OK, I need to get Mrs. Vitus some help in the pool.
She’s in decent shape, but she’s slow. Like 2:30-3:00 per 100. Which pace she can keep up, it seems, just about as long as she wants. She doesn’t seem to be able to go much faster.
Before you start with the specific training suggestions for her, stop. I know. But remember that those suggestions will have to be relayed through me, and I’ve reached the husband-to-wife training advice limit already. I think it would be best to get outside assistance.
So, what I need to know is, what would you recommend for her- a TI seminar, or a swim coach?
Coach. The seminars are good, but for the amount of $$ it would probably be better to get some coaching every week or two rather than a one-shot seminar.
I think you get the most improvement for your money with a coach, particularyl at Masters Swim. I took TI and appreciate the concept they teach but got much more improvement from going to Masters. By the way, some Masters coaches use TI techniques (mine didn’t), so they aren’t mutually exclusive.
For anybody else, I’d recommend a coach. But, in your situation, a T1 seminar might steer her in the right direction with an “ah hah” in a quick amount of time (she’s pretty slow…). If you’re looking for radical improvement…it’s a nice start.
If you feel there is only hope/desire for incremental improvement…stick with a local coach or master swim class, and hope it’s not Fabio. ;o)
Assume she uses a coach once a week for 2 months. How much improvement is she likely to see? Does she need to continue seeing the coach longer than that? (I know it all depends on her progress, but generally)
How much faster is she likely to get at a TI seminar? How lasting is the improvement likely to be?
As a possible alternative, if you have a friend who is a strong swimmer ask him/her to help.
Is she ready for a coach? Would she commit to TI?
As for a coach, I’d select an age group coach. If you have a USAS team nearby they will usually take adults and she might enjoy swimming with the kids. I did it for a few months and it was a kick. Also, she will develop a huge dose of respect for the work those kids do. It is mind boggling to watch 8 year olds do 6-8K meter workouts in 2+ hours.
As a possible alternative, if you have a friend who is a strong swimmer ask him/her to help. Heck, I hardly got any friends, period. No strong swimmers, at least in this area.
Is she ready for a coach? Would she commit to TI? She’s a novice to athletics in general, so she’s not dogmatic about anything. She’s pretty open to any ideas, so long as she feels they work for her.
i’ve gone both routes. in my 2nd season of tri, i enlisted the services of a coach (one of the lifeguards at a local pool was certified. i forget to what level.) she corrected my body position, stroke, and gave me some drills to do. this made HUGE gains for my crappy swimming.
at the start of the '03/ '04 season (my fifth), i broke down my stroke completely using the TI technique. did nothing but drills for 2 months, 3 x 1 hour swims per week religiously. i ran into 2 guys at the pool who went to the TI clinic that same year and they helped me fine tune things a bit. using this approach, my times didn’t drop that much, but i was coming out of the swim MUCH fresher than before. that said, i’m now looking to new approaches to gain some speed.
i think the TI is a good foundation to build on, but it only goes so far. the TI clinic will surely show her how to swim more efficiently and with less effort, with the indirect benefit of more speed. a good coach, however, should also be able to do this and more. if you go with the coach, look for someone experienced in triathlon swimming, who knows what you need, vs. a “swimmer’s” coach, who’s better versed in teaching you how to swim very fast over short distances without worrying about biking and running afterwards.
Coach, for sure. TI is OK, but there are a lot of holes in the program, and NO WAY can you absorb and remember it all. A good coach can bring her along at her best learning pace, and won’t bury her with too much too soon. It sounds like she needs a lot of refinement and only a coach can give that kind of personal attention.
