Why Swim?

Paul Newsome sent out a link to this Slowtwitch article this morning

The Swim Leg Reconsidered

The article is a very good endorsement of SwimSmooth, however, that isn't actually what caught my eye about it. The thing that I noticed in this article was that very first line.

In past Ironman attempts I avoided the pool at all costs. 

Pardon???

Unfortunately, this  is far from the first time I have heard this view.  I know plenty of people who consider swimming as an optional (and rather unpleasant) part of training for a triathlon. 

The reasoning usually goes something like this:

• It is the shortest leg. Why shoudl I spend hours in the pool every week (almost as much time as I spend running) for a leg that I only spend a fraction o fthe time actually doing in the race.
• If I train heaps in swimming it may only gain me 10 to 20 minutes in an Ironman, is that a good use of time.
• I can make much bigger gains by spending time on the bike, running etc. 

All these claims make a kind of sense, which I guess is why people keep using them. But in my view they are a bit misguided. Now, I know I am from a swimming background and so that probably taints my view a little, but I think my pro-swimming stance does have some logical basis too.

What is some of that logic. Well that varies depending on what you are hoping to get out of a race. 

Are you pretty quick and are hoping for something at the pointy end, 70.3 qualification, Kona perhaps, simple bragging rights. Well guess what, winning a race becomes much, much easier if you have a decent swim. Very few long distance champs are exceptional, swim off the front athletes, there are a couple, but they are rare. At the same time, very few long distance champs are slow, off the back swimmers either, Lionel Sanders is probably one of the rare, high profile athletes that I can think of. What I can say though is that nearly all champion long distance athletes can hold their own in the water. Whether they are first pack swimmers, or front of the second pack swimmers, they are up there somewhere. 

Why is that important? Well, if you want to win a race, it is much easier to do if you are near the front of the race. Even if everybody is playing fair and keeping draft legal distance, it is beneficial to your race to be near the front and seeing what is going on. If somebody makes a move you know about it and can decide whether to combat it or follow your own plan. If somebody is working at a similar level to you then you can work with them (at legal distances) to keep you both motivated and get a mutual benefit. Obviously winning a race doesn't rely on a good swim leg, but it helps substantially if you are not having to chase from the back every time. 

I have seen first hand just how important a good swim leg is. When I took my professional racing license it was the first thing that was rudely hit home to me, my swim was simply too slow. If you aren't coming out of the water vaguely in touch, then that was it, day was done. These days there isn't that much difference between the way the pros and the top age groupers race. The race tactics are very similar. If you aren't coming out of the water vaguely in touch the harder it is to regain that contact with the leaders, the shorter the race, the more this is true. 

If you are looking to achieve high level results in draft legal racing, the above holds even more true. If you aren't swimming with the front pack consistently in a draft legal race then you are making the day very tough on yourself. If you miss that front pack on the bike, then you better hope there is a big, strong second pack to help you pull that first pack in. If not, then you are going to be in for a painful day. For draft legal racing I would actually say that a fast  enough swim isn't a good to have, it is essential.

Another thing to consider if you are aiming high in the triathlon world, either as a professional or an age grouper, is that the swim may only save you 15 to 20 minutes, but at the pointy end that makes all the difference in the world. That could easily be the difference between a Kona slot and not. As a guy, once you get your Ironman ride under 5 hours, making the move to get it lower takes more and more work. Getting the bike down near 4:30 is pretty tough if you are working full time. It either requires a lot of time on the bike in training, or running very slowly afterwards during the race. I can guarantee it would take a smaller time investment to get a slow swimmer from 1 hour 10 to 55 minutes, than it would take for them to go from 5 hours to 4 hours 45 on the bike. I could make similar comments about running. Yet people will spend ages working to get their run leg from 3:30 to 3:20, but no time getting their swim from 70 to 60 minutes. 

If somebody is aiming high in the triathlon world, whether as a professional or an age grouper, My view is that having a decent swim in essential.

Even if you aren't aiming to set the triathlon world on fire, then looking after your swim is still a worthwhile exercise. I think people underestimate the amount of energy a person spends swimming badly compared to a person who swims well. Not only will that good swimmer get out of the water faster, they will get out feeling better too, which will have benefits for the rest of their day. A better swimmer is going to be losing less energy to stress and anxiety before the race and they are not going to be dealing with the washing machine of a mid or back of the pack swim. Getting swum over, or getting bashed around happens very rarely to good swimmers because they are usually in front of the majority of the field. Swimming well may only save you a handful of minutes on the actual swim leg, but it is likely to pay dividends on the ride and the run leg too, which I think people often overlook. 

Besides, think about it. Even reluctant swimmers usually get themselves down to the water at least a couple of times a week in training. I strongly advocate at least three and preferably 4 swims a week (with one of those being open water), but I understand that people have limited time. However, once you are at the pool, why get out after 40 minutes and 2kms. You have gone to all this effort to get to the pool, pay entry and get wet, why not stay for an hour and get in 3kms? Why not stay a bit longer and get in more? Get your money's worth from your pool entry. If you are training for an Ironman, you would be unlikely to go for many runs that are less than an hour unless they are for recovery. But I know plenty of people who swim 40 minutes, twice a week and call it done. All it would cost them to increase their training volume by 50% would be finding the motivation to do so. Find the motivation to get in the water a third time in the week (and perhaps get some coaching to go with it) and I would guarantee that person would see improvements.