Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Which is harder: a 400-meter butterfly or a 400-meter breaststroke?
Texas pro group training partners Gunnar Bentz and Will Licon can debate that topic and draw on personal experience after last week’s TXLA Kickoff.
Bentz, a Georgia grad and 2016 U.S. Olympian, and Licon, a Texas grad and former NCAA champion, now train together out of the postgraduate group at the University of Texas. And in a home meet last week, both took on some unorthodox events.
Bentz and Licon entered the 400 free in the long course meters meet. But Bentz swam the race all butterfly and Licon swam the race entirely breaststroke.
Bentz was 4:22.22 in the 400 fly, going 2:08.99 over his first 200 and 2:13.23 over the second half. He swam the race remarkably well, descending the last three 100s and closing the race with some pep in a 32.2 final 50. Here’s a breakdown of his splits by 50, 100, and 200:
Gunnar Bentz 400 Fly
| 50 Splits | 100 Splits | 200 Splits |
400 Time
|
| 28.49 | |||
| 32.84 | 1:01.33 | ||
| 33.56 | |||
| 34.10 | 1:07.66 | 2:08.99 | |
| 33.77 | |||
| 33.14 | 1:06.91 | ||
| 34.04 | |||
| 32.28 | 1:06.32 | 2:13.23 | 4:22.22 |
Licon’s swim may have been even more impressive. He was out in 2:16.33 – a time that would rank #27 among all Americans this season as a standalone 200 breast. Licon kept his 50 splits stable in the 35s save for one slip into the 36s. He went 2:22.51 over the second 200, including a 1:10 closing 100.
Will Licon 400 Breast
| 50 Splits | 100 Splits | 200 Splits |
400 Time
|
| 31.07 | |||
| 34.20 | 1:05.27 | ||
| 35.29 | |||
| 35.77 | 1:11.06 | 2:16.33 | |
| 35.71 | |||
| 36.57 | 1:12.28 | ||
| 35.21 | |||
| 35.02 | 1:10.23 | 2:22.51 | 4:38.84 |
Tfw licon outsplits your best 100 breast by a second to start a 400
Just when you thought a 200 fly was tough!
We used to have one college meet every year with 300s of stroke. Super fun. I agree that more of this is probably good for the sport. I’m sort of skeptical about its direct training merit towards being good at the conventional events, buttt the a primary goal of swimming is just to have fun. So having fun and trying something new is valuable in itself. I also loved 4×50 and 4×100 stroke relays in college for the same reason.
Those 400 breast splits are filthy
Running has non-championship events like the 150m and the 1000m among others to spice things up. I think it’s high time we start to see 400s of stroke and non-freestyle relays!
800 medley relay!
The US would have a terrifying 800 medley relay
Guilherme Costa brazilian distance ace swam 4.17 400 fly
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CIHVMpqAXei/?igshid=irnaiu0r22sb
Wow, amazing swim by Costa! His last 100 was very impressive.
I think Licon will make 200 breast and Fink.
Licon cruising’ those 35 50s all day long….
He was 2:07 at Pan Ams right?
Right
What about Reece Whitley?
Lol that’s funny
No
Going to come down to the touch between Licon, Wilson, and Fink. Someone will be heartbroken. I think one of them may pull away and go 2:07 low and the other two will be 2:07 mid
No Prenot?
Its possible but just hasn’t produced times like the other 3 in the past 3 years
400 fly is 100% harder
This man will never understand the agony of an 800 breast for time in the middle of practice
I suck at br so I’m a little biased but you can stretch out your strokes for br fly is just miserable
If you’re giving an honest effort, I really think the breast is harder. Yeah, it is probably easier for most people to coast a 400 breast but racing quality breaststroke would hurt more after 400 meters than fly IMO.
Also extremely impressed that Licon went out under the Trials cut and then basically held pace the next 200. Hope it translates well for him to the real race this summer. I was pulling for him in 2016 and gutted when he didn’t make it.
It’s too bad he dropped the 4IM (it seems) because this 400 breast could translate to a monster back half.
In LCM, from toughest to easiest:
400 Fly
400 Breast
400 IM
400 Free
400 Back
If you swim a 400 back LC and can walk afterwards you simply didn’t go hard enough
Yeah, I’d put a 400 back just behind the 400 fly.