Triathletes! Improve your Swimming

By Brent E. Bentrim, a MapMyTri User

As featured in the August 2007 Newsletter

Last month, an interesting United States Masters Swimming Discussion Forum thread was posted complaining of “Masters Swimming Overrun by Triathletes.” As I read through the posts, it struck me, as a former age group and collegiate swimmer, that both the “swimmers” and “triathletes” held views that were based upon an incorrect notion that swimming workouts for a triathlon are different than swimming for USMS competition.

As far as I am concerned, the more, the merrier! However, in order to ease any friction that might be involved, I want to share some pool etiquette and training philosophies to assist my fellow triathletes in joining and obtaining the benefit of swimming with a local masters team. I believe the number one reason that swimmers dislike triathletes stems from the fact that pool space is at a premium. Unlike running or riding, where you can walk out your front door at your convenience and get in a workout, finding a pool and its designated lap swimming time is not as simple.

GROUP SWIMMING

When you arrive at your first Masters practice, go ahead and introduce yourself to the coach. He or she will likely be the only person not in a swimsuit, and s/he will spend a few minutes asking about your swimming background and what you want to accomplish and then point you to the correct lane and let you know what to do. If there is not a coach but instead a written workout a group is doing together, get in an outside lane. Pool etiquette dictates the inside lanes are for the faster swimmers, with the outside lanes reserved for the slower. Yes, the wall lanes are not fun, but every swimmer has done their time in the “gutter lane” and these lanes provide a great opportunity for a coach to stand directly over you and better understand how to correct your stroke.

The next consideration in group swimming is that swimmers circle swim -- they keep the black line down the middle of the pool to their left side. In order for this to work, you need to keep three things in mind. First, there is typically a 5 to 10 second interval between swimmers (5 in a short course pool, 10 in a long course pool) as sets begin. Secondly you must navigate the turns at the walls. While you will find that eventually learning to flip turn is the easiest manner to swim laps, the most critical element of approaching a wall is to cross to the left side of the lane right before you get to the wall. That way you are already pushing off on the correct side of the lane and not into the person behind you. Finally, when stopping, do one of two things – 1) If you are stopping to rest at a point different from those sharing the lane, squeeze into the far right corner so the people who are continuing to swim can easily access the left side of the lane for turns or 2) If you are on an interval with the rest of the group, leave the right side of the lane open for those behind you to get to the wall.

BENEFITS

Now that you understand the dynamics of lane sharing, let discuss the benefits of joining a Masters team. Swimming involves technical skills unlike those used in most other sports. Most triathletes that I coach are surprised to learn that 80% to 90% of your propulsion in the water initiates from your hips. Because of this, your body position in the water is much more important than what your arms or legs are doing.

A good coach is going to spend a great deal of time with the swimmers in the gutter lanes on drills to assist them in obtaining the muscle memory required to hold their body in a proper position in the water. It is normal that competitive people will get anxious about not getting in laps or breathing heavy, but, without this critical foundation, you will never improve your swimming. Relax and focus on the drill at hand.

Once you learn to move with efficiency in the water, you can now begin to focus on the task at hand, specific workouts for your triathlon event. This does not mean that you will get in and just swim laps because swimming is much more like track workouts than marathon training. Take the time to work not only the interval at hand, but also to learn the various other strokes. Doing IM or butterfly may not be your cup of tea, but these strokes will balance your overall workout to assist you in avoiding injuries and compliment your ability to transition through each stage of a triathlon.

Too often articles written by Tri-Coaches for hire operate on the assumption that all swimming workouts are designed for a single race, such as the 200 IM or 100 Fly and therefore are worthless to a triathlete. The reality is that swimmers are trained for several events daily (many times twice for prelims and finals) over the course of 3 to 4 days.

To illustrate, imagine you are to participate in a “run meet” next weekend. On Friday, you will compete in the individual marathon and 10K relay. For Saturday, your events will be the individual 5K and 10Ks, followed by the individual marathon and 5K relay on Sunday. As an above average runner, you feel confident that you will qualify for the finals each day out of your preliminary heat, and, thus, will be racing each event twice. Over the course of a day, you will have several races mixed in with transitional warm-ups and warm-downs each requiring the ability to call on your body to deliver speed or endurance when required. Sound familiar?
The ability to prepare for a meet, rather than a single swim is the #1 benefit of swim programs and also the reason that swimmers are typically some of the most fit athletes. Not only will you be best-prepared via stroke and drill instruction for the swim portion of your triathlon, you will also incorporate aerobic and anaerobic conditioning designed to allow for you to race the entire triathlon.

I hope that more triathletes join Masters Swim clubs across the nation because such a demand might lead to greater pool space and availability. As long as you are willing to come with the mindset to have fun and learn a new skill, swimming can be an enjoyable exercise for years on end.

To find a local Masters Swim Club in your area, visit http://www.usms.org/placswim.