Off-Season Training: Take Your Swim to the Next Level

Tri season is a long way away!  You don’t need to bike fast with snow on the ground.  The winter running races are fun, but they are not your focus.  So, if your swim needs work, seize the moment, now is the time! 

When I look at Minnesota’s very own David Thompson’s rise to the top of the pro triathlon scene in 2005, the first thing I notice is a vastly improved swim. David’s enhanced swim put him with athletes he usually had to chase on the bike. Now, with a stronger swim, he has more energy for the run.

A friend dared me to do my first triathlon in 1995 at the age of 21. I was a horrific swimmer, and the Lake Nokomis Triathlon was less than a week away! I barely had enough time to dust off my bike and see if I could safely swim 1200meters.  Out of all the athletes, I finished my first triathlon with the 2000^th fastest swim, 80^th fastest bike, and 50^th fastest run. 

After a quick analysis I decided that swimming was my weakness.  Determined to strengthen my weakness, I began splashing around at the U of M Aquatic Center.  If I went in the evenings I would end up swimming in a lane next to a swim team.  Eventually, the coach asked if I wanted to join them.  I accepted the offer, even though I was nervous to swim with a group.  A couple weeks later I was dragging myself out of the pool after 6000-meter workouts with the Twin Cities Swim Team.  I kept swimming at this intensity up until my first triathlon of the season, often hitting 25,000 meters in a week.  Although I didn’t really understand what fast swimming was, I had transformed my swimming into a strength.  In local triathlons that year I typically emerged out of the water inside the top ten.

I was fortunate to discover a formula that transformed my weakness into a strength.  In retrospect I realize that the formula was undivided attention and devotion to everything swim.  I treated the swim as if it were the only discipline in triathlon that mattered.  I began swimming as part of a competitive swim team.  I studied technique, sought coaching and swam a ton. 

If you want to improve your swim, I challenge you to try something similar to what improved mine.  Swimming as much as 25,000 meters a week might intimidate you, or may seem impossible to incorporate into a hectic daily schedule.  Here are some ways to make it work.

First, stop biking and running so much.  Let your previous strengths slide.  If they are truly strengths, you will have the ability to return to form when you need to. The Surgeon General recommends 30-60 minutes of exercise daily.  Now that you’re not biking or running, you can devote 6 hours of training a week to swimming!  Swimming this much is an acquired taste, but I can guarantee that if you adopt this approach and become a student of the swim stroke, you will make steady improvements that will astonish you.

Coach Jared’s suggested formula to make swimming your strength:

·        Get your stroke videotaped and analyzed by a good swim coach.  I can personally recommend several in the Twin Cites Area:  Jim Anderson - Twin Cities Swim Team, Scott Trips - Hopkins Masters, Michelle Carlson – TriEndurance/Life Time Fitness, Brett Lovaas – Foss Swim School, Dave Cameron – YMCA, John Shelp – TriEndurance.

·        Learn drills that will help your specific technique concerns.  Use your specific drills frequently until their purpose has delivered the desired effect on your swim stroke.  Revisit these drills often so bad habits don’t re-appear.

·        Think about swim concepts during your swim. For example, keep a high elbow during your catch, finish your stroke at the same time you finish your hip rotation, keep your kick narrow and within your streamlined and balanced body, etc. 

·        Slowly build into high volume.   Start with a little bit of easy swimming (1000-2000 yards/meters) and focus on form.  Over the course of a month progress to 5 or 6 swims a week with each swim lasting an hour or more.  If you swim with a Masters group and aren’t ready to handle the full workout, just get out the pool a little early until you have safely built up a tolerance to the volume.  Mention this intention to your coach.

·        Slowly build into intense swimming.  It is important that you gain a good feel for the water, strengthen your swim-specific muscles, and develop proper technique before you start doing lots of speed work. A good rule of thumb is to always focus on an aspect of your form while swimming fast.  For example, stay relaxed on your recovery, keep your cervical spine neutral and eyes down to keep your core effectively engaged, etc.

·        Improve feel by swimming often.  Swimming a little bit almost every day will do more for your swim performance than swimming large amounts a couple days a week. 

·        Join a swim group (Masters).  Having a coach available to provide stroke revisions and drills is a great resource.  Having others to swim with and keep up with can really enhance your swimming.  If you are diligent, you will find yourself moving up from lane 6 all the way to lane 2 or 3 before the end of the winter!

·        Monitor your progress with personal testing.  How fast can you swim 500 yards or meters?  This is a distance that requires pacing, a good deal of fitness to master, and reflects how you will swim at longer distances.  Do a 500 yard or meter time trial every 6-8 weeks or so to see if you are swimming faster.  Or jump in a swim meet to really amp it up!

·        Swim using “leave intervals.”  Instead of swimming 30 minutes straight, or trying to swim a mile every time you get in the pool, break your swim into “leave intervals.”  An example of a leave interval set would be as follows:  6x200 yards leaving every time 4 minutes comes around.  So, if you finish your 200 yards in 3:40 you will have 20 seconds to rest before you start your next 200 yards.  This is a great way to make a swim more interesting and ensure you are keeping a consistent pace.

·        Swim other strokes.  Butterfly is great for timing and force application.  Back stroke is great for balance and anchoring your pull.  Breast stroke can really help you improve your feel for the water and your catch.

·        Use flippers, paddles, or pull buoys to improve your stroke.  Not as a means to make an interval.

·        Start reading about swimming.  The most popular and well-marketed swim reading would have to be Terry Laughlin’s Total Immersion books, but I urge you to read on.  Explore Cecil Colwin’s “Break Through Swimming” or “Swimming Fastest” by Ernest W. Maglischo. 

Use these guidelines to build your high-volume swimming regimen and bring your swim to the next level!

Date modified: 10/19/2005