Last year was my first year at doing tris. I did 2 OLY’s. Swimming was definitely my weakness. The first swim was 38 min and 3 months later 36min. I have a full wet suit.
I started swimming again 2 weeks ago and feel a lot more comfortable in the water this year already. When I started swimming 1 year ago I had to stop and rest after 50 yds. My wife was worried I was going to drown out in open water when attempting nearly a mile swim. Thank God you are nearly a cork in a full wet suit.
I’m now 3 months from my first tri of the year and will be an OLY. I am doing 500yds with no kick off the wall and doing 2:00 min/100yds. I was doing that last year but did not have the endurance to hold it in open water.
Is it plausable to think I can break 30:00 for the 0.9mi swim?
I’m going to swim at least 3x/week. Will this be enough to get my shoulders stronger? Should I try increasing my cadence to get more speed. I work out alone. No masters classes around. I’m not snaking through the water and not crossing over my arms. My form is good per my wife who is an excellent swimmer.
If its just getting more time in the pool and more endurance then I’m fine with that. I was never a competative swimmer so I don’t know how times improve. Should I do interval training? I know that helps on the bike and running. Does it help in swimming?
Thanks, sorry so long. I just want to be more competive this year and it is certainly my swimming thats killing me.
I bike 1:15 (on road bike in aero bars) and run 46min so would love to be in the 2:30’s this year. First OLY 3:00, 2nd 2:43
My coach took me from a 23:00 to an 18:45 over the past 2 years. His philosophy is that pool time is very specific and needs to be tailored based on experience. He wrote a blog about frequency of training: http://www.peakmultisport.com/#!blog/c1a81
Thats a 1:50 per hundred pace so certainly doable. Do a search on the forum and look up teh monthly swim fish threads. If you simply do a w/u the a 5 or (10) x 100 with 15 sec rest then a 5 x 200 with 30 sec rest then cool down hard (just a simple example) you will drop those 10 sec per hundred. kind of in a rush but all kinds of workouts on here
Thanks guys. I’ll look the blog over tonight. Did 2200yds in 1 hr this AM. It looks like now I need to get specific in the intervals. Last year was all about surviving the swim. This year I would like to pass people in the water, not just on the bike and run.
There is one of the threads above every month…find some workouts there, adapt them to your distance/pace/ability…ask some of the top swimmers there a question…
Do you have access to a masters program? My swimming improved greatly when I started swimming masters three times a week.
It looks like from what you are saying that you do a swim of 500 yards 3x a week. Is that correct? If so, you need to be swimming a lot more to simply build up some endurance. That would equate to going on a 1-2 mile run and assuming you would improve your fitness. I was in your shoes when I first started training for tris four years ago - zero background in swimming. I’m now up to 15,000 yards/week average, and have gained some speed. You probably also don’t like to swim, and that will be helped by simply swimming more. I know that sounds counter intuitive, but if you do it more you will get more comfortable.
No access. Certainly wish there was one here. Would love to have someone walk the deck and analyse the stroke. What about the High Vertical Elbow technique? I saw it on YouTube and I don’t think I swim like that. More with the straight arm down to the bottom of the pool instead of straight back to the wall. It makes sense to push back rather than down.
Nate,
Nope. Doing 2000yds 3x/week so around 6,000yds a week. Can swim comfortably 500yd intervals. I did 4 x 500yd and another 250yds to finish up.
Sounds like I have to start doing actual training intervals instead of just putting in the yards.
Like the rest of sport, it first takes careful planning, then execution, once you find what works for you it’s very easy to put the nails into a great framework. You’re definitely sounding plenty driven to me, it’s just getting the time in the water focused on improving those weaknesses. I’ve had great success with core work personally as well which you can stress via paddles and buoy, or a kickboard inbetween your legs forcing proper rotation. The band worked well at first for building initial strength but then my form started falling apart.
Does “no kick off the wall” mean that you don’t push off? I think that pushing off the wall even without a flip-turn teaches you something about streamlining. It also helps you go faster so that you can swim more.
yeah, no flip turns or push off the wall. I some times have the 4 lanes to my self and just go down each lane without touching the walls to give a more open water sensation of no help in the stroke.
I feel like pushing off the wall is cheating myself because I certainly can not do that in the open swim.
I’ll peruse the swim fish section. Thanks.
I’m trying to stay driven. Three months seems like forever until my first tri this year (even though at the start line I’ll second guess if I trained enough). especially couped up inside in Upstate NY in a cyling center, pool and treadmill. Hopefully next week will get outside and run.
Does “no kick off the wall” mean that you don’t push off? I think that pushing off the wall even without a flip-turn teaches you something about streamlining. It also helps you go faster so that you can swim more.
The above is totally correct. it is the only way to measure yourself for real per 100 speed and, yea, it does teach breath holding and streamlining.
You’ll be doing flip turns in no time.
The box swim is ok once in a while but sandbagging turns is doing to opposite when you are in a lane. You end up pausing more between lengths.
I know I’m slowing down at the wall and then have to restart so to speak after the turn.
I know how to do a flip turn. So if I did my laps with a flip turn and push off the wall and come up with a 1:48min/100yd and could hold that for a 500yd interval, could I assume that I could break 30 min for the 0.9 in open water? I feel it is a false sense of what I can do in open water.
I’ll practice with the flips if thats what it takes to get faster.
Thanks
I would say yes. Most at that speed per hundred benifit from a wetsuit. 1:50 for 30 in an oly correct
OK, Well tomorrow I’ll start that train way. That would be very encouraging to see a less than 2:00 / 100yd on my watch. I could see it being and encouragement builder. Sometimes when I train alone I feel like I just don’t now what the heck I’m doing. I just know I’m doing.
I did 29:xx in my first Oly and I prolly swam slower than that in the pool. Wetsuit is good for 10% gain for mediocre/poor swimmers. Expert swimmers might actually be slower in a suit since they are restrictive.
I have found three things to be very beneficial to improving my swim times.
- Frequency (over time; it takes awhile; 3x/wk min, 5-7/wk ideal)
- Master’s Swim (swimming hard intervals with others to chase)
- More Power (pulling harder and faster through the water and slowly strengthening swimming muscles over time)