Triathlon Training for the Swim
What brought me to thinking of this as a blog post was my swim results from my last triathlon of this season.
My swim place was 48th of 310 swimmers in the water. I was 19th woman of 71 of the women who participated. My pace per 100 was 1:40, which is decent (Olympic swimmers are well under 1 minute per 100 meters!). The average swimmer is typically 1:50-2:00 /100 meters.
I had a great swim, after all it is the easiest part of the race. We get to lay down to swim!
At the beginning of my triathlon adventure back in 1993, the swim was not my best leg of the race, but it became my strongest link when I stopped focusing on going fast. How I actually got faster was when I let go of going fast until after I focused on my swim technique and skills first.
Like me, most athletes tackling a triathlon the swim it’s their weakest link. Most people are good with the bike and run, but the swim not so much.
Since I am so wise, I hired a coach to teach me technique as well as reading everything about swimming via the various triathlete magazines back in the ‘90’s. Eventually I settled on the writings of Terry Laughlin founder of Total Immersion Swimming. Long story short, I settled on TI swimming, then became one of their coaches until 2020- almost 20 years.
I have lead countless swim clinics as a Total Immersion Coach, where I have started the clinic with participants telling me they can run 10 miles or bike 100 miles but cannot swim one lap in the pool without being gassed.
This says a lot, and I have been there, too. I used to work really hard, got nowhere with my swim progress, like running on ice.
But I learned from this experience and made a change.
Moving through the water is so sensitive to our movements so much so most people fight it vs work with it. I teach swimmers and newbie swimmers to work with the water first.
Step one is to feel your float, or ballast in the water, this is working with the water not fighting it.
Next step is to be able to maintain this feeling of floating in the water as you change your shape. This is breaking swimming down into its simplest comprehension.
As you progress from these first two steps, your aim is to keep reducing your drag in the water, maintain your balance, and time or synchronize your movements together.
Alas, that’s not what a majority of swimmers do. They focus on swimming fast only, with a few drills thrown in, but drills they are not connecting to the whole stroke.
A better use of pool time would be to focus on float, using my front float drill. Feel your buoyancy during the drill, then swim a few lengths with the aim to keep the feeling of floating.
My next drill I teach-changing the shape of the body- is what I labeled the “swordfish” drill. This drill changes the shape of the body into a more streamlined position while maintaining the feeling of floating (being supported by the water), developing stability, and a horizontal body line. It is key to be able to do this drill then swim freestyle with the caveat to notice where the swordfish is in the whole of the stroke.
Putting these pieces of drill and swim can be time consuming and not overall very exciting. But if you dial it in now you will reap the rewards sooner and live many more years with an effortless stroke.
How to Approach the Swim in Triathlon?
Focus on quality vs quantity in the water. Know why you are doing what you are doing. For example why are you doing a drill? How does it relate to the whole stroke? Know your “why”. Find a coach who will help you put it together-form first then speed, while still being able to maintain your form as you work on speed. Get videotaped of your swim under the water and above the water then review it with a coach that is about your technique, form, and efficiency.
Absolutely get into open water with other people before the triathlon. Swimming on your own in open water is very different than swimming in a pool. Practice sighting while swimming-make it seamless so it is not interrupting the flow of your stroke. Sighting is a skill in itself but you need to be great at it to navigate where you are going!
Get a feeling of what it is like to swim in open water with other swimmers near you. If that is not possible, at least swim in a single lane with several other swimmers to get that feeling of swimming in proximity to others as well as the chaos of the wavy water.
Focusing on form, on swimming well makes swimming more enjoyable. It is a life long skill for me and many others. Not all humans have access to swimming. I feel fortunate I do and I can. I find swimming beautiful and easy. Again not everyone has this experience. Swimming can be a struggle and I get it. Once I learned myself, I vowed that no one needs to swim poorly, but I will teach to the best of my ability believing everyone can get to that place of enjoyment first, then speed can be an option.
Planning to do your first triathlon? Is the swim your weakest link. Spend a majority of time you have set aside for training on the swim. Swim technique, skills, drills before anyone tells you to have more “turnover” or stroke rate, or a more powerful pull, or kick harder. Show up ready to go the distance knowing you can.
Make the swim about quality vs quantity.