Road to Huntsman: 48 Days Out — Putting the 100M Breaststroke to the Test

Today marks 48 days until my first event at the 2026 Huntsman World Senior Games, and today’s workout was one of the more important tests of my breaststroke-intensive training week.

Tuesday was built around the 200-meter breaststroke. Today I reversed the experiment and put the important 100-meter breaststroke work near the beginning of the workout, before accumulated fatigue could become the dominant factor.

The primary test was simple: 6 × 100 meters breaststroke at a target pace of 1:45/100m. The goal wasn’t to produce one exceptionally fast 100. It was to find out whether I could repeatedly hold that pace.

Workout Summary

Metric	Result
Total Distance	2,500 m
Breaststroke	1,700 m
Freestyle	800 m
Moving Time	42:11
Rest Time	11:42
Total Session Time	53:53
Average Pace	1:42/100 m
Normalized Pace	1:41/100 m
TrainingPeaks sTSS	60
TrainingPeaks IF	0.95
Average Heart Rate	133 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate	153 bpm
Calories	669

The Main Test: 6 × 100M Breaststroke

The target for all six repetitions was 1:45. This set was deliberately positioned early enough in the workout that I couldn’t simply blame the results on having already accumulated a large amount of breaststroke fatigue.

100	Target	Actual	Difference
#1	1:45.00	1:41.86	-3.14 sec
#2	1:45.00	1:44.52	-0.48 sec
#3	1:45.00	1:45.16	+0.16 sec
#4	1:45.00	1:45.38	+0.38 sec
#5	1:45.00	1:44.43	-0.57 sec
#6	1:45.00	1:48.71	+3.71 sec
Average	1:45.00	1:44.34	-0.66 sec

Planned vs. Actual Pace

The consistency of the first five repetitions is probably more important than the fastest individual time. Five of the six were very close to or faster than the prescribed 1:45 pace.

Better Than the Target

The six repetitions averaged 1:44.34, approximately two-thirds of a second faster than the prescribed 1:45 pace.

More importantly, there wasn’t a steady deterioration from beginning to end. After opening in 1:41.86, I settled into a remarkably narrow range: 1:44.52, 1:45.16, 1:45.38 and then back down to 1:44.43 on the fifth repetition.

Only the final 100 showed a significant fade, at 1:48.71.

That makes this a successful training set. I wasn’t simply able to reach 1:45. I was able to reproduce approximately that pace over and over.

The 50M Work

Later in the workout I completed six strong 50-meter breaststroke repetitions. The prescribed pace was 1:40/100m, equivalent to approximately 50 seconds per 50.

50	Actual Time	Equivalent /100M Pace
#1	52.10	1:44.2
#2	51.29	1:42.6
#3	51.43	1:42.9
#4	50.71	1:41.4
#5	50.74	1:41.5
#6	51.81	1:43.6

I didn’t quite reach the prescribed 1:40/100m pace, but again the consistency stands out. Five of the six were separated by little more than one second, and repetitions four and five were almost identical at 50.71 and 50.74.

And There Was Still Some Speed Left

The workout finished with short 25-meter breaststroke speed work. One of those final 25s was 22.45 seconds, equivalent to approximately a 1:29.8/100m pace.

That doesn’t make a 25-meter split directly comparable to a 100-meter race, but it does show that some short-distance speed remained available after a substantial amount of breaststroke work.

What Does This Say About the 100M Breaststroke?

This is where today’s result becomes particularly interesting.

As a training set, the 6×100 was excellent. I averaged faster than the prescribed pace and held it consistently through five repetitions.

But this week isn’t only about determining whether I can repeatedly swim 1:45 breaststroke. I’m also trying to decide whether the 100-meter breaststroke is an event that deserves significant emphasis during the remaining weeks before Huntsman.

My best training 100 remains approximately 1:42. Today’s opening 1:41.86 essentially confirms that level of performance.

That’s good swimming for me, but it remains slower than the 1:37.95 fourth-place time from the 2025 Games and considerably farther from the medal positions.

The Endurance Pattern Is Getting Harder to Ignore

Tuesday’s workout showed that I could average approximately 3:42 across four consecutive 200-meter breaststroke repetitions. Today’s six 100s averaged 1:44.34.

In other words, when the race distance doubles from 100 to 200 meters, I retain a surprisingly large percentage of my 100-meter breaststroke pace.

That fits an increasingly obvious pattern throughout this training cycle: I appear to be much better suited to endurance than sprinting.

The same pattern appears in freestyle. My 800- and 1500-meter results have become increasingly competitive relative to last year’s Huntsman performances.

That doesn’t necessarily mean I shouldn’t swim the 100 breaststroke. There is still value in racing an event for experience even when I don’t expect to place.

But it may mean that the majority of my remaining training energy belongs elsewhere.

Four Days of Breaststroke Intensive

Day	Primary Purpose	What I Learned
Monday	Technique / Aerobic	Modified the workout while still completing 2,500 m.
Tuesday	200M Breaststroke	3:40-level 200 pace is realistic when relatively fresh.
Wednesday	Aerobic / Technique	Reduced breaststroke load while maintaining the full 2,500 m.
Thursday	100M Breaststroke	Six 100s averaged 1:44.34 against a 1:45 target.

Now I Rest

Tomorrow is intentionally a complete rest day.

That means no replacement swim and no attempt to squeeze in another training session simply because I feel like I should be doing something.

Four consecutive days of 2,500-meter swimming means I have completed 10,000 meters since Monday. Friday is part of the training plan just as much as any of those 10,000 meters.

Saturday Will Answer the Next Question

Saturday’s 2,500-meter workout is deliberately different.

After Friday’s rest, I will attempt a 200-meter breaststroke benchmark early in the workout. The session will also include a continuous 800-meter freestyle, followed later by a 100-meter breaststroke benchmark.

That should give me one final set of useful data from this breaststroke-intensive week.

Then I will make a decision about the 100-meter breaststroke.

48 Days to Go

Today’s workout answered the question it was designed to answer.

I can repeatedly swim approximately 1:45 breaststroke 100s. Six repetitions averaged 1:44.34, and five of the six remained very close to the target.

What today’s workout did not demonstrate is a major change in my underlying 100-meter sprint speed. My fastest 100 was 1:41.86, which is essentially consistent with my existing best performances.

That distinction matters.

The goal of training isn’t simply to prove that every planned event can be completed. It’s also to learn where my strengths are and use the remaining training time accordingly.

After four consecutive days and 10,000 meters, the evidence continues to point toward endurance.

Friday: rest. Saturday: one more test.