S W I M M I N G S TA G N AT I O N
“I’m from a run background and, when I started swimming, simply swimming lengths twice a week improved my time. But now I’ve plateaued. Help!”
There are several key areas to focus on here. First, swim more than you are. Two swims is plateau territory; three to four will help massively.
Next, have a plan. Swimming laps is better than not swimming but, ultimately, you’re just practising swimming laps. Speed, endurance, fitness and technique should feature at the appropriate times. Mobility practised on dry land might also be needed to speed things along.
You then need to decide how much quicker you want to be.
It’s possible that some swim improvements might come at the expense of your running. The highly mobile ankles of a ‘pure swimmer’ usually leaves them quite ungainly on the run. Your run fitness arguably might lead to frustration; I’ve helped several elite runners become pro Ironman athletes but often heard, ‘Why aren’t I faster if I can run a sub- 2:45hr marathon?!’ Often, bike improvements come quickly, compounding the issue.
RUN-SPECIFIC ISSUES
Some of the key physical issues I’ve helped many runners deal with include: ankle flexibility (add fins to help mobilise); bent knee when kicking (try the glute kick drill – sessioninabottle.com/ swim-videos); and big scissors kick (feel the big toes lightly brushing against each other to a fast rhythm to prevent the legs straying so far apart).
An inability to relax, leading to tension, breathing issues and heavy muscular legs, also feature. More technique work will address all of these. I often hear swim coaches shouting ‘relax’ to swimmers in the water but, until your technique improves, this is hard. Technique leads to a more controlled stroke when you breathe. Too often, poor technique dictates when you breathe, so relaxing is hard until you achieve a certain swim ability.
ADRESS YOUR LEG KICK
A simple test I employ to convince swimmers that it’s worth pursuing technical work is to gauge if you’re faster swimming with a pull buoy between the thighs than without. If you can pull faster than you can swim, you might break through your current plateau by addressing your leg kick. Runners often struggle with the small leg kick movements needed for an efficient swim, but a strong two-way bend at the knee rather than a straighter movement from the hips will keep you swimming uphill.
Tight ankles could also be contributing to drag as you swim with toes pointing to the bottom of the pool. But again, this can be beaten with drills and commitment.