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Race Prep (Swim leg) Advice
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Tom_hampton
Oct 12, 18 10:47
Post #1 of 7 (644 views)
As I mentioned a couple days ago...my A-race got cancelled (thanks Pacific Sports). It was an Oly distance, scheduled for this Sunday. I found a surrogate race, but its a sprint....and its NEXT week.

I did a full bike/run race-sim last night to see if I could hold winning pace on the bike and still have a good run split. Looking at past race times, I have a solid shot at a podium if I can pull out a decent swim and nail the transitions.

The swim leg for this race is a 300m serpentine swim in an LCM pool.

I'm looking for two bits of advice:

1. How to dial in a race pace for the swim leg in 9 days? I was in full race-prep mode for the Oly swim until....now. I was doing 4-5x400 on 30s rest at Oly race pace. I know I'm not going to make any "gains" in the 9 days, other than just being more dialed into what I can do (leaving less on the table). I'm just looking for advice on how to best dial in what my pace *should be* for a 300m swim.

I was thinking maybe a couple rounds of USRPT 75s, and then maybe later next week some 3-4x300s on lots of rest. Thoughts?

2. Any advice on how best to swim a serpentine swim? I've never done one. So, does anyone have some tips for how to manage the turns, etc?

Thanks....
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Re: Race Prep (Swim leg) Advice [Tom_hampton] [ In reply to ]
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RBR
Oct 12, 18 11:05
Post #2 of 7 (621 views)
Tom_hampton wrote:
As I mentioned a couple days ago...my A-race got cancelled (thanks Pacific Sports). It was an Oly distance, scheduled for this Sunday. I found a surrogate race, but its a sprint....and its NEXT week.

I did a full bike/run race-sim last night to see if I could hold winning pace on the bike and still have a good run split. Looking at past race times, I have a solid shot at a podium if I can pull out a decent swim and nail the transitions.

The swim leg for this race is a 300m serpentine swim in an LCM pool.

I'm looking for two bits of advice:

1. How to dial in a race pace for the swim leg in 9 days? I was in full race-prep mode for the Oly swim until....now. I was doing 4-5x400 on 30s rest at Oly race pace. I know I'm not going to make any "gains" in the 9 days, other than just being more dialed into what I can do (leaving less on the table). I'm just looking for advice on how to best dial in what my pace *should be* for a 300m swim.

I was thinking maybe a couple rounds of USRPT 75s, and then maybe later next week some 3-4x300s on lots of rest. Thoughts?

2. Any advice on how best to swim a serpentine swim? I've never done one. So, does anyone have some tips for how to manage the turns, etc?

Thanks....

After you dial in your pace you could use an aquanome in your swim cap during the race to be sure you are on pace
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Re: Race Prep (Swim leg) Advice [Tom_hampton] [ In reply to ]
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lightheir
Oct 12, 18 11:07
Post #3 of 7 (615 views)
Not an expert, but I've done 3 pool tris with serpentine swims.

I feel like I'm perfectly capable of doing routine flip turns, but doing flip turns UNDER the lane lines was totally not worth it for me on race day, even though I sort of practiced it beforehand. I'm doing open turns under the lane lines from now on, after crashing into them a few too many times during my flip. Without the lane lane, my flip turns are significantly faster than my open turn, but that gets reversed once there's a lane line involved!
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Re: Race Prep (Swim leg) Advice [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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Tom_hampton
Oct 12, 18 14:37
Post #4 of 7 (551 views)
lightheir wrote:
Not an expert, but I've done 3 pool tris with serpentine swims.

I feel like I'm perfectly capable of doing routine flip turns, but doing flip turns UNDER the lane lines was totally not worth it for me on race day, even though I sort of practiced it beforehand. I'm doing open turns under the lane lines from now on, after crashing into them a few too many times during my flip. Without the lane lane, my flip turns are significantly faster than my open turn, but that gets reversed once there's a lane line involved!

Lmao. There's nothing fast about my flip-turns. So, there's no decision for me in that regard. I'll just have to practice doing an open turn under the ropes.

Do touch the wall first, and then push off and pass under the rope during the glide?
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Re: Race Prep (Swim leg) Advice [Tom_hampton] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax
Oct 12, 18 16:16
Post #5 of 7 (522 views)
Yup, all you do is do a normal turn (flip or open, whatever works for you) and then push off on an angle so you go under the lane rope. Use the black lines on the bottom as a guide. If you don’t have decent push offs then you might be underwater a bit longer than you are used to, since you have to clear the lane line before you surface.
Swimming Workout of the Day:

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2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
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Re: Race Prep (Swim leg) Advice [Tom_hampton] [ In reply to ]
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MI_Mumps
Oct 12, 18 19:56
Post #6 of 7 (467 views)
If you’re looking for tiny details, remember that you have to go both right and left under the lines. I did one that was 500 in a 50 meter pool. I was great going right where I could see the line I was going under during my flip, but left was a bear. Maybe not as important with an open turn?

Good luck - have fun!
Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team
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Re: Race Prep (Swim leg) Advice [Tom_hampton] [ In reply to ]
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Abergili
Oct 12, 18 21:13
Post #7 of 7 (446 views)
A 300 is a pretty short swim for a tri. Just do some 50s pacing next week maybe 8-10early in the week and then 4-5 at the end of the week. You could practice a flip turn pushing off under the lane line at the end of the 50 if u want. Is it a reverse tri? Take it out at a moderate pace and try to increase the effort each 100 and use your legs at the end. If it’s first event then honestly I would swim it pretty easy and try to finish it without breathing hard. I don’t see how sprinting or going hard would be worth the effort to gain 20-30 seconds on the competition.
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