Let’s begin with a favorite quote:
All Group Training Is A Compromise
And another:
Often, the strongest is the only athlete getting an appropriate workout.
I’ll start with the punchline.
Get yourself in a lane you could lead, then don’t.
Life With Real Swimmers
I’ve been back swimming for ~18 months and have joined a top squad in Boulder. Our coach is Julie Dibens and many of the swimmers are household names in multisport.
A favorite squad member is Laura Siddall (check out her bio).
A story about “Sid.”
In my first month with the squad, Julie stuck me in the “wall lane.” In the wall lane, I had many encounters with the ladder (see above photo) as well as losing skin against the pool wall, while swimming backstroke.
Across my career, I have spent many years swimming in “Lane Zero.” From swimming with “The Olympians” under Doc Hellemans to “Team World” with Dave Scott in Boulder… there has always been “the swimmers” and me, in Lane Zero.
Last October, Sid came back from Ironman Hawaii. It was her first swim after a blazing Sub-9 outing at World Champs. To put that performance in context, Sid’s time would have won, most every year, across my elite career.
Julie told her she’d have to take it easy and parked her in the “wall lane.”
I was stoked.
Sid… less stoked.
I busted my ass to get out of this lane and now I’m right back in it.
We didn’t stay in Lane Zero for long. Now we’re one lane up. So there are four lanes “above” one of the fastest females to ever race the Iron Distance.
For my long term goal, of a sub-9 Ironman, swimming with Sid the perfect place to be.
However…
My 55 year old male physiology is no match for the young males and elite females of the squad.
I can do a lot of damage, for little gain, when I get carried away.
I’ve had to get crafty.
Squad Benefits
Let’s start with what’s great about a squad.
Turn Up
Do What We’re Told
Get Better
There is little mental energy required and, when it’s time to challenge ourselves, we can easily hit our high-intensity sets.
Like many things in life, what makes the squad great… is one of its weaknesses.
Too often, squad swimming turns into one long lactate bath.
The entire week turns into best-average swimming.1
There is limited Green Zone development.
Fast sets are done tired and reinforce poor technical habits.
This is a disaster for an amateur swimmer (and the plateaued elite swimmer, too).
For an amateur, the #1 goal of triathlon swim training is to reduce the energy cost of the swim. Getting faster is nice but, for most, we’d be wise to avoid using our swim fitness in our race. The video below makes my case.
To avoid, a rapid plateau in swim performance, and being tired for the bike/run workouts that actually make us faster on race day… we must manage the overall intensity of our swim program.
Part One, How To Swim In A Group, gave you ideas. I’m going to explain how the amateurs in my lane implement them. By the way, Sid just swims. She doesn’t need the toys. I miss those days.
We’ve got three amateurs in our lane.
The lane below is “too slow.”
One lane up is “too fast.”.
It’s like many squads you’ll find around the world.
Thing is… on any given day, somebody will be feeling great and… when someone at our level feels great… they can move pretty quickly. That person is the leader-of-the-day.
Sounds good, so far.
Here’s the issue.
When an elite swimmer “backs off” they slow ~5s per 100m.
When I “back off,” I slow ~15s per 100m. My entire body sits lower in the water and it doesn’t feel easy. I’m slower, barge-like AND generating fatigue. I’m sure many of you can relate.
Moderating Effort
Three strategies we employ2:
Fins - Small-frame females, and others with a meaningful kick, do well with fins. I own a pair of DMC Fins.3
Pullbuoy - the weapon of choice for the large-frame male masters swimmer.
But Beware!
Lots of buoy swimming will flatten our stroke. A “flat” stroke isn’t necessarily a problem in open water.
But…
In an American pool, where everyone only swims up the right-hand side… it can lead to unhappy neighbors. I’ve been receiving death threats (Hi Alex) from the upper lanes due to a habit of smashing everyone’s wrists as I swing my way through a workout.
Which brings us to…
Flotation - Roka Buoyancy Shorts, Xterra Lava Pants4 or a sleeveless wetsuit5. I own them all.
With these aids you can adjust the assistance based on:
Your session goals.
How fast the lane is swimming on-the-day.
To put this in context, for a given effort, flotation will change my speed by 3-6s per 100.
This is the difference between a Red & Green Zone effort.
With my sleeveless on:
I can swim “endurance” regardless of what Julie puts up on the board.
I’m longer off the walls, saving one stroke per 25m.
My heart rate drops faster during the recovery portion of the workout.
Solo Endurance Swimming
IMPORTANT
Ditch the aids (and your watch) when swimming on your own.
Swim on feel.
Improve mechanics.
Enjoy the water.
Get a snorkel so you can see your entire pull pattern. This is essential if you only breathe to one side.6
I use the Speedo Bullethead as it’s easy to clear after a flip turn. Other brands have vents at the base which slow the ability to clear water.
Closing Note
As a late-onset swimmer, my #1 piece of advice is:
Touch the water, often.
You’ll find volume built via frequency is the ticket to improving your swim performance.
Back to Table of Contents
If you are a best-average swimmer then drop to a slower lane. You’re fooling yourself and wasting energy better applied elsewhere.
A fourth strategy is adjusting the gap between yourself and the lead swimmer. Coach Dibens is firm on the 10-second gap. If you swim in a group where tighter gaps are customary then there’s a real benefit to drafting your leader(s), particularly in a 50-meter pool.
I pay cash for everything you read about on this site. My only sponsors are the wonderful people who make up the paid list.
The Lava Pants were acquired after Sid tossed my pullbuoy when I used it with my buoyancy shorts. Can’t chuck my pants…
I’ve been using a dry sauna for 15-20 minutes a session, 4-5x per week, for the last four months. My heat tolerance is better now (with my sleeveless on) than it was back in October when I was swimming with only a speedo. Here’s a link to my experience with passive-heat training.
If you only breathe to one side then the best drill you can do is relaxed, three-stroke freestyle. Strangely, after my 10-year break from swimming, my favorite breathing side has changed.
Very helpful tips!! Thx.
Always appreciate your insights, Gordo. Thank you. I love the opening quotes. Especially; "Often, the strongest is the only athlete getting an appropriate workout."
In my experience (from both in the water, swimming, and on the deck, coaching), many squad programs are written with {a} the strongest squad swimmer in mind OR {b} the average of the group. I've not found that squads work very well for typical late-onset swimmers, especially if they are time crunched. I have had a lot more success with individualized plans, but your ideas are very helpful in maximizing what they can get from squad sessions.
For clarity, can you give your definition of a " best-average set" you mention in *1, please?