Advice on being a faster swimmer?

[Deleted]

Background- I technically learned how to swim last year to complete triathlons. I learned with a trainer at my gym. Last year I did 4 with one of them being an Olympic distance.

I want to do a half iron distance but logistically it won't work out this year, so I'll do it for next year. My main concern is that I'm sloooow in that I'm nervous I wouldn't make the cut off time for the 1.2 miles.

I am going to ask my tri team for advance and over the next few months my schedule should allow me to go to their swim workouts to get an in-person analysis, but in the meantime, any particular tips?

Right now (after not swimming for a few months) I seem to average about 3:15/100m and I think that was a consistent pace for me when I was swimming 3x per week up to 1600m at a time. Even when I feel like I'm "sprinting" I'm never really below 3:00/100m. And at my supposed sprinting pace there's no way I could sustain that for more than a couple hundered meters. Thoughts?

[al320]

Form is by far the most important thing woth swimming. If you can swing it, have a stroke analysis done, or a private lesson or too. Having someone watching you and correcting your form will significantly help your speed.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Form is (to some extent) the best way to speed up, as well as putting in the effort to actually go to the pool often enough to develop that muscle memory. Don't be the triathlete that blows off their swim practice for lack of time. That does not pay off in the long run.

If you're ever in NorCal, look me up - I'll help you. Or hey, get a video and post it to me, I'll happily do a video analysis.

What's your (ETA: open water) mile time and what's the cutoff on your half? (In other words, how close are you?)

[puppylove64]

I agree with others, form is the most important thing. After you are sure that you have good form, you can try practicing with resistance. Try wearing two swimsuits. If the top layer is old and stretched out, that adds drag. You can also use pull bouys and hand paddles to train.

[Deleted]

Feb 27, 2018 19:46:50 GMT -5 al320 said:

Form is by far the most important thing woth swimming. If you can swing it, have a stroke analysis done, or a private lesson or too. Having someone watching you and correcting your form will significantly help your speed.

My tri team is having an underwater film analysis of our swims, but unfortunately I'm running a half marathon that morning, boo. But I'll make it a priority for next month to get to one of our teams swim practices for better feedback, thanks!

[Deleted]

Feb 27, 2018 20:43:23 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

Form is (to some extent) the best way to speed up, as well as putting in the effort to actually go to the pool often enough to develop that muscle memory. Don't be the triathlete that blows off their swim practice for lack of time. That does not pay off in the long run.

If you're ever in NorCal, look me up - I'll help you. Or hey, get a video and post it to me, I'll happily do a video analysis.

What's your (ETA: open water) mile time and what's the cutoff on your half? (In other words, how close are you?)

Wow thanks so much for the offer! I might just take you up on that offer on top of the coach from my tri team. Wouldn't hurt to have 2 people's perspective.

So I just looked up my Olympic distance race time, my 1500m swim was clocked at 59:29. Some contributing factors- I had a minor freak out in the beginning after someone swam over me and hung on to a kayak for about a minute. I started way in the back to the right and all the turns were to the left. So that definitely added distance and time. But still, clearly I'm very slow

Half iron cut off time for 1.2 miles is 1:10.

Oh and I definitely don't blow off swimming! Now that it's training season I will def be swimming 2-3x per week. It's not realistic to do more than that though since some weeks I work 80+ hours. Thanks for the feedback!

[mrs.jacinthe]

Feb 27, 2018 21:03:57 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Feb 27, 2018 20:43:23 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

Form is (to some extent) the best way to speed up, as well as putting in the effort to actually go to the pool often enough to develop that muscle memory. Don't be the triathlete that blows off their swim practice for lack of time. That does not pay off in the long run.

If you're ever in NorCal, look me up - I'll help you. Or hey, get a video and post it to me, I'll happily do a video analysis.

What's your (ETA: open water) mile time and what's the cutoff on your half? (In other words, how close are you?)

Wow thanks so much for the offer! I might just take you up on that offer on top of the coach from my tri team. Wouldn't hurt to have 2 people's perspective.

So I just looked up my Olympic distance race time, my 1500m swim was clocked at 59:29. Some contributing factors- I had a minor freak out in the beginning after someone swam over me and hung on to a kayak for about a minute. I started way in the back to the right and all the turns were to the left. So that definitely added distance and time. But still, clearly I'm very slow

Half iron cut off time for 1.2 miles is 1:10.

