Guidelines for Beginner Swimmers + Workout
Triathlon Swim Training for Beginners
by
Priscilla
Congratulations! You have made the big decision to try a tri. So what are
the very first things you should know and think about as you start training
for the swimming portion of the event? I have many new triathletes every
year who come to me saying, “I am doing my first triathlon in two weeks, can
you help me with my freestyle?” That is not an exaggeration on my part. Thus
the very first piece of advice I can give to the new triathlete is to start
your swimming training earlier. Several benefits will occur when you do
this. The most obvious benefit will be that you will develop greater stamina
in the water portion of the event. Far too many people think that just
because they are in good shape for running and cycling they are also in good
shape for swimming. The reality is that the crossover benefit is very
different from expectations. Different muscles are used and swimming
requires a very different approach to oxygen intake. The anxiety level of
the athlete also plays a major role in the perception of fatigue as does the
more obvious issue of stroke technique. So plan your training and
competition calendar in advance. We are entering the winter here and for
many of you that will cut down on the amount of running and cycling you can
do so now is a perfect time to start your swim training program.
When you
begin your swimming training there are many points to keep in mind. The
first is relaxation. You may not be very comfortable in the water; you may
have bad memories of swim lessons. The swim portion of a triathlon is
normally done in open water in a crowd. You will be jostled, splashed,
sometimes even dunked and shoved. If you aren’t comfortable in the water, if
you feel like panicking when your face gets wet, you will have a problem. So
when you begin your training, work on relaxation in the water. Get in the
pool and submerge yourself. Stay under the water and look around a bit. Come
up for air and go back down. If you feel a little panicky, think about a
pleasant place. Relax. The second step is to try swimming under the water a
little bit. You won’t be swimming under water in your competition but this
step will help in decreasing your anxiety level. Push off the wall and try
to swim as far as you can under the water with your eyes open. Come up for
air and go back down. Relax. Finally for this portion, go under the water
and lie down on the bottom of the pool on your back and look up. Many times
even if you had no problem with the first two suggestions, this third one
will cause some difficulty. If you are new to swimming, I advise you to do
these three steps frequently all the while reminding yourself to relax, to
loosen up.
The
second key point is related to the first because without being relaxed a lot
of what happens in swim training is more difficult. Push off the wall, on
the surface this time, and just stretch out and kick. When your face is in
the water blow bubbles; when you need to breathe turn your entire body and
inhale. Then return to your prone position blowing bubbles. You have to
learn to exhale while your face is in the water and inhale when your body
turns. This may seem very obvious, but many new swimmers hold their breath
when their faces are in the water and then try to exhale and inhale in the
same motion. When they do that they lift their heads too high, they blow all
their air out, and they gasp for new air. This becomes a negative cycle and
can destroy any comfort or relaxation achieved as well as interrupting good
stroke technique. So blow bubbles in the water, breathe air out of the
water.
Good
body position is essential to good swimming. The newer stroke manuals and
videos emphasize swimming uphill. What that means is that you want your body
to be level or even inclined slightly downward at the front. Put another way
it means that you want your hips to be high in the water. The best way to
achieve this position is to stretch out in the water and put your head down.
Often new swimmers come to me and they swim with their heads out of the
water or they swim with their heads too high in the water with their
foreheads up and their chins down. Then when I tell them to put their heads
down, they try to do this by just moving their head, as if nodding. The head
should be down with the water level running right across the top, at the
crown of the head, but that isn’t achieved by just nodding your head. Push
the head down while holding the head in line with your spine and shoulders.
This way your entire front half will also go down in a nice line and your
hips will come up. Once again, relax. Holding your body too rigid while
doing any of this will cause excess fatigue and will prevent you from
developing a smooth , long stroke. Start swimming paying particular
attention to the head position and to your hands. If your hands go too high
in the recovery portion* of the stroke you will need to bring them down. If
your hands enter the water too close to your head, you will need to move
your entry* further in front of your shoulders. If your hands enter the
water too far in front of your shoulders, you will need to bring them back
just a little. You can figure out your best hand entry position by putting
your arm out straight and then bringing your hand back about four inches
with your elbow slightly bent. Your fingers should point downward and your
palm should be flat, not canted to the thumb side or the pinky side. As your
hand enters in this position, push forward at an angle several more inches
and then pull your arm back with the fingers still pointing to the bottom of
the pool until your thumb brushes your upper thigh. If you are looking down
at the bottom, which you should be, you will be able to keep good arm
position by pointing your fingers at the lines on the bottom of the pool and
keeping them pointed there throughout the stroke. Just practice this for a
while remembering to keep your head down.
The
final point for this month’s advice is perhaps the most important. No matter
what you do while training, and this is true for the biking and running
portions as well as the swimming portions, you will always have an easier
time doing it if you maintain a positive attitude. I always tell my swimmers
that it comes down to, “Mind over mind.” This doesn’t mean just relaxation;
it means that you have to be careful not to talk yourself out of anything.
Once you start to think that you can’t do something, it will become that
much harder to do. But if you keep focused and stay positive, you will be
able to continue working hard even when you are tired, nervous, sore, etc.
Try this
workout—
500
yards or meters warm up (work slowly, stretching out)
12 x 50
yards or meters
4 x 50 on 20 seconds rest after each
4 x 50 on 10 seconds rest after each
4 x 50 on 5 seconds rest after each
10 x 100
yards or meters
Do each of these 100’s with 30
seconds of rest after each. Try to drop 2 seconds from each 100 repeat. So
if you swim the first 100 on 1:50, you will be swimming the last one on
1:32. This is one of the best sets I know to learn pacing. If you have
trouble doing this the first time you try, put it into your workouts once a
week. Learning how it feels to swim at targeted speeds is an important skill
for swimming longer events.
12 x 25 yards or meters
Swim nice and easy but work on nice streamlining* off each wall.
*Glossary of swim terms
Recovery—the recovery portion of a stroke is the part of the stroke
where you are not actively pulling. In freestyle it is the part of the
stroke from when your hand leaves the water until it enters the water. Keep
your hands low with fingers down during recovery in freestyle.
Entry—this
just means the point at which your hand enters the water. Your fingers
should be pointing down but not perpendicular to the water which would cause
more drag.
Streamline—holding your body in a nice, tight line especially when you
push off walls. You should be under the water with your arms pressed up
against your head, deltoids squeezing your ears. One hand is on top of the
other with the hand that will pull first on the bottom. Arms and legs are
straight, toes are pointed.
|
