I started swimming late in life. Across my 30s, I trained myself to a sub-50 Ironman (2.4 miles) and a sub-20 1,500 meter (LCM). Below, I share how I managed to improve quickly and consistently.
Swimming is no different than most other group situations. The strongest athletes are most likely to get an appropriate workout. I’m going to explain how to tilt the odds of improvement back in your favor.
Positioning & Pacing
Swim in a lane you can lead, then don’t lead it. At least, not until the second half of the workout. My friend, Justin Daerr, calls this “not being in a rush to get to the difficult part.” It’s a good habit to build in all aspects of our training. Be strong at the end.
Be willing to move around in the lane. Know the sets, and strokes, where it makes sense to move up, or drop back. Communicate with your lane mates.
Be a multi-speed swimmer. In my article, Building Swim Profiles, I laid out a common pace profile and offered tips for addressing pacing limiters. In a group situation the two most important are to: learn from pacing errors and change speeds.
Skills & Mechanics
Cultivate a relentless focus on stroke mechanics. Related, perform drills to the best of your technical ability. Pace does not matter - improving stroke mechanics, does. I’d go even further:
The one-speed swimmer must improve skills and mechanics to speed up. Fitness should be de-emphasized because their profile shows they have maxed out fitness gains for their current technical level.
New movement patterns can unlock gains by retraining long standing technical flaws. Similarly, new breathing patterns can trigger awareness of stroke flaws. Just because we’re with a group, doesn’t mean we revert to old patterns, that may be holding us back.
Combine the above… flip turns, kick sets, underwater swimming, fly, backstroke and breaststroke… be open to new challenges.
Learn how to read a clock, or a digital watch. Prepare for the day when you will be leading. Related, learning how to take splits, from a pace clock, while moving, is a valuable skill.
Using The Group & Programming
Train the payoff. Groups are a low stakes environment to train the ability to race well. Hold back for first 1,500 of the session, with a larger goal to negative split every endurance session. The ability to race strongly at the end, starts in training.
Use the squad to create a challenging long swim workout. Arrive early and give yourself an extra 500-1000, very easy, before the session starts. Competitive athletes, aim for 90 minutes of swimming.
Supplement group swimming with endurance work done alone. Done well, squad swimming takes the pressure off the rest of your training week.
Etiquette
Communicate with your coach. On the days you need to back off, make the coach aware of your needs, in advance.
Use fins and flotation with discretion. It’s considered bad form to slap on gear after an hour and roll through your lane mates who have been leading since the start.
Don’t ride your lane mates. A minimum of 5 seconds between swimmers, 10 seconds is better. Do not sprint the start of every interval to bridge to the leader. If you need to draft to make the set, then move to a slower lane.
Final Words
I hit you with a lot.
Pick One Thing
Make It A Habit
Pick Another
What moves performance:
Swim More Often - Touch The Water
A 3-Stroke Breathing Pattern:
To Balance The Stroke
To Become Aware Of Pull Patterns
To Put A Lid On Intensity
Endurance Swims With The Following Structure:
Less Rest
Slower Paces
Longer Intervals
A Weekly Continuous Swim
Relax
Focus On Mechanics
Zone 1
A Weekly Long Swim
My story is an example of how it’s possible to improve late in life. My first squad session was just before my 30th birthday.
Be Consistent and Persist.
Back to Table of Contents