Oh and I definitely don't blow off swimming! Now that it's training season I will def be swimming 2-3x per week. It's not realistic to do more than that though since some weeks I work 80+ hours. Thanks for the feedback!

Ok, so assuming nothing changes, right now you're going to miss cut off by about 10 minutes.  (There are ~1950 meters in a half iron swim)  Your previous swim was almost 4:00/100, so given your current pool speed, this is TOTALLY doable.  You only need a 3:30/100 to make the cutoff and you said you're cruising at 3:15/100 in the pool?  

How many sprint sets do you do in a workout?  (For example, 10x100 on 2:50)

[Deleted]

Feb 27, 2018 21:51:05 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

Feb 27, 2018 21:03:57 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Wow thanks so much for the offer! I might just take you up on that offer on top of the coach from my tri team. Wouldn't hurt to have 2 people's perspective.

So I just looked up my Olympic distance race time, my 1500m swim was clocked at 59:29. Some contributing factors- I had a minor freak out in the beginning after someone swam over me and hung on to a kayak for about a minute. I started way in the back to the right and all the turns were to the left. So that definitely added distance and time. But still, clearly I'm very slow

Half iron cut off time for 1.2 miles is 1:10.

Oh and I definitely don't blow off swimming! Now that it's training season I will def be swimming 2-3x per week. It's not realistic to do more than that though since some weeks I work 80+ hours. Thanks for the feedback!

Ok, so assuming nothing changes, right now you're going to miss cut off by about 10 minutes.  (There are ~1950 meters in a half iron swim)  Your previous swim was almost 4:00/100, so given your current pool speed, this is TOTALLY doable.  You only need a 3:30/100 to make the cutoff and you said you're cruising at 3:15/100 in the pool?  

How many sprint sets do you do in a workout?  (For example, 10x100 on 2:50)

Last year I was just focused on learning how to swim/my form and being able to complete at least a mile that I would typically just swim for an hour straight. I rarely ever did sprint workouts. My numbers in the pool have always been around 3:15 -3:30/100m. I vividly remember my first OWS practice, I was able to do 500m super easy in the pool...got in the OW and only made it about 150m before hanging on to the kayak. So cruising in the pool vs cruising in OW is definitely different/harder for me. 

I should probably work on doing sprint sets this year.
Thanks for your help!

[mrshandy]

As a fellow turtle, I can relate.

Swim lessons have done so much for my swimming. I wish I had taken them a year ago instead of just thinking if I swim more I would get better. I've been taking them since January and seen such an improvement.

I've done about 5 so far and will do one more in a month or so.

I do them at a swim box, which is like endless pool. We watch video of my swimming and working on various drills to improve certain aspects. I would do them every two weeks and work on drills in between each lesson. It worked really great. Some of the things that I've worked on include:

Keeping my head down
Kicking consistently through my breath
High elbows when pulling
Timing with my stroke

Fixing all of these has brought my average times down by 15-25 seconds/100 yards!

[moreace01]

I would also say swim lessons. Or some kind of group swim technique program. Lots of tri groups offer things like this. They will watch you and give you tips and drills to improve. They will also likely separate you by speed/experience so it's possibly less intimidating, but will still get you used to swimming with other people around you.

And OWS is just...really something to have to get used to. I'm still pretty panicky about it. Over time it gets better.

[arch01]

Form, form, form.

I am also happy to analyze from a video-there are so many little things that can help drastically. How is your breathing now? Do you feel like you are in a good rhythm? From the adults I have taught, I have found that once the breathing is regular and more relaxed, it helps other things naturally. Then you can work on some more of the fine tuning.

[Deleted]

Feb 28, 2018 12:30:49 GMT -5 arch01 said:

Form, form, form.

I am also happy to analyze from a video-there are so many little things that can help drastically. How is your breathing now? Do you feel like you are in a good rhythm? From the adults I have taught, I have found that once the breathing is regular and more relaxed, it helps other things naturally. Then you can work on some more of the fine tuning.

Thank you, I'll take you up on that offer
And yes I feel like my breathing is well-controlled, relaxed and a good rhythm.