Terry,
I am a 56 year old runner and Ironman triathlete in excellent aerobic shape, very comfortable in the water, but a horribly slow swimmer, consistently placing in the last quartile in long-distance races since I started Triathlon in 2006: 45 minutes for half-Ironman 1.2 mile swims and about 90 minutes for 2.4 miles – breathing heavily the entire way. If I could just be a mid-pack swimmer and do the 2.4 mile swim in about 70 minutes, I’d be a threat to qualify for the Ironman Championship in Kona.

I have taken 15 months of masters swim workouts and several private classes, a one-day private class at your studio in New Paltz, and I have just about every one of your DVDs and Books . Throughout 2006-7, I practiced the drills regularly – but no improvement.

Being a horrible swimmer with lots of room for improvement, I thought that improvement should come within a few months by eliminating obvious major flaws in balance and stroke mechanics. Is this unrealistic? Are there some people whose body-types (e.g. a "sinker" in your parlance in one of your DVDs) make it almost impossible to improve? While swimming is the sport where I have the most opportunity for improvement, I can’t afford to keep throwing money and time into what seems like a hopeless cause. I’d greatly appreciate your perspective based on years of helping swimmers improve.
Thanks,
John

John posted his query on our Discussion Forum. Here’s the reply I posted:
I have several thoughts on the question of speed and how to get more of it. But first, the question of whether one should hold a bit of air in the lungs to try to overcome sinking tendencies. I believe that any breath holding will only increase discomfort and difficulty. Both because it will likely lead to increased accumulation of CO2 in the lungs and because it often leads to an increase in muscle tension — and tense muscles tend to sink more.

John’s goal is to improve his pace time for a 2.4 mile swim from 90 to 70 minutes. This translates to improving his pace per 100m from 2 min 22 sec to 1 min 50 sec. Even without seeing John swim, my experience-based inclination is that the first 20 to 24 seconds of improvement in his pace per 100 will come from reducing energy cost — giving him the ability to maintain a pace he might currently hold only for a shorter swim — i.e. swimming, say, 8:00 for 400m — and extend that to a half-mile, mile, 2 miles then 2.4 miles.

Energy savings will come primarily from: (1) active streamlining (i.e. reducing water resistance) and (2) more relaxation — finding areas of tension and releasing them and finding muscles that are turned on that don’t need to be.

The remaining 8 to 10 seconds could come from developing the ability to complete strokes of constant efficiency slightly faster. Let’s say that John — as a result of active streamlining — can improve his stroke efficiency for 25m to 20 fully rhythmic strokes (no exaggerated glides). A pace of 2:00 per 100m would translate into a stroke rate of approx 1.3 sec per stroke. If he were to begin using a Tempo Trainer and incrementally (i.e. .01 sec at a time) work toward being able to complete those 20-stroke 25m laps in a rate of 1.2 sec per stroke, he would then have picked up 8 seconds per 100 meters (I.E. 80 strokes x .1 sec)

Here are some suggestions I have for improving balance, which is always helpful – These activities are taken from Easy Freestyle.
Superman Glide (SG)
Repeat 3-4 x or until you can’t squeeze out another few inches of glide.
Remember the feeling of relaxation, support and effortless travel.

SG to Skate (Sk)
Alternate transition to Right Sk with transition to Left Sk. Work through 2 to 4 or more repeats at each of these focal points:
- Arc your extending hand forward and down. Find the depth at which your feet feel light, but is not causing your shoulders/hips to stack.
- If you feel over-rotation, focus on extending hand slightly outside shoulder line.
- When your hand-targets are accurate and consistent, spear the front of your wrist — instead of your fingers — through the targets.
- Test your balance and stability by squeezing your legs together for a moment after you arrive in Skating position. Can you maintain "non-kicking balance and stability) slightly longer via control through "conscious tone" in your core body.
- Use your extending hand to separate water molecules then slide that side of your body — torso, hips, knees, feet — through that hole.

Alternate Drill and Swim (Sw)
Do the drill above going one way. Swim on the way back – will only be 3 to 4 strokes. Choose focal points from the list above and use for both drill and swim. Repeat for 5 to 8 minutes until you can consistently bring the strongest sensations of support, stability and effortless travel from SG to Sk to Sw

Swim a "Pyramid" Repeat Series
Swim a series of repeats, increasing the distance by one length on subsequent repeats as long as you continue to feel those sensations, as follows:
Swim 25. If you feel balanced, stable and effortless, Swim 50. If you feel balanced, stable and effortless, Swim 75. Continue the sequence until the sensations break down. Then reverse the sequence back to 25. Repeat the pyramid series as many times as you wish trying to raise the top of the Pyramid on subsequent series. E.G:
25-50-25
25-50-75-50-25
25-50-75-100-75-50-25
Etc.

You could also choose one focal point (or a new lower SPL) and do this with one focal point, up to a certain distance, then start an entirely new sequence with a different focal point. When working on a new focal point I’ve often done this kind of sequence up to 200 – but not necessarily in reverse.
25-50-75-100-125-150-175-200 (900 yds total)

If I do reverse, going from 175 back down to 25 after completing the "ladder" series above, then my series totals 1600.

This has proven a very effective way to develop both my "mental endurance" and my "muscle endurance" at the same time. By "muscular endurance" I mean the resistance of a new motor skill or movement pattern to fatigue or breakdown. As we discussed I think that both forms of endurance are actually more important to completing a very long swim than aerobic endurance. For the last 8 or 10 years I’ve prioritized the development of mental and muscle endurance, while letting aerobic endurance just "happen" as a consequence of the hours each week I work on mental and muscle endurance.