I’ve watched my kids grow up on a swim team, and other kids with them. There are kids that are naturally better, but all the kids that stuck with it, get it as far as swim form and are good. They might not want to suffer as much as others because of this or that, but they all swim great. Genetics makes it easier, but isn’t a limiter for most in my example.
I was thinking the same thing. We see top level athletes spending years doing whatever Aquabears is telling them to do but these athletes are seeing no gains. Either there is nothing they can do to improve or they are not doing what needs to be done to improve.
Long did a max effort 5:45 @ 500 SCY in that recent video of his. Laidlow can probably go sub 4:45 @ 500 SCY. The first 5min of these races determines the swim packs.
It might take being in the pool 10 times per week and training like a college 200m freestyler, but he needs a faster top speed.
and perhaps the kids that didn’t stick with it just didn’t have the innate genetic talents to allow them to keep up and their frustration caused them to quit.
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I agree with that 1:1 approach.
I’m from a year round swim background, and I just have not seen adult onset swimmers really make amazing improvements by simply swimming more and faster.
My take is that 2x per week, need a 4-6k swim with someone on deck (in person or virtually) providing nonstop video feedback and providing verbal instruction. I once saw a college team have a TiVo system and flat screen at the end of the pool paired with underwater cameras and every 50m, the swimmer would stop, quickly review video and get back at it. short breaks with non stop feedback.
I think too many onset swimmers just try to apply a puritan work ethic to something that is skill based, thinking that grit will turn a square stone round. The grit needs to be applied to the discipline of skill acquisition. Learning a skill is so much more difficult that putting one’s head down and pounding out volume and intensity.
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Totally agree @marcag
The “hard” for Sam here is being pretty much on top of the world, Collins Cup, etc. Then suddenly you have like 15 younger kids, who beat you up (and take your money) in all 3 sports… and then Alistair 
This is not about swimming IMO…
I think it is about swimming. Sam had a YouTube video a while back at the pool where he was struggling to hit his target pace. His swim partners ribbed him a bit, and then later when he was alone in the locker room he choked up talking about how hard it is to work on his swimming and not get results. It wasn’t as bad as this interview but the frustration and emotion were on display.
Maybe he could live with the weaker swim before when he’d usually catch the front of the pack on the later legs. Now that the talent is so high and he can’t get to the front it’s just that much harder emotionally. It would suck to come into an empty T1, bike your ass off, and not make up much ground knowing the guys ahead of you are possibly working together.
I hope he figures it out. He doesn’t have to be great, just good enough to hang on to a pack and not do the whole thing solo.
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The younger kids are beating him up and taking his money because of the swim. So even if its not directly because of the swim, it is because of the swim.
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He needs to commit to a full 12 months of swim focused coaching 6 days a week and let the bike/run fall a bit. Accept that he needs to be taught like a child that is learning to swim. He doesn’t need to jump into a high school swim club/meet like Lionel tried, he needs to jump into a beginners swim club and learn the basics of body position, catch, pull, kick, timing, etc… then slowly progress when the coach says so.
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To my knowledge that is what Peter Reid did. He swam as a 25 year old emerging pro with the 12 year old age group squad until he could keep up with them and then he got good enough to come out in the pack just behind Faris. If you listen to Peter he says that he did nothing special…just a ton of hours until his shoulder got looser, his hips less tight, his ankles more limber. He kind of explains it from morphing his body from biker to a swimmer. And for context Peter was a downhill skier in his youth with aspirations of making national team and took up biking in the summer because the national team guys used to ride. Kind of sounds like a similar background to Sam minus Sam playing football.
I would say that generally the body capabilities of a football player (I believe Sam used to play as a lineman too) and swimming are mutually exclusive. Lineman is the ulitmate closed chain exercise (feet planted in ground, you apply force with core and upper body)…swimming is ultimate open chain…no connection from feet to a stable platform and trying to apply force with core and upper body. It’s literally the extreme opposite end of wiring. Even if Sam gets his body morphed, it may be hard. I remember teaching a hockey player friend of mine to skate ski and literally in 3 months he wsa local front pack and this guy could barely break 1:30 in an IM swim. Just zero shoulder mobility, and no spatial awareness without gravity coming thru his feat. (for context the guy was still a sub 5 hrs half IM guy in his 40s…just sucked in the water)
Wow. The retirement interview for McNamee really made me think about my whole approach to triathlon.
