Think I finally felt a good catch and pull

I just started swimming a few months ago and I have seen huge improvements.  I have read a bunch of articles and watched a ton of videos and hear a lot about the catch and pull.  First off a comfortable pace for me for 200 yards is about 4:00.  (most of my training is doing 200 yard sets up to this point because my first race was a 200 yard pool swim).  I have pushed my pace in the past and got it as low as 3:35 for the 200 yards.  During those faster times I felt like I was getting a bit better of a catch and pull, but it wasn't until today that I really think I felt what a good catch and pull should feel like. 

At the end of my session today I did a 100 yard sprint as fast as I could, 100% effort from start to finish and I finished with a 1:35 time which is absolutely blazing fast for ME.   One thing I noticed though is that when I was swimming slower than that, my arm and hand would seem to slip thru the water from way out in front of me to right down to my hip.  When I did this 100 yard sprint it was really weird (i hope this makes sense and I don't sound insane), but it almost seemed like the water consistency changed, almost like it got thicker.  Best way for me to describe it is to picture laying 2 ladders in the pool laying flat down one on the left of you and one on the right a few inches below the water surface.  The water felt so thick that I felt like I was reaching up and grabbing a rung on the ladder in front of me and pulling my body up past where my hand was.  I didn't feel my hand slipping anymore, it almost seemed to stay locked in place out in front of me and I was pulling my body up and thru the location where my hand was. I've never felt that in any of my swim sessions before, but I think maybe its because I wasn't going fast enough to feel it.   Does any of that make sense?   Is that what an actual catch and pull should feel like?

Granted, it will take a ton of time and effort for me to keep up any type of pace like that, I was totally winded when I was done.  But should I be able to feel that same type of catch and pull when I am swimming slower?   Maybe my form is so bad that I just don't feel it until I speed up.