Disclaimer: What do I know I've only been swimming 5 years. In my Ironman TT swims, I can go 1:10, but the fastest I've gone in a race is 1:15.
1. Learn how to tolerate getting banged around, even to the point of banging back.
Some people might not agree with this. I'm learning to "bang back." I'm pretty sure I could do 1:10, maybe a little less, in IM swim if I was willing to get a little more banged up. As it is, I start further back than my ability, and then get caught in the whole MOP of 1:15-1:25 swimmers. It's just as big of a mess in that group as it is further up, maybe even more so, because now you aren't just battling for position, you're trying to get AHEAD of them. If you fess up to the fact that you will get jostled and become OK with it, it's less of a big deal. It's good to practice this at shorter races. I even believe it's OK to hit (bang) back if the same swimmer persists in hitting you, and you've tried moving out of their way.
At a sprint I did this summer, I misread when my wave started, and when I got to the beach, they were counting down from 10. So it was into the fray with I don't know how many people, but there were lots of big guys in there. We were swimming in a small lake (Donut Lake!), so if you wanted to get ahead you had to fight for it. Sure, there was a little hyperventilation involved, and I got hit, but eventually I got to clear water.
2. You may be slightly built, but it's very possible to learn how to swim big in the water and give yourself some space around you.
This is a good part of the strategy of being able to withstand the washing machine. "Swimming big" is something you can practice. It basically involves making a wider reach than normal, and your elbow will remain slightly more bent than during a normal reach. What I've noticed when doing this is:
- you ride a little "higher" in the water. This is really good for open water swimming, navigating waves and such. It makes it less frightening, for example, when you reach and there is no water there! Riding higher can get to be like hydroplaning, in a way. This has a side benefit of helping you to sight easier.
- you automatically pull to the outside of your body. If you have difficulties with arm crossover either above or below your body, this is a good thing to practice.
- you can get some serious power going, because you are using more of your lats, which are much larger muscles than your triceps or deltoids.
- it, for me anyway, encourages my rotation. If you are pulling effectively, you HAVE to rotate in order to begin your arm recovery properly
- you might not completely finish your stroke, meaning your hand, after pulling, will begin exiting the water sooner. This is OK--it's a common technique for open water swimming anyway, according to my coach.
Now combine gorilla swimming with pulling strongly and imagining keeping your arms over a barrel, and you've got a powerful swim stroke.
7 comments:
I cannot agree with you on this one at all. Although I have only done one IM, I am a swimmer. Whatever level of racing I have done, I am nearly always at the front of the pack at the completeion of the swim. In the one IM I have done (IMFLA), there were approx 2000 swimmers (I guess they are about 2000 entrants for most IM's). I got caught in a crowd even though I lined up in the outside. I did the math calculations of lining up on the outside to see how much furthur distance u have to swim to the first bouy. If you take the time to calculate, there is not much added distance to lining up on the outside. Although my experiance in racing concludes my observations, math statistics apply here. There is only so much available water on the course. The distribution of swimmers in the water follows a typical bell curve. Hence, there are only a few ways you are going to get clear water.
1. be in the top 10
2. swim in the group of the bottom 10
3. Swim Waaaaaay wide on the outside, or inside (but u will get creamed at the turn bouy).
Other than that you will be enclosed in a group of swimmers that you cannot escape from no matter how mush elbow thrashing you attempt.
Now you can be an asshole and actually swim over others, but you have to continue this mega assholish behavior for the entire swim loop. As far as trying to claim swimming area, this is impossible. You can only claim space with stationary objects. Swimmers are drifting left and right. You must have observed how holes magically open and just as quickly disappear.
