This is very interesting. I am NOT and do not pretend to be a coach, trainer or otherwise qualified to assess another person's athletic preparation, so my advice is basically of no value. However, how is your hydration and sodium intake during the 24 hours prior to a race?

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I pee clear, Drink sports drink with protein after each training event, drink alot while training and use salt? Swimming is my weakest event, I've been to total immersion do the drills ect.

Do you get dizziness after the swim. On one sprint tri I was very disorientated for awhile when going from a horizontal position in cold water to suddenly standing vertical? I actually had to take a couple of extra minutes of rest to regain composure at T1 before continuing.

Some people have problems in T1 when they go to stand up. I have never really been one of them, except maybe once when I just went way too hard on the swim in warm water.

I am guessing that your problem is that you are a weak swimmer and that you just don't relax during the swim because you are uncomfortable in the water to begin with. Add that to the competition and you might be setting yourself up with problems.

I would do this transition in practice a few times and check your heart rate. You may find that your HR is just way too high during the swim, or that it spikes way up on the transition. If that is the case, you have found your problem. The solution will be to learn to swim more relaxed. That may take some time.

I find my HR is way lower during the swim than during the other events. I swim in the low 140s, ride in the high 160s and run in the 170s for an Olympic distance race. I am not saying that is optimal, but just my experience. I was in the 150s during the swim I had a problem on.

Learn to relax on the swim. Stay in the draft. The one time I had a problem was when I decided to get out of the draft and pass the person in front of me with 400 meters to go. Not one of my better decisions. I beat him by a few feet out of the water and probably dropped three minutes on the bike as my reward for overdoing it.

Well, if your over heated and you wear a wetsuit, try not wearing a wetsuit. Also, it could be the enviroment. If your in some place where it's steaming, the air coming out of the water isn't the best thing for you. This would probably cause you to overheat. But those two are most likely not the problem.

Since swimming isn't your best thing, I'm guessing your technique isn't world class either. =) Some things in here could lead you to overheating and getting dizzy.

1. Stroke rate... a fast stroke rate isn't necessary to be a fast swimmer. Of course there's the 50 and 100 free, but in triathlon terms it isn't. When a swimmer starts hackin' away, their stroke technique gets worse and worse as the swim goes on. And when the stroke technique gets worse, less water is being pulled(or grabbed) for each pull resulting in going less DPS(distance per stroke). Therefore, this would cause the swimmer to start working harder than he or she has to to hold their pace with the group giving them a high heart rate making the body hotter with muscle contractions and soreness. Example: Watch a video of Ian Thorpe swim. His strokes are EXTREMELY long and he swims very relaxed. This gives him a lower heart rate but pulls so much more water than everyone else resulting him to go longer and faster much easier.

2. Breathing pattern. Now, don't watch Olympic swimmers for this one since they don't have to do two other events right after their swim. Breathing in swimming can make a break a stroke technique. The ideal distance breathing pattern is every 3. Not only does this balance out your stroke on both sides of your body to keep you going straight, but it keeps your heart rate low again since it isn't a fast breathing pattern versus every 2. If you breath every two, I highly suggest you to try every three. Breathing every two will lead you to a faster stroke rate, unbalanced body position, and most likely hyperventalating(sp???) over a long period of swimming. Plus, the less you breath, the more your body is hydrodynamic.

3. Trying too hard. You could be just trying too hard too. Sometimes just chillin' out in the water and cruising will keep you going longer and faster. Just work on keeping your stroke as long as possible, almost as if your reaching for something right in front of you, body straight and not wiggling, and breathing pattern.

Hope this helps...

bigd

I found your post to be very helpful. I'm sure I've heard everything you said before, but you put it together in a useful way. Thanks.

I had the dizziness problem for the first time last spring (after doing tris for 12 years). The only reason I could think of was that I was in horrible shape and hadn't done much swim training and when I raced I pushed too hard to stay with the same group that I'd be with if I was fit. The result was a swim to bike transition where I was hanging on the bike rack to keep from falling on my ass. I'd suggest cranking up the swim training or backing off the swim pace a little in longer races until you find a pace that doesn't result in this problem.

Thanks Murray.

I've said stuff like that to many of the guys I ride with who swim in the winter. All of them are use to cycling which your cadence is recommended to be high and they try to do the same thing in the pool. The easiest way to get faster in the water is not to swim harder, but to pull more water. =)

Sadly though, I have the reverse problem with cycling since I'm mainly a swimmer.

Yeah, great post, bigd. The only thing I have seen that hasn't already been mentioned is a few athletes actually face planting on the beach after the swim as a result of the massive head rush that occurrs when they stand and begin running to T1. If you are already oxygen deprived as you exit the water, standing up and jumping into a full run can force all the blood to your legs. You subsequently become dizzy and disoriented. Solution: give yourself a few steps to get oriented before running to your bike. You can use this time to start peeling off the top of your wetsuit or removing your cap and goggles.

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Adam Duncan
New York, NY