Great see Ali Brownlee on the podium finally, and after only one quality bike and two runs in the last five weeks…maybe a lesson in overtraining there…!
Best interview I’ve seen with Long, we’ll take honest emotion over bluster any day on this side of the pond anyway. He’s gained respect with that.
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He needs to train with a high quality swim team every day, PLUS have one on one coaching sessions. He needs to become a fast pool swimmer. If he can’t break 18 minutes in a 1500m pool swim he should forget about lining about on the T100 start line next year. At least 30k a week, but more likely 40-50k. This needs to be done for at least 6 months. At the same time, he needs to put the run and bike on the shelf. Do 50% volume/Intensity. Training hard in these disciplines inhibits his ability to improve his swim. We see young age group swimmers make huge leaps in their performances over short periods of time (ie 1-2 years). Almost invariably they are training a lot and training hard, alongside having great coaches on the deck.
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I agree with the major intervention on the swim. But it’s easier said than done obviously. I think the idea of just grinding out huge mileage weeks for months on end would be less effective if he doesn’t have a one on one artist of a coach who is right there on deck.
But let’s not forget he still ended up 6th overall. Right behind Alistair. 10 spaces ahead of Aaron Royle. He’s only so hard on himself because he has world class potential and is falling short. Are Royal or Noodt breaking down in tears because they don’t feel good enough?
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On paper yes, in reality we don’t know. The whole “strongest legs in triathlon” thingy is good for social media, but at the top of the sport, doesn’t mean much, i.e. it is not how well you bike and run after swimming 2k at ~1:27/100 m pace, is how well you bike and run after swimming 2k at ~1:12/100 m pace with a starting 200-300 m at ~1:05/100 m pace.
I do think he needs to invest a ton of time in his swim, let the bike and run fitness go for a bit and really address the swimming. Obviously easier than done, he also has to race to make $$ and perhaps committing to a 6 month training camp for a return of investment way down the road might not be financially feasible.
THIS!
He doesn’t need a D1 coach
He needs a GREAT middle school/high school level coach who will get in the water with him.
Deconstruct his stroke starting with proper side kicking. As well as being able rolling from back to front to the right then the left then the left then the right using no kick
When he can do this flawlessly, then and only then, progress on from there. Probably take 6 practices a week for at least a month just for this phase.
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I have the same advice for Sam as I did for Lionel. He doesnt need(or should) drop everything for a year or whatever and just learn to swim fast, he can make strides beginning right now and focusing on it through the winter here. And yes he needs to dial back cycling and running to a low level maintain level, one that he can push off from to top form in a month or two…
And like my advice to Lionel, he doesnt need to swim like Vincent Luis, or even Magnus. He just needs to improve enough to be the last guy in the line, not the last guy in the lake all alone. He needs to be on someones feet, anyone really and that is just getting a few seconds a 100 faster. Which is entirely doable in a short amount of time with the proper coach and setting.You all have to keep in mind that he is also losing 3 to 4+ seconds a 100 by swimming alone in all these races. So dropping a few will net him many more, and coming out of the water 2 minutes back now gets him into the race much, much earlier.
Which should shed some of this mental anguish he displayed in that interview, and get him to a healthy race state before the gun goes off each time…
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No way. Have you watched his non wetsuit swims during a race? Looks like a kid that never learned to swim. Heavy legs, feet pointed down, slow turn over, etc… he needs swim help from the beginning stages. He needs way more than “winter focus”.
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18 minutes in a long course pool is going 1:12 per 100. reckon he needs to be going that good?
Yes - I think you missed my argument here.
It is obvious, that if you can´t swim with the best, you can´ win a triathlon race …
But when you further struggle to bike with the best, and run with the best… well then, it is not easy, is it?
When Sam Long says “It´s just so hard”, he is talking (consiously or not) about his downfall from the top to the bottom…
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A tougher conversation is that I think Sam regrets some of his mistakes in his personal/family life and the household he’s returning too. No one has that reaction that is solid across the board.
You are the worst contributor on this forum.
My impression is it’s the exact opposite problem for Sam, he loves his family so much he’s even more disappointed in himself to not perform to provide for his family.
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