was he not just holding it with one arm and swimming with one arm?

Nope... holding it out in front of him and then making a rowing motion, alternating between arms. It's hard to explain, but it was definitely something I hadn't seen before!

Not sure about the rowing motion but I will use a short piece of PVC pipe to do a catch up drill. It's smaller then 2" though. My guess is if the PVC pipe was that big he was having trouble keeping it straight.

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

I'm sure that there is someone out there right now thinking that my wife and I were the oddballs from last night. We both were doing some wetsuit practice in the pool, and my wife wanted some help with race day type swimming, with me swimming into her, etc. Then she asked me to grab one of the foam pool noodles and whack her the entire length of the pool while she swam to get comfortable with being touched/hit in the water. I'm sure I looked super awesome doing some weird side stroke while smacking her with a pool noodle...

This one may qualify for a Lavender Room thread. #FiftyShadesofTriathlonTraining Hit me with your noodle! Harder! Harder!

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It is the mind itself which builds the body.
-Joseph Pilates

Reminds me of the old cliff bar commercial. I can't get to youtube at work but if you search "clif bar triathlon commercial" you should get it to pull up.

Kinky lol

you win the internets today!!!

Honestly, it sounds like you two have a great marriage.

Why do I envision something like this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3S0wu4Zbfk

and, I thought I've heard of everything.

I will sleep well tonight knowing that NOW I've heard of everything. being whacked with a pool noodle to simulate a triathlon swim. Better than doing a "fun mudder", or a "color run," almost as good as crossfit.

you heard it here first

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I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________

toefuzz writes:
I saw a new one today... though I'm new to swimming and he was a fast swimmer so maybe it's just new to me. The guy next to me (who is a fast swimmer) was using a long length of PVC pipe like he was rowing a kayak underwater during his freestyle stroke. Does anyone know what he was trying to accomplish?


sounds like a drill to prevent crossing over. my coach had me do this. you always keep a length of the tube between your hands to prevent crossing over.

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salmon - not because I'm a fish

was he actually doing a rowing motion? my swim coach will occasionally use a length of sealed pvc tubing for single arm drills to ensure a wide enough stroke - ie: you hold the pipe with your non-stroking hand and target the outside of the pipe with your stroking hand to ensure a consisitent width. i admit it looks ridiculous and i call the "pipe of shame" when my coach assigns me to do it when my stroke is less than he likes. that said, i haven't used it kayak style...but if it'll help me get a little faster, i'll welcome the ridicule!

Here you go

Yes! That is exactly what he was doing.

Man, I thought I'd seen it all. That's a cure looking for a problem. And a sure way to get asked to leave.

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Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com

Here I thought he was training to be an extra for one of these movies:

Let me tell you about Pool Boy.

Every single time I go to the pool (3-4x/wk) there's this older Vietnamese guy (this part of Melbourne is basically Little Saigon) doing laps with a pull buoy.

He swims at the same pace, always freestyle with a buoy, and always in the 'fast lane' where he's about 30s/100m slower than anyone else. He's there when I get there, and there when I leave. He'll get to the end of a length with someone on his toes (often me), and do a surface turn and keep going. He never stops to let anyone past, ever. The urge to 'teach' him is strong, but I've left this to a few gentle kicksplashes when overtaking.

I finally see him out of the water last week, and it turns out he can barely walk. His legs are hardly functional.

I felt bad for him for a moment, then remembered what a dickhead he is.

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

Holy shit, that's funny--Thanks!

I'm laughing so hard at that commercial that I'm crying. Thanks for that!

You work with enough adult onset swimmers and you'll see more than you can imagine in the way of problems. Many see swimming as all arms and legs (because that's where all the big movements and splashing is coming from) and never understand how to connect with their core muscles, and that's where the PVC stick comes in. I don't use it, there are other ways to "trick" swimmers brains into activating the proper muscles, but I understand why someone might go that route.

Maybe you saw Alexander Popov? (12:05 in video)

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Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.

I was going to say the same thing. Gennadyi Toretskyi uses this, and ve demonstrated it to some masters swimmers....

...but only on land.

Is that a real name, or did you just dump out all your SCRABBLE® letters?

It's not nice to mess with dyslexics like that

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Is the 'fast lane' also happen to be handicap accessible....?