Triathlon Swim Basics

Swimming is a great way to exercise with little risk of injury.  Anyone can learn to swim once they get over the fear of the water.  For many triathletes, swimming is the most challenging of the three sports.  But swimming doesn’t have to frighten or be frustrating.  Investing time, practicing fundamentals, and having patience can make you a competent swimmer.

At RyR Endurance Team, we work with our athletes to help them reach their swimming goals.  Following are some of the basics to become a fan of swimming.

Gear

• A tight-fitting swimsuit to reduce drag. This is common for ladies.  For men, choose a jammer or Speedo suit.  A baggy bathing suit catches a lot of water and hampers your ability to swim laps.

• A pool buoy to squeeze between your legs will help with balance and shift focus away from kicking.

• A swim snorkel will allow for easy breathing while you are working on other aspects of technique such as this one by FINIS
• A couple pairs of goggles. You never know when a strap will break

Technique

The most common struggles for swimmers are with balance, breathing, and kicking.  If you become a swimmer later in life, you may have inflexible ankles and not be able to generate forward power with your kick.  But you can expend a ton of energy.  We do not focus heavily on kicking for beginners.

Breathing and balance are the keys to enjoying swimming.  If you are new to swimming and really struggle with breathing, we recommend you start with a swim snorkel to eliminate this element while you work on balance. 

Balance in swimming means staying level in the water so that you create the smallest hole through the water reducing drag while your stroke pulls you forward.  Your balance point is your core.  Head position, extended arm position, pointed toes, and a tight core are the keys to balance.

Balance

• Start off slow and do one length at a time until you are comfortable
• Focus on being long from finger tips to toes.
• Keep your head straight down looking at the bottom rather than forward. If you tilt your head upwards to look forwards in the water, your balance shifts, your legs drag, and you increase the effort required to move forward in the pool.
• Swim with wide strokes. Keep your hands wide so they do not cross in front of your head.
• Grab as much water as you can with your palm, forearm, and bicep keeping your elbow high and pull all the way to your hip.
• Reach forward with your recovery arm long and slightly lower than your head. To reach maximum length, you will have to rotate slightly.
• Point your toes to keep them as much in alignment with your legs as possible to reduce drag
• Really think about and practice these steps consistently in the pool.
• Practice drills to help improve technique such as:
  • Kick off the wall and glide with one arm in front and one at the side focusing on keeping the head down; repeat this several times on each side
  • Do the same drill again but take one stroke and finish gliding on the other side
  • Swim a length with an exaggerated wide stroke – sometimes called the Penguin stroke; Often if you watch a video, it is not as wide as you think. 

Breathing

• If you have been using a snorkel, start swimming lengths and laps without one once you can do 500 yards comfortably.
• Rotate the head rather than raising the head to get a sneaky breath with the mouth just barely or partially out of the water.
• Take a breath every second stroke and switch sides every length. As you get more comfortable, you may be able to take fewer breaths.

Once you can do 1,000 yards comfortably without the snorkel, then you can start thinking about improving speed.  Just like with cycling and running, intervals, tempos, etc. will be incorporated into swim workouts to challenge your body to adapt to increase fitness and performance.

Open Water Swimming

So far we have focused on pool swimming.  Some triathlons include a pool swim, but most likely the swim will be in open water.  Swimming in open water is drastically different than being in the pool.  The same technique is necessary.  But the darkness, the crowd, the waves, the lack of a wall nearby all add to the excitement and panic of the triathlon swim.  It is imperative that you find a way to practice open water swimming preferably with a group both to be realistic and to be safe.  It’s a good idea to wear a swim cap both for visibility but also to practice what will be required on race day.

If you will be swimming in the ocean, be sure to arrive several days early to get acclimated to the taste of salt and the roll of the waves.  It is not uncommon for people to become motion sick when they first swim in the ocean.

Always start out conservatively in open water.  Be patient in the beginning and pick up speed as you gain confidence.  Remember, there isn’t a wall 25 yards ahead to hold onto.

When open water swimming, it is great to practice wearing a wetsuit.  One reason is that it helps you stay above water.  Another reason is that you can practice putting it on and taking it off neither of which are easy to do.

Competition

Many triathlons allow wetsuits depending on the race morning water temperature.  For Ironman and Challenge-Family branded events, the temperature must be below 76.1 degrees.  For USAT events, the temperature must be below 78 degrees.  You may be able to wear a wetsuit at slightly higher temperatures if you are focused on time rather than competing against others overall or in your age group.  Be sure to read the rules for your specific event to be clear on the wetsuit rules.

A wetsuit provides a significant amount of buoyancy.  Most people can float above water in a wetsuit without any effort.  This greatly benefits swimmers who struggle with kicking and balance.  Since the wetsuit provides lift to keep you balanced, you have less drag in the water making it easier to move forward.

If you are not wearing a wetsuit, then your swimsuit can not extend past the elbows or below the knees.  Most triathlon outfits meet this requirement.

You could add a layer over your triathlon suit with a swimskin such as this one from blueseventy.  This is a snug fitting swimsuit designed to be slippery in the water.  It does not offer buoyancy like a wetsuit.  But it helps you become more slippery in the water.  DeSoto makes a suit with Liftfoil technology that is legal but supposedly offers some buoyancy benefits.

Conclusion

The key to triathlon swimming is getting out of the water with the least amount of energy spent so you can be strong on the bike and run.  But you can become confident and fast by focusing on technique and consistently practicing.

We offer our athletes video analysis to identify areas for swimming improvement.  Often what you think you are doing in the water is not what shows up on the camera.  Having an experienced eye analysis your technique can help you reach your goals more quickly.

If you are interested in more information or are ready for coaching, join our team.