I was invited to respond to a reader query in the Tri Clinic section of the UK-published magazine 220 Triathlon. It won’t be published there for another month or two, but readers of my blog get a sneak peek at my response. I’ve written at greater length and detail on this topic, but in this case the editor gave me a tight ‘budget’ of 420 words for my response.

“How often should I be doing steady aerobic swims? This seems to be a cornerstone of run/bike training, but it’s all short sets and rest breaks at my coached swim sessions. I’m confused!”

Your question provides an excellent opportunity to explain the contrast between your run/bike training and the sets you do at coached swims.  [I’ll note first that I’ve swum over 40km, training mostly with pool repeats of 200 meters or less, saving longer swims for open water.]

By ‘steady aerobic swim,’ I surmise you mean a continuous swim of, say, 10, 20, or 40 minutes for a sprint, Olympic, or full/long distance event respectively. If swimming was more like cycling and running, this would make sense. But the factors determining how well you swim—and how the swim affects your ability to perform your best across three disciplines—are very different. A quick summary:

  1. To have your best race, swim your desired pace as easily as possible—saving energy to work much harder, much longer, on the bike and run. You convert effort into speed far more efficiently on land than in the water. Thus bike and run workouts should be more aerobically demanding.
  2. How fast you run and bike is determined 70% or more by aerobic capacity. For triathletes with no formal swim experience, efficiency—not aerobic fitness—will account for 90% of performance.

I surmise that your swim coach probably gives shorter repeats, because that’s what she’s most familiar with from experience as a competitive swimmer. It makes even more sense for triathletes because it’s the perfect way to train faster . . . easier.

E.G. let’s compare a continuous 20-minute swim with a set of 10 x 100m repeats. You would likely swim 5 to 10 percent faster with the same, or perhaps less, effort on the shorter repeats. As well, you’d almost certainly maintain a higher level of efficiency—swim that pace in fewer strokes—on the shorter repeats.

Rather than longer swims, I suggest you personalize the coach’s sets by striving to swim your current practice pace (1) more easily and efficiently; and (2) more consistently.  Here are a few ideas for getting more value from a common set such as 10 (or more) x 100.

 

  • Experiment with efficiency-improving techniques like: (i) Align head and spine; Kick less; and Swim as quietly as possible.
  • Count strokes. Can you swim same pace in fewer strokes with those focal points?
  • Complete each repeat with as little variation as possible in time (and stroke count too.)

 

The enhanced purpose and focus of practice goals like these should become its own reward . . . but you’ll probably also find yourself swimming faster with less effort within weeks.