Couch to Ironman Series: Swimming

How do you go from being unable to swim a lap, not owning a bike, and a longest run of 5 miles to completing twelve 70.3’s, three full Ironman races, and two 70.3 world championship qualifications?

Today we will focus on the swimming piece of the question.  My wife who spent 2 years talking me into triathlon and 10 years wishing she hadn’t after I became obsessed taught me the very basics to get started and then I got great coaching over many years to climb my age group.  What I learned quickly is that swimming is almost all technique and because of that anyone can put in the work to become a very good swimmer.  I went through the process of building my stroke from nothing and now I spend a lot of time helping other athletes with the same journey.  With the use of video technology and Garmin data we can diagnose each technique issue and build drills to fix it over time and reps.  Each time we fix a technique problem swimming gets easier and you get faster and more confident.

Here is how it works.  We work on the technique in a systematic way that results in a continuously improving stroke.  We first get the head position correct and comfortable.  When the head goes up the feet go down creating drag.  The second focus is on swimming timing.  This means timing each pull correctly in relation to the recovering arm to make sure that there is always a counterweight out front to offset the legs in the back.  When the timing gets to be muscle memory, we address the next major issue.  We start to build a power pull with minimal frontal drag.  We learn to anchor the elbow on the catch and create what is referred to as a high elbow catch or an early vertical forearm.  We use dryland drills first and then drills I create in the water and lots of repetition to once again change muscle memory, so this pull is your new normal.

At this point in the process, you will be MUCH faster, more confident, and economical in your motion which allows a smooth transition into biking and running after the swim.  Beyond these big three components we work to continue to add elements like proper arm entry, a long reach, proper hip rotation, and perfecting the breath so it does not create drag.  We learn to minimize the kick and keep it in the body’s streamline to once again avoid drag and to also save the legs for the bike and run.  Minimal propulsion comes from the legs and at great cost if you over kick.

We work on sighting, staying calm, learning to breathe correctly and everything you need to get to be comfortable and strong in open water.  A great example is the simple focus on your outbreath.  New swimmers get focused on the in breath because they are worried about getting enough oxygen but most people don’t realize that focusing on the out breath is the more important piece because it’s the build up of CO2 in the lungs that causes that shortness of breath feeling.  We work on the mental part of open water swimming and the ways to overcome anxiety to become a strong age group athlete on the swim leg all the way to Ironman distance.

I am including several videos of me swimming when I first started getting coached right after I learned the basics.  This is so the progress of each of the elements I have discussed is evident as I get more technically sound, smoother, and faster over each year.   If you want to improve your swimming technique and confidence just reach out.  This is what we do at #nextlevelendurancecoaches!  Check out our website for coaching bios, and all the information on us at nextlevelendurancecoaches.com.

Next in this series is how to buy a bike and learn to ride it at an elite level!