How I Learned to Stop Whining and Love the Swim
Here's a timeline of my swimming progressions. A lot of triathletes have a similar experience.
- November 2005. Take a swim lesson and swim my first 25-yard length. Think I will die. I have to swim 40 of these for a sprint triathlon?!?!?!
- January 2006. Swim my first continuous 1000 yards. Buy a pair of jammers.
- Summer 2006. My swim time is middle-of-the-pack. "That's okay, I'll just 'make up' time on the bike."
- Fall 2006. Attend Masters swim sessions. Hear this from the coach: "Uhhm, Brian, you swim like, well...a barge. But we can work on that."
- Winter 2006/2007. Do two hard Masters swim a week, learn a lot of basic stroke techniques, and gain a lot of swim fitness. Struggle in the water.
- Summer 2007. My race swim times don't improve much from the previous year, but I leave the water with much fresher legs. "I'm okay with my middle-of-the-pack swim time because I love passing collegiate swimmers on the bike."
- Fall 2007. Spend a couple of weeks in the Caribbean and think I'd become a good swimmer if I could swim in the ocean every day.
- Winter 2007/2008. Drop out of Masters swim and spend a few months teaching myself the Total Immersion drills. Finally start to feel somewhat smooth in the water.
- Summer 2008. My race swim times get a little faster, but I've learned to swim almost completely without my legs (especially with a wetsuit). This has huge benefits for my bike and run. Maintain a love/hate relationship with swimming.
- Fall 2008. Move to San Diego, fall in love with swimming in the ocean. Become very comfortable in rough water and longer distances.
- Winter 2008/2009. Cold ocean temperatures force me into the pool. I feel frustrated because my times have plateaued.
- Spring 2009. Realize that my bike and run splits are now fast enough that my wretched swim times are having a significant effect on my overall finish position.
- Ten Day Ago. Overhear that Rachel, one of the fastest ocean swimmers in San Diego, is offering swim lessons. Schedule an appointment with her on the spot.
- Today. Having now taken two one-hour individual sessions with Rachel, I love, love, love to swim. It's easier, I'm faster, and I feel graceful in the water.
Isn't Masters Instruction Good Enough?
In my and a lot of of other people's experience, Masters sessions are great for learning basic stroke techniques, and for vastly improving your swim fitness. I've had two Masters coaches who taught me a lot. But a Masters coach is likely trying to focus on 10-20 other swimmers, and can't really devote a lot of individual time to you. Plus, there's only so much about your stroke that can be seen from on deck.
What About a Swim Clinic?
I put swim clinics in a similar category as Masters. They're probably fine for someone in their first year of swimming. They're really good for basic stroke corrections, but generally don't offer a whole lot of one-on-one time. Plus there's no ability to learn something new, and then get feedback on how well you've learned it. Bad habits are hard to break...
Here's What I Love About My Coach
- It's a one-on-one session. I have her complete attention, and I can ask detailed questions without feeling like I'm wasting other students' time.
- She swims in the water with me, and gets an up-close underwater view of my stroke.
- She gives me very detailed instruction on every part of my stroke. From the position of my hands, rotation of my hips, motion of my legs, and angle of my elbow.
It Seemed Like Nothing Revolutionary
After our first session, Rachel left thinking that she hadn't offered me much. She had said my stroke was fundamentally sound, but tweaked a few things. Most of these were a product of the exaggerated side-swimming in the Total Immersion drills--I was still doing the exaggerated motion during actual swimming. My biggest problem was over-rotating at the shoulders--which set in motion a whole other set of problems.
Other things she told me:
- Snap my hips instead of letting them roll along behind my torso.
- Apply power from my core.
- Keep my hands shoulder length apart (instead of on my centerline).
- Bend my elbows a little more.
- Point my elbows out, not down.
- After my lead hand enters water, surf it along close to the surface instead of diving it down.
- When breathing, keep my head in line with my torso.
- Change the angle of my pulling hand throughout the stroke.
- Kick from the hips/quads, not from the knees.
Again, none of these were major changes--most of them minor adjustments of an inch or two. I still haven't pieced them all together yet, but even now the cumulative effect has been immense. My swim fitness is fairly low right now--especially in speed (I've been doing a lot of 1-mile ocean swims at a fairly easy pace). But just for fun I tried a couple of 50 yard sprints. I came in at 39 seconds--which is 6 seconds faster than when I had last tried that a few weeks ago. And even a couple of seconds faster than when I was doing a lot of pool speed work in the spring.
Most importantly, I feel fast, powerful, and smooth. I'll keep you posted on progress...
