“I don’t know how to push myself in swimming”

“I don’t know how to push myself during the swim in a race”.

I have heard this phrase so many times.

Triathletes usually know how to run hard, run ‘on the edge’ for a strong 10k or half marathon. They know how to get the very most from themselves during a race, finding a pace early on that they can just about sustain so they finish the 10k or half marathon strong, but exhausted.

The same on the bike. Ask most athletes to ride a strong 20 minute FTP test, they will pace it well, without much power drop, but super fatigued at the end. Same on a 10 mile TT or a 40k ride. They are able to find that point, that pace or power or feeling that they are just about comfortable with and can maintain for the duration.

When it comes to the swim, these same athletes struggle.

As a result, they leave performance in the water.

They are good swimmers. Fit. Fast. But they don’t know how to pace effectively. They either start strong and fade, or ‘take it easy’ for the whole duration of the swim.

Sometimes it’s a fear of blowing up. Other times it’s the uncertainty of pacing.

Where do you sit here? Can you pace a long swim well? Do you get the most from yourself?

Blowing Up

Sometimes, we need to blow up in training.

We need to reach the edge, and then go beyond it. Once you’ve done this a few times, you know where the edge is, and you realise that you definitely don’t want to go beyond it! But you also know that if you do go beyond it, you can come back.

Ideally, when we swim a strong set of 100s or 200s in our sessions, I’d like all athletes to hit the wall on that last rep completely spent, having held a strong, consistent pace throughout.

It builds resilience. The knowledge that we can go to the edge and hold that pace, despite increasing fatigue.

However, to find that edge, sometimes we need to go beyond it. To swim strong. To be bold. To be uncertain midway through the set as to whether we can even finish it. Doing this, we learn to know where the edge is. We know what our limits feel like.

Repetition

Repetition of sets is a good way to practice this.

Let’s use 10 x 100m at the “best pace you can maintain for all 10” as an example.

Usually, the first time a swimmer does this, they start off super fast and then fade from number 4 or 5. That’s no bad thing. They realise that their pace needs adjusting.

Next time they do this session, they know what to expect, so they (should) start a little slower, and then try and maintain the same pace. Ideally, this time, the swimmer will get to number 7 or 8 before they wonder if they will be able to maintain the pace for the last two. (As there is ‘only’ two to go, they usually do manage).

Then, the third or fourth time they do this session, they can be a bit bolder, starting a little stronger and pushing that bit more.

A Recent Session

We did a set of 10 x 200m in our Squad recently, and I was delighted to see so many athletes push themselves into the red!

“I didn’t know if I could do that set … but I did!”

Complete exhaustion from swimmers at the end of the set. They’d managed to hold a strong pace for all 10, even getting slightly quicker towards the end.

The two boys at the front were great examples of what I’m talking about.

They both took on the set, showing no fear, starting strong, staying in the moment and not thinking too far ahead. They were strong 200s (2.45ish) and consistent.

By the end of the set, both swimmers were completely spent. They had both done the best set of 10 x 200s in their lives, probably swimming close to their best ever 200m times for the whole 2,000m set.

They now know what their max effort over 2,000m feels like. As a result of this session, and the way they took it on, they will have a better idea of how to swim a longer distance swim at a pace they know they can sustain!

Interval Sets Or Time Trials

To find our race pace over long distances, we need to practice, to find our limits.

We can do this in many ways, but two tried and tested methods are long interval-based sessions or time trials.

A session like the one above (10 x 200m) or perhaps the more common 20 x 100m is a great session to do for this. The idea is to hold the same pace on each rep. In fact, if feeling great, even pushing the pace a bit more on the last few.

As you repeat the session through the season, you can either aim for faster times on each rep, or reduce the rest interval … or both!

If you are training for a 400m pool swim as part of a sprint triathlon, you can adopt the same approach. I like doing 8 x 50m at the best pace I can maintain for all 8 (on a short rest interval), trying to be consistent and hitting the same time on each 50m.

The other method is a time trial. A 1,000m effort, holding a strong pace, and feeling strong during the last few hundred metres, is a good one to do.

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There you go. A few ideas to get you thinking about swim pacing, about training, about race pace, about getting the most from yourself over a longer distance swim.