Returning to the pool!
At last swimming in the pool returns for our UK athletes! Here Coach Alan follows on from Coach Kevin’s article on returning to swimming and writes about how this is an excellent opportunity to ingrain some excellent habits that could see you swimming faster than pre-pandemic.
Thumbs up for a return to the pool!
In this article, I am going to focus on what your first week in the pool should consist of and, as part of it, offer a free four-week training plan (Code - TTHSwim) for your first four weeks. First, I would like us all to take a step back to gain some perspective. Dry-land swimming is not swimming. Therefore, nobody, except those with personal pool access, is in good swimming shape. We should assume we are all beginners again. This means that we need to return to the pool with some humble expectations and humility – we should not compare our first swims to our previous PBs. With this in mind, our aim over the next few weeks is not to ‘train’ our swimming but to ‘re-learn’ how to swim. So what does re-learning how to swim look like?
(Use the code TTHSwim)
To start with, it doesn’t look like a typical pool session: swimming three, four or five times a week for one hour each session covering between 3km and 15km in total. It would be straightforward to start to compare metrics and achieved distance and time. Instead, I would encourage you to compare the quality of your mechanics and muscle memory that make up the process of swimming rather than the outcome of your sessions in terms of the sum quantity of the work done.
Above all, do not look at the clock, do not wear a watch and do not start to compare to anything until you have completed at least four to six weeks of consistent (three times a week) swimming.
With this in mind, it may be that your local pool offers ‘x’ time slot likely between 45min and 60min. You do not need to use all of it! It is far better to get out early and ensure that the work is of consistently high quality. That quality can then be picked up ‘cleanly’ in your next swim with no unnecessary fatigue. Remember you are re-learning how to swim; you aren’t ‘training’ but instead are preparing to train. So give it 16 sessions before starting to think about ‘training’.
To re-learn how to swim in those 16 sessions, I would encourage you all to focus on the following aspects of your swimming performance;
Mobilisation
Visualisation
Activation
Patience
When we get into the water for that first session, we need to be gentle to give our muscles a chance to fire correctly. The realist in me knows that everyone reading this will likely jump in and thrash the first few lengths through sheer enthusiasm reference our speed compared to Michael Phelps, before realising perhaps we weren’t as fish-like as we first thought! I honestly can’t see sense in the fun police ruining this bit. So my message here will be to jump in, have fun for the first 25m but stop at the other end and then re-focus (okay, maybe two lengths) and SLOW DOWN! Remember, our aim is to re-learn not to instantly compare ourselves with former glories; doing so would really be a waste of time as we all know the answer before we start.
Body position
Swimming comes down to two things: drag vs propulsion. Body position is the most basic building block of swimming performance and the one you should focus on first. Holding yourself long, tall and taut in the water enables you to assume a canoe-like position that cuts through the water, minimising drag.
Generally, as swimmers progress over the course of 25, 33 or 50m, their form disintegrates as they gradually lose the momentum they had initially post push off and they begin to struggle and practice poor form. This leads to compensation movements and muscle patterns that we just don’t want to learn as we are effectively bodging our swimming just to get to the other, arbitrary, end. If it is an option for you, don’t be afraid to swim widths instead of lengths or choose a shorter section of the pool to practice in. (If at this stage you are thinking about “what about counting the distance and times etc.?” – you have missed the point here!). A great way to practice these fundamentals is by working over only 5 - 15m using the wall to gather speed easily and the shorter distance to remove the need to breathe. The following exercises could be completed before entering a lane, before the warm-up for those who want to simplify part of the plan.
Push and Glide streamline on the front - stretch from mid-thigh to upper chest and engage so that you are slightly bracing your body into a taut position.
Push and Glide on the front with a taut small light kick from the hip (inside the canoe outline) - squeeze those glutes and lower abdominals to control your pelvis.
Single Arm Extended Kicking
Many swimming philosophies start from the basis of a sidekick position. (It is crucial to rotate an appropriate amount for your flexibility to execute this practice correctly. Less flexible equals less rotation. Note within the video below I would advise the swimmer to rotate a little less and place their rear hand ‘in their pocket’) Within Swim Smooth’s system of types, for example, sidekick returns again and again as a practice for almost all types. Why? Because it is the basic building block for good swimming, Total Immersion focuses on switching from the right side streamline to the left side streamline. You can read right side kick to left side kick there, which reaffirms this basic building block point. Therefore, it will be your second focus using tautness to hold your body balanced and aligned before then switching from left to right using the whole torso from mid-thigh to upper chest, back and shoulder to turn those paddles or arms as they are otherwise known.
Master the basics before rushing for propulsion and pace
Once we start to move along the pool's length in full stroke, we must slow down and park the propulsion element for now. In doing so, you can focus on maintaining your torso's tautness but move your arms in a relaxed manner to move them through the correct path without any undue physical pressure. The position, posture, the maintenance of this posture and the rotation of the whole torso as one unit allow the arms to function correctly. But all too often, swimmers are distracted by the need to focus on the arm’s movement. Instead, I would encourage you to quiet this part of the equation and focus on the body. By going slowly, you will allow the body to dictate the drive of the stroke. If you can then place those levers in the correct position and push the water back powerfully whilst maintaining control of the body, you will swim fast, but as I said, you should wait for 16 sessions for this point. As soon as we look at the pace clock or our watches, a little pressure creeps in, and it is for this reason I urge you to learn and develop from what you can feel, explore and think rather than what you can discern from a graph or numbers.
Visualise
On top of all of that, adding in visualisation can be really helpful to accelerate our familiarity and development. A quick search online will find some videos of some perfect swimmers – do not watch these unless you are near perfect yourself. Instead, try to find a video with all the major big components of the stroke right, specifically for triathlon. I’d suggest searching for Josh Amberger; yes, he has led the swim out at Kona, no his technique doesn’t look quite like you might expect, but I’d ask which bits do?
Return to swim principles
Patience, hurrying slowly and laying a strong foundation with a large number of short-distance high-quality repetitions will help you not only build a solid technical foundation but a solid physical foundation. In doing so, you will also reduce the risk of injury and gently introduce what for some may be an increase in overall training load. I’d finish by saying don’t forget to consider your overall volume. If you are pushing hard currently with cycling and running, you made need to redistribute the load from these other disciplines.
Don’t forget to treat yourself to a nice new costume or trunks and a pair of goggles! A smile and enthusiasm always help too!
Alan has worked with Tri Training Harder since 2014. During this time working with a wide spectrum of athletes from beginner, to youth and junior elite athletes through to 70.3 and Ironman AG winners and Ironman Kona Qualifiers.
An active Triathlon coach since 2007 Alan has been fortunate enough to work with athletes, peers and support staff who have continutally challenged him to evolve and develop. Building on a solid foundation in swimming teaching, Alan has specifically developed swimming coaching experience having worked in High Performance Swimming environments. Alan's other passion is all things fast on a bicycle!
Since 2015 Alan has worked in conjunction with the other Tri Training Harder Coaches to significantly develop collective coaching practice both on camp and online.
Visit Alan's
Coach profile
We’re here to help
Tri Training Harder are one of the leading Triathlon coaching providers in the UK, using our wealth of experience to unite scientific and technological research with already well-established and successful best practices, to create a formula for triathlon and endurance coaching that works.
The result is an honest, dynamic, yet simple new way of constructing an athlete’s training to allow them to reach their potential.
If you’re planning your next season, just starting out in the sport or are looking for extra guidance at the very top end of the field, we are here to help, and our coaches would be delighted to hear from you. You can contact us via the website, and one of the team will be in touch.