MELBOURNE | SYDNEY | BRISBANE | ADELAIDE | PERTH Book at EffortlessSwimming . com
PURE PERFORMANCE | SWIM
For the past 11 years I ’ ve worked with over 1,000 swimmers and triathletes of all abilities . With athletes new to the sport , I see the same mistakes being made again and again when it comes to their workouts which are holding them back from swimming faster and improving their speed .
1 . Long continuous swimming Unlike most run and ride sessions , your swim workouts shouldn ’ t be one continuous workout without stopping . Attend any squad and you ’ ll notice the workouts are often broken down into warm up , main set and cool down . The main set is usually a mix of different distances and efforts from 50m to 400m at a time . For athletes newer to the sport I usually give them shorter distance reps of 50m to 100m at a time - like 30 x 50m instead of 3 x 500m . Why ? Form . Maintaining speed over the course of a race involves holding good form and technique . Even after 100m of swimming this can start to deteriorate for beginner swimmers , so by breaking a set up into shorter distances with rest in between allows you to recover , reset and hold good technique for the next lap . It ’ s not to say you should avoid long continuous swims at all costs , they can be quite useful for building strength and confidence in long distance athletes but for the majority of people , shorter reps with rest are better .
3 . Training like a pool swimmer If you ’ re training to race in the open water , you might want to consider adjusting some of your swimming towards preparing yourself for open water swimming . In our coaching we refer to open water skills as the ‘ fifth stroke ’, because sighting , navigation and swimming in choppy conditions can make swimming feel like a completely different sport in the beginning .
Your swim stroke might be a little ‘ uglier ’ or ‘ choppier ’ when you change from the pool to the open water , and this isn ’ t a bad thing . A more assertive entry , split timing in your stroke and slightly wider and higher recovery can help many triathletes when they ’ re in a race .
To try and emulate Sun Yang ’ s ( Chinese Olympic Swimmer ) long and efficient stroke in the open water may not work , so don ’ t be afraid to try something different . We advise many of our athletes to increase their stroke by a few extra strokes per minute compared to when they swim in the ocean and this is easier to do with a wetsuit on , when your body is sitting higher in the water .
Making the most of your workouts Your swim workouts don ’ t need to be complicated , and by avoiding the three most common mistakes we see being made by triathletes in their pool training you can start to swim faster and enjoy your sessions a lot more .
2 . The Grey Zone Growing up I would always go as hard as I could in every set , regardless of what the intended effort was supposed to be . I had the mindset of ‘ the harder I work the better I ’ ll get ’. This is true to some extent , but it also worked against me . I was spending too much time training in the ‘ grey zone ’. This is what I refer to as the training zone where you aren ’ t going easy enough to allow recovery , but not going fast enough to get any real benefit . You might have experienced this when you feel like you only have one pace without the ability to go faster when needed .
The cure for this is to do your easy work easy and your fast work fast . This can take a lot of discipline , especially if you ’ re feeling good and you want to go harder . But holding yourself back when doing an easy recovery or aerobic swim will keep you in the right heart rate zone to get the benefit from the session .
FREESTYLE STROKE CORRECTION CLINICS
with Underwater Filming and Video Analysis
MELBOURNE | SYDNEY | BRISBANE | ADELAIDE | PERTH Book at EffortlessSwimming . com
MULTISPORT MAGAZINE | 29