I'm a slow swimmer, and a relatively new one. I started Triathlon 2 years ago, have moderate local success and pretty much MOP at larger tris/events. What's keeping me MOP is the swim - my cycling is decent and my running improves every year. I don't have a coach, but try and apply the principles I read about from Total Immersion as well as Swim Smooth. So when it comes to my stroke, I used 2013 to begin adapting from the old fashioned deep pull to a high elbow catch. Doing so I went from a 2:00+ min/100 m to somewhere between 1:50 and 2:00 min/100m. Note that I used to be a bodybuilder, so I have developed a somewhat large chest, even if the muscles have long since atrophied.

Now, in most races I tend to break down at some point in the race and find bad habits coming back. But the basics approach I try to maintain is the high elbow catch. In 2013, in most races, I felt I underperformed. Most races...because in one race last June I over performed. In that Oly race I was fatigued from a recent HIM (my first) and tended to dog paddles stroke - not quite like a dog paddle as there's definitely a stroke, but there's definitely more pushing down and less pulling. And yet, I was seriously faster than I'd been to that point. Later I experimented in the pool and repeated the results. However, I stubbornly stuck to the high elbow catch and continued my MOP swimming results for 2013, always finding myself trying to pull in the front group on the bike and run.

Back in serious training for 2014, I've been toying with stroke. I'm back to that paddle like stroke for a few sessions, and I'm addicted to it because its just faster. Basically I reach out, come into the water, and pull my arm backward, getting it out of the water as quickly as possible [Edit: Its also a very shallow stroke]. It requires relatively little effort, and their's significant downward pressure vs pull as compared to the correct stroke form. Its definitely a faster stroke. I combine that with a very narrow frontal area by making arm contact with the water as close to the center line as possible, but not crossing. I believe that my body form is good (ankles can feel air - not sinking), and I'm kicking about 2x to 3x the stroke rate. Compared to my 1:50 to 2:00 high elbow catch performance, I can easily hit 1:30's over 500 meters and average 1:40's over longer distances. Maximum speed over short (200 m) spurts is about 1:15 compared to 1:25 with high elbow catch. There is tremendously less splashing, not that it matters...

I'm puzzled because I feel it should not be faster. My current thought is this. I'm an MOP swimmer, so maybe a few little things going on here override the fact that I'm not using high elbow catch. For instance, I can manage a faster stroke rate, so even though there's less pull (or I feel like there's less), the stroke rate makes up for it. My high elbow catch may be off, too. I've not had it analyzed. And then, there's the fact that I feel this stroke gets my higher out of the water, so less drag.

If anyone has experienced something similar, let me know.