Face it! If you could solve this problem, you could solve every traffic jam in the country. The swim can be viewed as an interstate traffic jam. Merely making yourself bigger will not solve anything. The smartest thing is to learn to be as fast as you can and line up accordingly. Swim in the fastest hydrodynamic position as possible. Just make sure u can keep up if you line up in the front. And wherever u are, don't be an asshole, be patient. I think that I read somewhere that you are in about the 12 hour IM time. Lining up incorrectly on the swim is only going to cost you (+/-) 5 minutes. I know 5 minutes is 5 minutes, but over 12 hours, you can trim it from somewhere else. I would rather be comfortable exiting the swim, than have had to swim at a pace that is faster than I planned on swimming, plus getting beat to death, plus asshole swimmers swimming over you for 50 minutes, just for 5 minutes. And the relaxed confident guy/gal behind you who had a good swim at his pace is going to kick your ass on the bike while you recover and regroup through T1 and the first 5 miles on the bike.
I don't really disagree with you, either :) I should have stated that "gorilla" swimming is a technique you CAN use to improve your power/stroke, no matter what your objectives are.
I'm not really willing to get that beat up, but it does pay to have a mindset that it's going to happen and just relax about it, IMHO.
Also, the time investment for me to BE a 1:05 swimmer is too great for the amount of time I have available to train. So you are right, if I stay at 1:10-1:15, but continue to improve my economy, my bike power and my run toughness, in the end that seems to be a better training formula for me than trying to put in 15,000 yards of swimming per week.
S,
You make an interesting point. I'm a sub-1:00 swimmer and at IM USA, I was in a rough crowd the entire first lap (I was pretty clear on Lap 2 though). You're right on one count, to have a successful IM swim, you do have to be willing to have some contact. It's just a fact of swimming in a close area with 1500+ other swimmers. I don't agree that its necessary to 'bang back', (this may be just me, I'm a bigger guy..6'2", it might be different for a smaller person). My philosophy is more to focus on your own rhythm and stroke and do your best to ignore the bumping. The key is placing yourself correctly in the group so that the crowd you're in is swimming at roughly the same pace you are. This way you're not swimming over people or getting swum over. The worst thing is to place yourself behind your ability. Of course you're going to have to swim over people if you do this! Better to swim with a slightly faster group and try to catch a draft...
Just my 2 cents.
A little controversy going on today. I like it!
JP made some good comments. I never stated what my "method" is during IM swim.
I SHOULD seed myself a little closer up.
Regardless, I focus on my form and actually count my strokes to keep me calm in the midst of getting hit and possibly submerged. I never meant really to say "hit back" but knowing you will get hit and probably hit others is just a fact. No apologies! Some people want to stop and go "I'm sorry." That's nice, but just keep swimming is even better.
I try to find some feet so not so much to draft off of, although that's sweet, but more to "let them" sight for me. The less I have to look up, the less I break my from.
I've learned not to obsess about finding a person to draft off of. Better to just focus on my own form and energy expenditure. Get out fresh, and then execute a speedy T1!
Even though I DNF'ed at IMWI last year, I got through T1 faster than ever, even considering the run up the ramp. That was a nice feeling to get onto the bike quickly.
And after all, that's what you're really trying to do between the swim and T1--get to the bike having used as little energy as possible given your swim fitness.
So, yeah, if gaining 5' in swim time means coming out of the water more frazzled or having used more energy, it's not worth it.
I agree with you that there are diminishing returns of time in the pool for the average to good swimmer and the fact that the swim is really a warm-up for the bike and run.
With a limited number of hours to train (some are more limited than others!), we need to maintain our strengths and work on our weaknesses. I've just reduced my number of weekly pool sessions from 3 to 2...knowing the extra time in the pool might drop me from a 56:00 IM swim to a 53-54. The time for me is much better spent on my bike (my running is ok) where I have far more room to improve. My goal is to get to sub 5:30 shape (which is a 30 min improvement)
check out this clip....too perfect considering our topic of discussion.
http://cmac.smugmug.com/gallery/739/1/23569
COming in a little late here... but this is some good info from people who have been there. In most of my sprints and oly's I'm in the top 25% of the swim which usually puts me in a gap between the fast and slow swimmers of my wave. I've been in one washing machine in my life and I tell you the kindest thing anyone can do is cut their finger nails! I still have a scar from that swim. It was an eye-opener though and since then I have been gearing up mentally for that type of swim at Florida. I imagine there won't be too many gaps anywhere.
Post a Comment