I met up with a top level athlete for a swim session a few weeks ago. His bike and his run have really improved over recent years, but he was struggling to make the same sort of improvements in the swim.
He is a 10 hour Ironman and 4.30 Ironman 70.3 triathlete – a dedicated athlete who regularly puts in 15+ hours of training per week. He was becoming frustrated with his swim. No matter what he tried, he was not improving.
We did a 1-1 swim video session and identified a few areas where he could improve. Getting a better ‘catch’ and a more productive pull were the two main issues we focused on.
With the video to help him visualise, and the technique points we identified, he set about trying to change his swim stroke. After a couple of weeks of solid effort trying to master these technique improvements, times started to drop.
From an athlete who could manage ‘under 1.40s’ for a set of 100m efforts, he is now an athlete who can manage ‘under 1.30s’ for the same set.
“Hitting sub 1:30s for my 100s tonight. First time ever 🙂”
A ‘1.40s athlete’ is about a 1.10 Ironman swimmer. A ‘1.30s athlete’ is getting closer to the 60 minute Ironman swim.
We are only in November. Better technique, coupled with some solid swim fitness work, and we should see times tumble further.
Great dedication and persistence to make the changes we identified. Great work!
Discover more from Triathlon Swim Squad
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.