I was just comparing my swim logs from 2014 & 2013…
This year I stepped up my swim training, and even joined a masters swim group about for months ago. Looks like I’ve improved by maybe 10% in the last year. My swim times are still pretty mediocre (at best)… 20 x 100 @ 2:00 (avg) on 20 seconds.
2014
123 swims
197.14 mi
134 hrs
2013
82 swims
95 mi
96 hrs
Little frustrated that I haven’t improved more, but don’t regret the effort. I do plan on backing off on the number of training days when I start my 2015 training plan.
You’re going to get a couple of dozen people chiming in saying that if you just start doing this one thing your swim will improve massively. I have a few points to make.
Why are you saying maybe 10%? don’t you have time trial data to say definitely what the improvement is? If nothing else, I’d start that one thing.
what’s wrong with 10%? If you increased your run training by 45 minutes per week, the same amount you increased your swim training, would you expect more than a 10% gain?
Even still, 10% might not be much, but what if you made another 10% improvement next year? Now we’re talking 20%.
In 13 years of coaching adult onset swimmers, some people just never get it and never will, they have to fight and work for every second. Doesn’t mean people quit training, but you just have ot know that it’s a tough slog the whole way.
That’s not to say that someone won’t come on here and tell you the one thing that rings true for you and all of a sudden you become a new swimmer. It could happen.
10% is pretty good improvement for what appears to be a relatively minimal investment. Edit - it’s just a good improvement, full stop. The fact that you did it on not a lot of pool volume is also encouraging, and should be incentive to swim more, not less.
increasing freq can go a long way to improving even more. Swimming is far more technique oriented than running or cycling, I find that if I’m out of the water for more than a day or so it takes me about half a practice to get my speed back. You just lose the feel for the water way too quickly.
Joining masters is usually a good thing, at least for the social aspects, and also the training can be higher quality depending on the group. I find that the social side is really important for me to keep going.
Thanks Kevin… it’s encouraging to know that I’m not the only one slogging along.
A little hard to compare times since some of the variables are different (pool size, rest).I think the real test will be in June when I do a tri I’ve done twice before.
Well, it’s better than what most folks in lane swim are doing, even guys a lot younger than you.
Forget about what you’ve done over 4 years. You’ve made changes in the last 12 months that have resulted in pretty decent improvement, so it stands to reason that if you continue to do those things then you’ll improve even more.
Success doesn’t come from breakthroughs, but from tiny incremental improvements day by day. It’s like if you put a piece of paper on the ground and stand on it, you cant reach much higher. But stack enough pieces of paper, 500, 1000, 2000, then you can reach quite a bit higher. Just don’t neglect them or they’ll blow away.
10% is a pretty solid improvement in one year and I’d keep at it. Consider also that you’ve been in masters for only 4 months. Do a time trial today and then another after a year of masters. You will see improvements.
Now, the question of whether your extra training time is better spent in the pool or on the bike/run relative to the duration of each in the course of a race and overall time improvement is another question.
For me, my swim is very average 38 minutes in my last HIM. But I like running and biking a LOT and I know investing my training there will reduce my overall race time disproportionately. More simply an extra 2 hours of swim a week may cut 5 minutes off my race but that same 2 hours spent on bike and run training may cut 15 minutes
Yeah… We do periodic threshold tests at master’s.
We just did one, and I actually gained 8 seconds in the 400m, but took off a second in the 200m compared with two months ago…doh!
134hrs in 52 weeks = on average, 2hrs and 36minutes of weekly swim volume.
At 2:00/100yds for an average pace (yours is probably slower than that due to the rest intervals), that’s a grand total of 7080yds/wk. I’ll bet you’re closer to 6000yds/wk at your pace.
A better way to look at it is if you think 10% improvement at 6000yds/wk is ok for you. I will add, that a legit 10% improvement in swim ability, regardless of volume, is a pretty good outcome for anyone who’s been swimming for more than a year or two seriously.
I’m not even a fish, and it takes me a legit 15k/wk before I improve at a slower rate than that.
This is what my Garmin recorded… does not include times I forgot watch, kick sets etc.
But even with that it seems low. The last four months I’ve been in the pool for five hours most weeks. Not sure I’m getting good data.
TC… Right?
My master’s coaches have pointed out that I scissor kick and don’t rotate enough on the non breathing side. I consciously work on correcting those faults, but progress is slow.
Progress is slow at all levels. Even the fastest swimmers still have to slog through the endless metres, flipturns and chlorine stink, day after day.
To put it in perspective, elite-Olympic swimmers (not triathletes), swim 3x/day, about 2 hours per session. And they are trying to find milliseconds in their times.
As a triathlete training for three different sports, you will find that you plateau at times. Your cycling and running may be improving but suddenly your swimming just gets stuck. And seemingly randomly, months later, your swimming starts to improve. With the low volume triathletes do (even the pros) compared to swimmers, improvements are difficult to come by. Stick with it though, enjoy the process, it will come…albeit in baby steps.
I’d be happy with any improvement! If you put in the work you will see results. I agree with Kevin in MD. You should do a TT every 2-3 months to gauge improvement, just like an FTP test. Increase your swim workout frequency per week and volume if you can. Just adding an extra short workout can help with your “feel” for the water.
I think you have either 1) Training for fitness or 2) very actively thinking about what you are doing with your hands, legs and body. You can do both in the same workout. You can do both simultaneously as well. But never just swim. Be thinking about what your are doing.
I didn’t see it asked… what types of sets are your doing? If you want to improve, don’t swim anything long. Even warm-up and cool down. Don’t swim with poor form. Take more rest if needed or do shorter intervals. Do most of your swimming at or above your threshold pace.
Also try focusing on “swimming smaller”. No a stronger harder pull. A long, narrow, compact stroke, keeping the elbows high. This has helped me. Do 100 repeats and try different things with your arms or head position, turnover, focusing on different parts of the stroke and see if you go faster.
+100 on classes and private coaching. If your swimming around 2:00… you body position and leg motions are probably boat anchors…and until those are fixed, who cares what your doing with your arms.
Sometimes you need to go back to basics. Learn a good streamline position just pushing off the wall. Hands stacked, arms over ears, shoulders and arms extended, head down, chest out, back and core tight. Then add the kick.
The majority of my work sets are 100s… followed by fifties, 250s and occaisonally up to 500.
One thing my coach has told me is to try minimalizing my kick.
I think one thing that might be holding me back is the two beat kick, which I use until I go with a flutter kick for shorter efforts. When I use the flutter kick I seem to lose the scissor kick, and have better rotation… and go faster (hard 50y = 48 sec). But, I seem to expend too much energy, so can’t sustain. I’m going to the pool in an hour and planning on working on developing a relaxed flutter kick that I can maintain for longer distances.
