. I say this because I'm an experienced runner, and I can really destroy myself on the run/bike intervals because the legs >>> cardio, whereas in teh swim, my cardio >>> arms/back, especially for sprints.

However, I asked this very same question on Slowtwitch, and a few of the truly elite triathlon swimmers there said quite honestly, that a lot of it had to do with logistics of team training, and not necessarily because it's an inherently superior method of training (you don't see cyclists doing similar swim workouts.) Also recall that most swim team events are well under 1500m, and that would further explain why lots of swim-background swimmers swear by short sprint workouts, as that's what yields best results for sprint races.

While this could be true, at least for me, when I do sets of 300-500, or even a straight 2000 swim, I absolutely keep track of all 100 splits and keep them dead on target with minimal dropoff unless I really can't hang on. I don't think a long swim necessarily means you can't hold a steady pace (although yes, if you don't time yourself, it'll probably be much more likely to happen.) 

I would not do entirely 100 or 200 sets. You should mix it up. Doing only 100s is not going to get you the middle distance pacing and endurance you seek (500 is considered middle distance).

The 100s should be just one part of the sets. A typical workout would start with 2x500 (always), then progressing to sets of 100s, 200s, 250s, a 500, IMs, 50s and ending with a 500 cool down. This was when we were training for nothing greater than a 500 race event. We always started with 2x500 warm-up and ended with 500 cool-down; that's 1500 in non-intensity swimming right there. 

As good as this site is - and it's very good - I'd go to a swim specific site to get a more robust swim set if you want to become a stronger endurance swimmer. Most people here will always tell you to do just enough to prepare for a triathlon.

FWIW, within a swim workout, I rarely swim greater distances than 500 when preparing for an Oly distance triathlon.  I tend to do 500 warmup, 500 cool down and intervals in between (100s and 200s).  I was usually FOP swimming and have won a couple of podium placements for one mile OWS medals.

Butterfly really helps prepare for OWS races. If you can handle the power output necessary for butterfly, you can pretty much handle any OWS condition. Makes your core really strong.

Wow. I've been swimming since I was 7 and I have never swam 2000 straight. Ever. Blah! Gives me a rash just thinking about it. The furthest I've ever swam non-stop is one mile - and only because it was a one mile OWS race.

I know a lot of people do these long swims and I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from doing what works for them. I am not saying don't do it. We all have our own goals we are training towards. The thought of it, though, makes me want to gag.

I am toying with the idea of doing a 5k OWS race, so maybe I will have to actually throw some of these into my training. Which will commence any day now. Aaaaany day now.

This.  We don't train like track runners, we don't train like track cyclists, so why do we train like the equivalent of track swimmers?

I don't buy the "technique" rationale, either.  If you're technique breaks down that much during a long set, you're not ready for that set.  Good or bad, my swim training looks like my bike and run training: VO2 max sets once per week, threshold sets once per week, long steady state swim once per week, and easy mid-length recovery swim once per week.

The way I think of it is, I can slog through a workout of 2400m in around 40-45 minutes at a steady pace, or I can break the 2400m into a long warmup, a couple of intervals, some sprints, some pull-sets, some kicking, and a cooldown in the about same amount of time.

Hypothetical here, but it seems in cycling and running, almost everyone has raw speed, but the primary focus is holding that speed. In swimming, not everyone has speed, so the focus is getting faster. I also think that because speed is a major limiter in swimming (due to form mainly), it probably transfers across all distances.

Of course, I'm learning just like everyone else here. My theory as of late has been to train as a swimmer, cyclist, and runner instead of training as a triathlete. So far it seems to be working, but I won't know for sure until the season starts.

The longest pool event 1500m is equivalent to 5K running event and there are many foundation principles that both share, being roughly 95% aerobic and 5% anaerobic, very rough division but can serve the purpose for explaining.

Than you work your way down in swimming 800-400-200-100-50, all progressively start getting larger anaerobic component. So they have to be trained in that manner that addresses the needs of individual event.

Back to 1500m and 5K similarities, 5K runners do lots of hard and fast 200-400m intervals, 800-1000-1600m VO2max intervals, lots threshold running, not so much long and slower Z2 running, some yes to satisfy the endurance development, but a lot more time is spent on the track running very fast.

So do swimmers. Interval work is the only work pool swimmers do. Open water swimmers spend a good chunk of time open water swimming, some straight long endurance sets for 5K-10K swims, but still use pool methodology as the backbone.

Hope this helps. I tried to keep it in simple terms, I can get more elaborate if there is a need.

When I was training for my first 5k OWS I tried to do a 5k straight pool swim for confidence sake.  After 2.5k I was about to go insane and quit.  The 5k swim went very well despite not doing a long swim.

Do it!  If you think people think you are nuts now, wait until you mention doing a 3+ mile swim.  The reactions you get are priceless.  Great fun doing a long swim, BTW.  Highly recommended.

I know nothing about swimming but what my son teaches me, what I read here, and what I watch on youtube.  I've done nothing this winter but drills and sets with intervals that are not longer then 200.  I swam a 1:33  100 tonight.....a PR for me.  I can hold 1:45 for 1000.  Last year at this time, just getting in the pool and swimming laps, my best 100 was 1:54 and I had a cruising speed of about 2:10 for 1000.  As I said, I have not a single clue regarding swimming....but for me, there is no way I make those gains without intervals and drills.

Oh yeah.....my swim workout tonight was with my 14 year old and one of my 11 year olds.....they decided I needed to do flip turns......nobody is going to stop laughing any time soon.

To swim faster, you must swim faster.

To swim longer, you must swim longer.

Doing many repeats of shorter intervals allows you to do both.