newbie wondering about stroke rate

[Ombrax]

you needed to be able to steady state at r20 and 2min/500m. Seems fairly fast to me - is that accurate or have I misread/misunderstood something there?

I guess it depends on what you mean by "steady state."

I just took a look at the C2 rankings for 10,000 meters, and it varies of course with group, but the 50th percentile was around 2:08 and 75% around 2:00. (of course stroke rate isn't given) So yes, I'd say that a steady state 2:00 pace is pretty quick but not super-duper-fast. (I doubt I'll ever be able to do a 40 minute 10k, but many years ago I was pretty close.)

[Mike Caviston]

I thought I’d read that the Wolverine Plan has target splits for different stroke rates, and if you wanted to be able to hit 7min 2ks you needed to be able to steady state at r20 and 2min/500m. Seems fairly fast to me - is that accurate or have I misread/misunderstood something there?

At least three things:
1) To use the Wolverine Plan, you have to do a 2K first, and then determine your paces for different stroke rates (assuming you are referring to Level 4).
2) Level 4 for isn't "steady state"; you would only do 20spm for 1-2 minutes before shifting to another stroke rate.
3) For a 7:00 2K, the appropriate pace at 20spm is 2:03.