So, Part II

What is it about swimming that raises a primordial fear in most people contemplating a triathlon? Here we are living on the Space Coast virtually surrounded by water and still I continually hear "ahhhh swimming sucks", "I can't swim because ______" (you fill in the blank), or "I don't want to be eaten by some big hairy, prehistoric creature with big teeth" (o.k. I can vote for that or for at least baby teeth), etc.

Well, first lets debunk some myths about swimming. The most common being, "I can't swim because I don't have enough body fat and I sink." My answer is when have you seen a competitive swimmer carrying around lots of body fat or how many fat fish do you know? Another myth is "I can apply run training principles to swimming." Sorry, nope! And one of my favorites, "the swim in a triathlon is so short compared to the bike and run portion that I can make up for my poor swimming on the bike or the run." Well, this is, or I should say, was partially true.

Years ago most triathletes had at least one weak sport. If you came from a running or cycling background it was generally swimming; and yes you could make up the time lost in swimming on the bike or the run. Nowadays, most competitive triathletes have become accomplished in all three sports and are constantly working on any weaknesses. There is a saying in triathlon that 'you can lose a race with a poor swim but you can't win one with a great swim.'

For what its worth, I started triathlon as a middle of the pack swimmer making up the lost time on the bike and the run. For years I didn't progress in swimming until I realized that if I was going to get better in the sport I had to improve my swimming. I spent an off season really focused on swim improvement and by the time the competitive season rolled around again, I was swimming at or near the top of my age group. Funny how that works.

One important point I failed to mention in Part One of this series is that Triathlon is a sport unto itself. Yes, it is comprised of swim, bike, and run. However the training is geared toward three sports and not training for each individually as you would if you were 'only' swimming, cycling or running. As an example, a competitive swimmer would normally swim six or seven days a week and swim upwards of 10,000 to 15,000 yards/meters each day - enough to make a grown man puke. A triathlete will normally swim three or four days a week and anywhere from 1500-3500/workout; depending on the distance he/she was training for.

From a technique standpoint, swimming is the most difficult of the three sports. Think about it for a second, in order to get through a high-drag medium such as water, you have to be efficient. Consider the difference of swimming wearing a pair of baggies as opposed to swimming naked (now there's a scary thought). Naked wins every time - because of less drag of course!

In order to swim efficiently you must develop good technique before you can even hope to improve. There are several ways to develop good technique. First and foremost is to have an instructor/coach help you develop good stroke mechanics.

Having a swim coach on the pool deck monitoring your stroke technique is by far the best way to improve your overall swimming performance. Unfortunately, not all of us have access to a swim coach. So we are forced to read books, watch videos, ask questions, and hope that improvement will follow. These alternatives to a coach will provide, among other things, drills to improve your stroke mechanics. If you learn these basic drills, and they are simple, and incorporate them into your swim training, you will improve.

OK, you don't want to do a bunch of reading or become a coach potato and watch videos, you want a real person to help you. Brevard County has several options:

Cocoa Beach Pool: One of the best pools in the area is managed by Eric McDonald. Eric is an ex-collegiate swim coach and has helped a number of local triathletes to improve their swim technique.

Brevard Community College Pool: Coach John Hughes has swim programs for new swimmers and to help competitive swimmers.

Health First Healthplex Merritt Island: They recently hired a swim instructor to provide adult stroke improvement classes on most Tuesday evenings. You must be a member of the Healthplex to participate. Call first to ensure classes are available the nights you are interested.

Indian Harbor Beach Pool: Home of the Space Coast Masters swim group. While they do not have an on deck coach there are several excellent swimmers who will help you improve. They will also try to convince you to join them in entering competitive swim meets. You must join U.S. Masters to participate and can pick up applications at the Sat. morning swim sessions. Early session begins at 7am and the later one at 9am.

Fitness Plus Suntree has a pool in their facility but you're pretty much on your own. Cocoa Beach, BCC, and IHB pools are outdoors but not to worry, they are heated and pretty comfortable even during the winter months. It's getting in and out of the water that's the problem. Thank goodness for hot showers in the locker rooms!

Next to utilizing a personal coach, I recommend joining a Masters' swim program. Your technique and endurance will improve, your times will come down and you will really begin to become happy with your swimming. Masters' programs also provide a wonderful team/friendship atmosphere. The camaraderie is excellent. Yes, you will run into some arrogant swimmers who love to beat up on runners and triathletes in the pool. But, in general, most swimmers in a Masters swim program will be friendly and happy to have you join. (You can always challenge those snooty, big guys to a run!)

Swim training is pretty straightforward and generally consists of a warm-up, some drills to maintain technique, a "main set" (read intervals), and a cool-down.

Once you have developed a reasonable technique you want to insure that you don't fall into the trap of developing bad habits. To make sure this doesn't happen, you should make a habit of doing sets of stroke drills during every swim workout to make sure that your stroke remains "grooved". Some of the recommended drills include:

Swim one length one arm only, return using the other arm. This will also be an opportunity to learn to breathe on both sides. Don't forget to breathe and kick!

Catch-up means to touch your hand outstretched in front of you before you pull..

Dragging finger tips or Ripple means dragging your fingers through the water close to your body, keeping your elbows directly above your hand.

Fist swimming is just that, sensing the leverage your arms get without the use of your hands

Because swimming, unlike running, is an almost non-weight bearing sport, you can do intervals every time you swim without too much fear of injury. There is only one way to increase your speed. You must break the distance into smaller segments that can be swum faster - sometimes much faster - than your race distance pace. This is the meat and potatoes of all swim training. Swim intervals are done with very short or medium rest periods. Here are a few sets that are found to be effective for sprint distance triathlons:

500 yards/meters broken 100's: 4x25 yards/meters on :30 seconds, repeat 4 times with thirty seconds between each 4.

1000 pyramid: 2x25 on :30; 2x50 on :60, 2x100 on 2:, 2x150 on 3:, and back down.

Race distance ÷ 100: If, for example, you plan to do an Olympic distance swim (1500 meters) 15X100 with very short rests.

So far all the above swimming is accomplished in the pool. Now as we all know that most triathlon swims are done in the open water. So what gives? Yes, it's a good idea to do some open water swimming to learn how to navigate without having a black line on the bottom of the pool to follow and to learn how to deal with a "chop" or breaking waves. Do your open water swimming on a calm day, with some friends or someone to accompany you in a boat/surfboard (lawyers take note, usual disclaimer) so you don't have to worry about that big tooth hairy whatchamacalit I mentioned earlier. About a month before tri-season I generally try to do a short open water swim every other week to get reacquainted with the techniques needed for the open water. Open water swimming is not a must do but it does help to keep you in the comfort zone.

Well, that's it for the swim leg. If you're not already snoozing you may want to give the following web sites a look for general and specific triathlon information.

Train safe.