Two weeks ago I purchased my first pair of tri shorts, thinking that I may finally have to give in to the ST anti-speedo pressure. I posted that they felt too restrictive on the run, however, and that I probably would stick to my admittedly unflattering speedo.
HOWEVER, since I started swimming in the tri shorts two weeks ago (instead of loose fitting running shorts), my 500-yard time has steadily dropped from 9:56 to 9:06. (Paulo: Feel free to tell me I still suck in the swim).
Other than wearing the more aero tri shorts, the only thing I have done differently in the last two weeks is to swim 1000-meters at Ohio Street beach 4 times, in addition to my 2-3 times a week 500-yard pool swims.
I know the 1000-meter swims have helped but I am wondering whether the advertised fast material of the speedo tri shorts is contributing significantly. I’m still going to wear my speedo on Sunday in the Naperville Tri because of the run unless someone can convince me that the tri short material makes the tri shorts significantly faster than the speedo in the swim. The speedo is about 9 years old, so it probably is made of lower-tech material. Besides, its fibers are accustomed to swimming slow.
I have always struggled in the swim and I only went sub-10 minutes for 500-yard for the first time three weeks ago. It feels like magic when I look at my watch after my 500-yard swims and see that I’ve set a new PR (the 9:06 was last night).
One thing I didn’t mention that I have been doing differently for the last month is that I am actually trying to race the 500-yard swims rather than swimming semi-comfortably.
So your times are faster now that you are racing them instead of swimming semi-comfortably? That’s amazing. You and Demerly really should start submitting your research findings to some journals.
You know, it’s probably not the shorts. It might be the combination of swimming twice as much and working much harder on the TT efforts though
But seriously, it almost doesn’t matter. I know I would love to have a pair of shorts that, whenever I pulled them on, gave me that extra boost of confidence. It’d be like having Bruce Denton’s track spikes, or Peter Reid’s bike…
The difference in drag between swimming in a pair of loose running shorts and a pair of lycra tri shorts is significant. Maybe not 50 seconds over 500 yds at your speed but it could easily be 15 or 20 seconds.
The difference in drag between a “regular” speedo and a tri suit is not significant.
You certainly have a point, but I have been doing the racing thing for about a month with slight time decreases but did not see the steady drops in my times until I wore the tri shorts. Besides, if I posted that swimming faster 500s made me faster in the 500s, I would be open to even more ST ridicule.
I certainly agree with you - to a point. I have historically swam so little that I was always trying to establish a swimming base before trying to work on speed. This year is the first year that I have swam enough to actually be able to “race” 500 yards. Hence, the swimming semi-comfortably.
What this has taught me is that “more is more.” Now where have I heard that before?
if you’re talking about swimming in running shorts as opposed to tri shorts - yes, the tri shorts are faster (it’s unclear to me from your post if you were swimming in the running shorts or speedos before the tri shorts). But what’s more important is you’ve added 2000 meters to your weekly 1000-1500 yards. that’s huge.
For me, when I first started swimming I didn’t see real gains until I switched from ‘occasionally’ swimming 800m a few times a week to ‘consistently’ swimming at least 1500m 4-5 times a week. The first year I did this I took four minutes off my 800m times (15:xx to 11:xx). When I increased the frequency of my workouts, I also decreased the repeat distances (say, 12x100 instead of 3x400) so I stayed fresh enough to swim with proper technique. i think there’s a lot to be said for developing feel for the water and mucle memory for a correct stroke, and the only way to do this is to get in the water more often.
I can say that swimming with loose suits doesn’t feel good if you are used to lycra type. I swam last week with the old loose swim suit and although I wasn’t much slower I felt like I was sinking all the time, it was wierd and uncomfortable… You might just be feeling better in the water and thus willing to push yourself more.
No you are not a stud because every serious swimmer is laughing behind your back at how silly you look.
If you want to look cool in the 30 seconds before jumping into the pool, do not wear tight booty shorts. Wear a drag suit (pretty much looser tri shorts) or wear a water polo speedo (looser than a regular speedo, lasts longer, more comfortable) around your hips (95% of people wear their suits too high).
If you want to cap it off, learn how to make a snapping noise with your arms. It’s hard to explain without showing but its basically your tricepts hitting your body.
Edit: And unless you’re a top level competitor in a race it really doesn’t matter whether you’re in a speedo or tri shorts, your speed will relatively be the same. That’s just in your mind. And dear god you like running in a speedo?
Until I started wearing tri shorts for swimming 2 weeks ago, I wore loose running shorts for both swimming and running while training. When I race tris, however, I wear a speedo for the entire event. Now you are not missing anything.
