TRAIN TO SWIM FASTER

Pick up the pace and learn to breathe to both sides! Well-designed pool sessions will help you hold good form long after you leave T1

Structure your workouts You can become a faster, more efficient swimmer by properly structuring your swim workouts. Remember: swim sessions are not for recovery, they’re for building your speed and endurance. A welldesigned pool session should include a 10min warm-up set with mixed strokes (such as backstroke) and a focus on proper mechanics; a set of shorter intervals with progressive intensity; a main set of longer intervals appropriate for Ironman athletes (1,300-2,400m); and a kicking set of vigorous effort. Workouts like this will teach you how to continue to hold good form even when you start to get tired, as on race day.

Swim more often I recommend a minimum of three sessions, but four per week are better. Even if you just have 20 minutes, getting into the pool will help you develop a ‘feel for the water’, which is expressed through better body position, a sense of holding more water and a sensation of effortless speed. Even though the swim is proportionally the shortest segment of the triathlon, investing in your swimming will help you become more economical and efficient overall, which will pay dividends later in the race.

Do swimming HIIT Slow race splits are usually the result of long, slow training. Faster swimming speed is achieved through consistent high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Just like in cycling and running, HIIT enhances muscle recruitment, trains your body to spare muscle glycogen and builds strength – all vital during a race. At least 20% of your swim training should be allocated to higher-intensity efforts (even more for advanced swimmers).

Try double-arm backstroke Include double-arm backstroke in your training, and even consider swimming short segments of backstroke during the race! Tight shoulders, lats and upper back are common in long swims, like in an Ironman event. Backstroke provides a super-stretch for typically inflexible triathletes and, when performed regularly, can help prevent injuries caused by poor mobility. In a race, a few strokes on the back can provide a reprieve from freestyle and can often alleviate some of the race-day stress.

Practise off-side breathing Swimming fast can be taxing, so I’m an advocate of breathing on every stroke. However you should be adept at breathing from both sides. Learning how to breathe from your ‘funny side’ will allow you to escape waves or avoid the thrashing swimmer beside you. Mastering offside breathing also helps prevent imbalances in flexibility and mobility that can develop if you only breathe one-sided. It will also help you be adaptive on race day.