Someone needs to teach Sam how to push off the wall and flip turn better.

Err- I mean- good video. Thanks for posting and sending me back decades when I could have hung with those guys. You can see the pain in his stroke at the end of that swim.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I had not watched the whole video yet when I posted this, and man, Sam gets REAL in the after-workout interview. If you don't find inspiration in this about challenging yourself and getting better, then nothing will inspire you.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

Didn't realize it was 'post 1000y time trial video' week. Loved Tyler's contributions in this video. Looks like a fun group to swim with.

Also a little motivating for me watching Lionel and Sam swim 1000s, until I remember how badly they can smoke me on the bike :|

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

I guess nothing will inspire me then. I have tried to watch this guy speak several times now over the past year or so. I just find him really annoying when he he opens his mouth (admittedly less so in the post-workout portion you reference).

Yeah loved the interaction of Tyler and Sam. It's not staged. It's just real athletes doing real work and having fun at it.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

Also, where are you swimming? Rally is the place to be!

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

Ahh when I said local, I meant more local than before haha. We're actually in the Springs. But I've got a lot of flexibility so hopefully I can come up fairly often to train with guys my level.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

I kinda liked "that's how you swim"...."no wonder your slow" when they were looking at his arm entry.

Cool video, the one thing he's doing is busting his butt but in a good "squad" environment. That is so critical for the success and mental well being for athletes grinding away.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Sam is great, really a genuine, fun loving guy with great determination. He is a bit goofy but after a while he grows on you. I started to follow his training on strava after seeing his Daytona interview and have been pretty taken back by this guys talent. I have to remind myself that he is only 24. His potential is really limitless at this point. I think he is going to do very well in the next few years

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Strava

I love how Rally is *the* place to swim in Boulder. It seems like all the Boulder-based pros swim there. I mean, are AGers even allowed in the water? lol

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Rally is awesome and it is sort of a highly concentrated microcosm of the tri community that demonstrates why triathlon is so great. Yes, AGers of all abilities swim there. You can swim in the lane next to a legend that you've looked up to, then hang out in the hot tub after and everyone is just having a great time. You don't need to be an elite athlete to fit in. You just need to train hard while you're there (even if that's in the slow lane), be yourself and have a good time.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

If you can get over the "bravado" of Sam, his videos are pretty good from a content stand point. Like the best value in that whole video was the banter that each of those athletes was bringing up to Sam. The 200 as being "not all out" but "strong sustained" which is super critical for LC racing.....You need that get out speed, but you can't fry yourself that the next 500 drops 20s/100. He's still young and figuring out the best approach to hitting it off with fans I think. I think he's always going to be "loud" and I also think he's still kinda battling for his "spot" in the pro ranks within the total package of social media, racing, respect, etc.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I can’t. I don’t love bravado but I can appreciate it and the entertainment value it can bring. But, with him it comes across as so contrived and corny. He’s forcing it so badly that’s it just makes me cringe. I like his attack style of racing and certainly don’t root against him as an athlete, But, I can’t stand to listen to him talk.

Damn, maybe a commute from Denver for a swim every once in a while is in order. I'm assuming it's a masters program?

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Completely understand that. I think he's "faking it till he makes it" until he kinda finally gets his feet firmly in the pro ranks with his persona / racing / maturity. Which I think he'll probaly always play the "bad boy" in tri, I just think he'll eventually play it when he needs to and not have to play it up EVERY SINGLE VIDEO like he does now.

Long winded answer to say, keep giving it a go. I have no skin in the Sam Long game, I 100% understand what you mean, I'm just also looking at a 24 year old "kid" who I can def see growing up and being really really good for the sport.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

There are masters classes and there's just lap swim too. You don't need to be a US Masters member or anything like that. You have to reserve lanes in advance now because of covid restrictions and it can be a race when the month becomes available for sign up to get the preferred times.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

Watching this is just so painful for the swimmer in me... his stroke needs so much work... and those flip turns (although not as relevant or important for triathlon obviously)

He should have just stopped after the 200. Until he gets that 200 around or just under 2 minutes it doesn’t matter about his 1000 time trial time. And judging from his splits on the 200, he’s probably too focused on the distance aspect of the swim.

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http://www.magnoliamasters.com
http://www.snappingtortuga.com
http://www.swimeasyspeed.com

That was fun to watch, thanks. It looks like Sam is a really hard worker, but he needs to really start to feel the swimmers stroke. This was Lionel a few years ago, and he now looks like he swam as a child. It just takes time, but in the meantime, hard work will get him some seconds here and there.

But realistically he has to get his 1000 under 11 minutes to have any chance in shorter races, and that might get him 2nd big pack in big Ironman's too. Unless he has some godlike OW skills, not really sure where he has been coming out in the big races these past years..

But it did give me some motivation, so will train a bit for it, and go and try and beat his times by myself. I will be pulling though, 65+ handicap...(-;

One thing not really mentioned, but assume this pool was at some altitude, maybe 5k?? That can really make a big difference when you do a really hard 200 first, I think I will try and pace mine a little more towards 2;15 or so..

Sam is very authentic...he ran Cross-Country with my son at Boulder High ( Sam was a middlin' Varsity runner then, I wouldn't have picked him as a future IM champ! ). Listening to his videos is pretty much the same smack-talk I heard around the pasta feasts before races. A little loud, but the guy that would be the first one to help a teammate.

His family was all pretty studly - I was at the SilverRush 50 MTB race ( sort of a shorter, steeper Leadville 100) and I ran into his dad post race and asked how their day went. He casually said "OK, we both won" . One of my infamous days I was out on my MTB riding over Old Stage to Heil Ranch. I was just sort of turning the pedals over when I heard some chatting behind me. I picked up the pace a bit, but still at warm-up effort and was soon passed by Sam's mother who has having a nice girly gab as they passed me on their road bikes. I like to think I could have kept them behind me if I really had tried... but the fact remains Sam's mom is on the long list of women who have chicked me ;-)

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" I take my gear out of my car and put my bike together. Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafes. Non-racers. The emptiness of of their lives shocks me. "
(opening lines from Tim Krabbe's The Rider , 1978

This is interesting. Could you elaborate?

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

Yeah about ,5300 feet.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

I'm curious about this as well. I did a ~90% effort 2000yd yesterday in 23:50 at about 6,000 ft, but I think I would max out around 2:03 or 2:04 for 200. I just chalk that up to my fast twitch being more or less completely gone. Doesn't stress me out too much for 2100+ yard races.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

I think the real issue is that you don't want that opening 200 to be your "max" effort but just below that (yes we are talking small differences) so that when that pace backs down after that opening surge you dont "fall off" for the next 500. That I think is what SnappyT is getting at. Or atleast that's how I would coach it.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II