Triathlon Swim: Some Lessons
I have included an excerpt from one of our coached athletes‘ race report from the weekend. I wanted to include this for several reasons.
Confidence
Firstly, and we’ve said this before, have confidence in your swim. You all work very hard at improving fitness, technique and open water skills. Your swimming is better than most of the triathletes out there. This swimmer swam a 1500m swim 12 minutes faster than she thought she would.
Race Management
Secondly, race management in here is great. The original plan of swimming slowly and drafting off others changes due to the race circumstance. No panic. Move on to plan B. This swimmer didn’t like being amongst unpredictable swimmers so took herself out of that situation – and then found a great swim rhythm.
It’s OK To Swim Strong
Thirdly, we can swim stronger than we think during a race. We can push ourselves and be a little out of breath, and that’s ok. We are fit enough to do this.
“I felt a little more breathless than I wanted to be, but the adrenaline meant I struggled to slow myself down, so I decided to just go with it.”
The Swim
“They announced that we needed to line up, seeding ourselves from faster to slower. I expected my swim time to be somewhere between 40 and 45 minutes, so was aiming to start towards the back.
I jumped in and set off. I was aware that I was overtaking quite a few people early on, and there were quite a few people who were suddenly stopping. I didn’t like the unpredictability, so I moved slightly out from the line of buoys to get a bit of space. That was definitely better for me, and I got into a good rhythm, sighting regularly and staying in a relatively straight line.
I had intended to find someone to draft off, but I overtook a lot at the start and then found myself a long way back from the faster swimmers, so I was swimming on my own for most of it.
Aside from inhaling a lungfull of water at about 500m the swim went well. I felt a little more breathless than I wanted to be, but the adrenaline meant I struggled to slow myself down, so I decided to just go with it. I was absolutely stunned when I got out of the water and saw my swim time had a 33 at the start of it!”
What Did The Swimmer Think?
So, how did the swim for this swimmer go?
“I was absolutely stunned when I got out of the water and saw my swim time had a 33 at the start of it!”
This athlete went on to have a great race overall too.
“Overall I’m really pleased with how it went. I was supposed to be taking it relatively easily so I could get used to the process given that I’ve not done a triathlon for 2 years. That went out of the window as soon as I started – it’s hard not to race when everyone around you is racing. My swim time was my fastest 1500m ever (admittedly aided by the current), my bike was my second fastest average pace on a ride (previous fastest average was only an hour’s ride and only just faster than this), and my run was within the target I’d set myself despite the heat.”
What a great race!
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