The Ironman Swim

The Context

In theory, the Ironman swim should be the easiest discipline to execute.

• It’s first.
• You are full of energy.
• No nutrition issues to worry about.
• There is minimal kit.
• Compared to the bike and the run, it’s short.
• You find some space and you swim at your own pace for 3.8k.

Simple. Right?

However, the Ironman swim is plagued with fear, adrenaline, nerves, chaos.

It is easy to get this wrong and have a terrible start to your day.

Here are some things to think about.

Swim Start

The Ironman swim is probably a rolling start swim. You may need to seed yourself based on your estimated swim time / pace. When doing this, be confident in your swim ability and know you have probably done more swim work than most of the triathletes in the race.

Do you know what swim time you are aiming for?

Do you know where you will position or seed yourself?

Know how you’ll be getting the water. Is it an in water start – or is it a dive or jump start? Have you practiced this?

Are you comfortable jumping or diving into the water to start the race?

Be aware of what is going on around you. A few water polo (head up) strokes at the start is common amongst our Swim Squad – to spot the chaos and find the gaps to swim through.

Starting Pace

Unless you’re careful, you will (unintentionally) start fast. Hold yourself back a bit if you can and then build into the race.

If your race strategy involves a strong swim, you will probably want to position yourself near to the front of your ‘start pen’ and start swimming strong. I would urge you to stay controlled here – quick but not frantic.

If you are planning to draft, you will find swimmers of your swim ability after about 400m (when swimmers who have started too fast start to drop off). This is the time to settle in to your smooth race pace.

Do you know how you are going to start the race and what pace or intensity level you are going to swim?

Mantras

Some people have two, three, four cues that they use during the swim. This helps them focus on key things to help composure and stay focused on good technique.

For example:

“Long and strong”

“Slow kick”

“Reach, catch, pull”

“Feel the pressure”

Do you have any mantras or technical cues that you will use?

If you do just run through these every few minutes and see how you’re doing.

Counting Strokes

If it’s all a bit overwhelming, I’ve found it useful to count strokes. This turns the focus away from the mayhem and keeps the focus on you and your technique.

Count to 100.

This gives you chance to focus on you and your stroke.

Sighting

Straight swimming is fast swimming! Don’t forget to sight. Every 6-8 strokes.

A little lift to make sure you’re not veering off course.

When swimming fast, or starting to fatigue, or in the melee we can forget to sight. This is one of your key things to remember to do in the swim.

Do you know how to sight?

Have you practiced this?

We’ve written a lot about sighting (how to, what to look for, when etc). Have a look at the guidance and make sure you practice sighting frequently.

Turn Buoys

If you’re going to get hit anywhere during the swim, it will be at a turn buoy. You want to get in and out quickly. Pick your line early, if there is space on the inside – and you’re not going to collide with others – go for it. Usually, everybody tries to pick this line, so moving out a bit and taking a wider turn around the buoy is sometimes best.

However, watch out for the swimmers who are wide of you. You think you have a clear turn on the buoy, but they will come in at an angle to the buoy. They will appear out of nowhere. Expect the unexpected and you should be fine!

Again, we have produced guidance on this, so make sure you’ve read it and know what you are going to do.

Don’t Panic!

A lot can happen in the swim. From going out too fast, to getting knocked by another swimmer, to goggles leaking or fogging, to swimming off course. The important thing is to stay composed and focus on what you need to do.

Stay in the moment and focus on what you’re doing – not what has just happened or what the rest of the race may look like.

Pacing

As for pacing, starting relatively easy and building into a steady pace would be my recommendation for most swimmers. Try not to go out too fast. If you do, don’t worry, just regroup, slow down, try and recover whilst you are swimming and keep going!

Enjoy the swim! You have done so much training – in the pool and the open water. You have the fitness, you have the skills. Have fun out there! Following the advice above should see you coming out of the water smiling, having had a great experience and (probably) with a fast swim time!