Like all swimmers for whatever reason the secret of speed is exciting. I was delighted to see a speed camp that was going to be conducted by Terry ready to go.

 

  • Swimming harder is your last choice
  • Avoiding deceleration is golden
  • Simple math Subtract drag before adding propulsion
  • Build a fast brain ( fast muscles will follow)
  • Guaranteed speed. Train for Tempo.

 

I rushed to sign up. The speed camp was in early December and prior to leaving Australia my work was really busy and although I read the pre camp material I hadn’t given the camp much thought.

On the flight to Florida I spent some time thinking about swimming harder for increased speed is your last choice. Not for me. I am well aware that when I need to increase speed I pull harder and kick stronger. I do this in as well balanced and streamlined position as I can. Avoiding deceleration, subtracting drag before adding propulsion and using the Tempo trainer I dismissed somewhat as things I knew. (oophs). I wanted to learn about a fast brain.

I was excited, nervous and ready to go. We met on SUNDAY for a short session, to get to know each other and complete a baseline set. We had to swim 50, then 100,150 and 200yds (stopped after each distance ) at a speed that we could maintain for the entire set. My stroke rate was 17 and time was 45 seconds for the 50. I maintained that pace and timing throughout the set. Terry commented on my regular pace and then asked me what my plan was.

Plan, what plan, I had to admit I did not have one. We then had to swim 50 fast. I swam a fair bit faster 50 in 38 seconds maintaining SR 17. Then someone in the group said that my stroke looked very different. It was, I took very little breaths and increased the strength of my pull and kick. Swimming harder was my first choice. At the overview of our week Terry had talked about mental energy rather than muscle action, I was looking forward to some more explicit instructions.  

MONDAY Terry elaborated on the intense concentration required to lay down additional neural circuits for new learning. How we had to connect our thoughts to the  sensations we were feeling.

We started with  a balance thoughts in superman; relax your head onto a pillow. I have been aiming to relax my head for some time but the addition of the pillow was sensational. Then we felt the pillow along the length of our arm and maintained the support of the pillow as we took a breath. We felt our fingers float forward. I am always comfortable in the water but have never felt soooo relaxed before. I know I am not going to have any trouble imprinting those thoughts as the sense of relaxation and well being was instant gratification. I have repeated this sensation several times since returning home.

With streamlining our focal thoughts were sliding each hand forward and then just going the smallest fraction further. We felt the weight of the water under our armpits and along our chest walls. We streamlined our legs in a relaxed position behind our torso. Our aim to select a thought process and connect it to the sensation we were feeling. Then to be able to carry that our thought process for an entire 25yds. If we could do it successfully for 25, then we should aim for 50, if successful then 75 and so on.

What did I learn from session one.  First I need to engage my brain. I had better unlearn my somewhat intermittent concentration on any thought stroke I had and relearn to actively apply cognition to really concentrate on the thought stroke we were using and the sensations it produced. 

You should try total concentration on one thought process for 50 yds and see how you go. You must not increase the distance until you can manage without any mind wanders. I have yet to make 75 on any thought stroke. The second thing I noticed was that such intense mental effort was somewhat exhausting. I am glad we only did morning sessions and I had some time to relax prior to session two.