To Draft Or Not To Draft

Drafting in a triathlon swim takes practice, but if you can get it right, it is well worth it.

When you’re in the pool and you’re swimming right behind another swimmer it feels much easier than when you’re leading the lane doesn’t it? You can hang on to the feet in front and swim at speeds you may find difficult if you had clear water ahead of you.

If we think that we can swim quicker on somebody’s feet, and it feels a bit easier, wouldn’t we want that same benefit on race day?

This depends on how confident you feel being close to other swimmers, of course, but if you do, here are a few things to consider.

On The Feet Or On The Hip?

There are two ways to draft a swimmer in front. The first and most common method is to swim directly behind them, following their feet. Keep about a metre behind (no tapping toes). The second method is to swim on their hip. If you are drafting a swimmer on the hip, there are a few things to think about. Don’t get too close – you risk being hit and / or annoying the other swimmer! Breathe towards the swimmer so you can see where they are and make sure you’re not getting too close. The advantage of drafting on the hip is you get two chances to draft – if you start getting dropped, you can tuck in and follow their feet.

Finding The Right Draft

This very much depends of what you want from the swim, how aggressive you want to be and how much energy you want to spend. You can draft off swimmers who are quicker than you, meaning you still swim quite strong but you are benefiting from the faster swimmer’s efforts. Or you can decide to conserve energy and swim behind swimmers who are your sort of pace. Doing this will feel easy.

Try To Overtake

A good measure of whether you are following the right feet is to try and overtake. If swimming feels easy and you start to wonder whether the swimmer in front is a bit slow, try pulling out wide and overtaking. If you glide past easily, you’ve made the right decision to go past. If you find yourself swimming side to side, unable to make much progress beyond this swimmer, then slow down, drop back, draft and save energy. Practice this in your open water sessions. If you find yourself swimming side by side with somebody, drop back and see how it feels to draft them.

Do Your Own Sighting

I’ll say this again. DO. YOUR. OWN. SIGHTING. Do not rely on the swimmer in front to swim in a straight line. Make sure you are looking up frequently and checking you’re still on course.

Close, But Not Too Close

Drafting requires you to be quite close to the swimmers in front. But don’t get too close. Constant tapping on the swimmers’ feet can often result in a breaststroke kick to the face! Be warned. Also, expect the lead swimmers to do something daft at some point. At turn buoys usually. Be aware of sudden stops. You need to be focused when drafting.

Drafting Takes Practice

Drafting takes practice. It’s so easy to lose focus for a minute and then suddenly realise that swimmer in front has gone. On a lapped course, or a race with wave starts and lots of swimmers around, it is especially easy to lose those feet in front if you’re not paying attention. Spend some time in your open water training sessions swimming behind others – swimmers the same pace as you and swimmers slightly faster.

Not For Everybody

Drafting takes practice. You need to be comfortable being close to others. It is not for everybody, and that’s fine. You might want to swim in some nice clear water instead – the comfort and reduced stress outweighing the increase in speed or energy savings. Absolutely fine.

So, that’s drafting. Try it. Practice it. Decide if it’s for you. If it is, stay focused whilst doing it and enjoy the ride!