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Re: drafting - drag train on swim [carlosru83] [ In reply to ]
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If you feel like you are holding back in your effort, but you notice that your "drag group" is passing others, stay in the group! You are probably going faster by staying in group and then you can let it rip (well, if it's a short distance triathlon) on the bike :-)
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Re: drafting - drag train on swim [KG6] [ In reply to ]
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KG6 wrote:
I think the density and viscosity of water is going to make it react differently than air. Not to say it won't have a similar affect. It will just be dampened greatly and you likely aren't going to see the same level of benefits "hydro"dynamically. Plus, you are imparting a lot of fluid movement into the medium itself with your stroke and kick. So you are breaking up the typical flow around your body in a way that you aren't doing on the bike. Not to say that stops the situation from having a benefit, just that I don't know if you can assume that since it's helpful in one, that it is in another. They may not be remotely comparable. In fluid dynamics, it's very hard to make assumptions without testing though. And it seems like swimmers would notice benefits. Draft swimmers obviously do.

I do have a question about being the drafter though. How do you know what is the right foot to grab onto and follow? I've drafted for short periods and it felt much easier, but that could have just been because I was going slower overall. I always eventually overtook the person at some point. Do you pretty much just swim your same effort level and hope there is someone you come up upon who is just fast enough to stay right in front? Or is there ever a time to feel like you may be holding back, but stay on the persons foot because the reduced effort is just because they are giving you a pull? How do you tell the difference in open water where it's hard to determine your exact pace.


what works well for me is I go my own pace for the first 2-300 yards and then look around... by then the "sprint the first 100 yards and then die" crowd has pooped out and dropped off and the field is usually down to the top 3-5 people who will be able to maintain a fast pace for the entire swim... usually that group will sort of form a pack on it's own. If not, you can angle in and hop on someone's hip if you want to draft, or take the lead if you feel the pace needs to be pushed.

Also, if you are consistently seeing the same faces at local races (certainly the case in San Diego and LA) you know who's fast/your speed and you can look for them pre start and line up next to them.

I go back and forth on drafting during the swim. Part of me wants to save energy for the B/R, but part of me wants to push the pace as hard as possible since it's a strong leg for me.
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Re: drafting - drag train on swim [pk1] [ In reply to ]
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pk1 wrote:
i could be talking rubbish here, but i seem to recall reading somewhere (maybe trustworthy) that while having someone on your feet is beneficial to both, having someone on your hip slows you down but is even better for the person drafting if you get the right position. of course drafting someone who you're slowing down doesn't do anybody any good, unless you wouldn't otherwise be able to hold their pace.

so as a crap swimmer but decent rider & runner, i guess i should swim on people's hips ;)

^^^^This.

If you can get a whole lane to yourselves, you and a buddy can see how swimming on someones hip significantly slows them (like 3-5 sec/100m). Just do some 200 repeats and see how your time suffers.

ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
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