Strategies for Swimming a Sub-1:00 IM split

Jump4Joy19

I would love to hear advice from our faster swimmers on what's needed when you have to be up at the front of the pack. At IMFL, I stupidly started way on the side, thinking I'd avoid the mobs at least until the first buoy. The net effect was that about 500 swimmers ended up in front of me that I then had to swim around/through/over for the rest of the course. Also, being in the big thrashing mob got me a dislocated big toe, which is not the way I wanted to start out my Ironman day.  Net result: 1:03

My swim buddy who is my speed turned in a 57:XX at IMC, so I know I'm in that ballpark. Which means starting up front and going fast from the get-go, something I am not used to doing. Also means finding good feet to draft off of, which again I'm not used to because in most triathlons I'm in the women's wave and there's no one ahead to draft.

So how do you train for that, and what's it like up there in front, how do you deal with it?  I am having nightmares about getting run over by the mob behind me. The only thing I'm really freaking out about in this IM is the swim.

I am thinking of adding some sets of 1000y, with the first 300 being at a race pace minus 5 - 10 seconds, then settling in at race pace. Good idea? Got any better training tips?

dotcatlin

I finished in 1:10 at IMFL and I started about 10 rows back, farthest on the left. All I noticed was the crowd around me, but mostly the depth and definitely not the width. It took me until later when I saw a picture someone took from a hotel balcony to realize how WIDE people went to the right! Craziness! Anyway, I was expecting about a 1:15, so I was blown away by my time. Sure people swam by me, but not so ridiculously that I was clearly in the wrong place. After about 5 mins I was swimming with people all the same pace. My point is, don't be intimidated by being up there. Way better then starting way behind! You probably end up ahead of your projected time.

Coach Rich

I'm a former ~52' guy, now about 56' . Notes:

• If you start in the front row, on the buoy line, you're gonna be mixing it up with former D1-3 college swimmers and polo players. While my pace ends up being about 1:24-25/100m, that pack is easily swimming ~1:15-17/100m for the first 400m or so. Then things settle down a lot, everyone finds feet and just swims. The rub is that there are quite a few folks in that pack who can swim the 1:15-17 pace for the first 400m, even though they will back off to ~1:30 pace quickly thereafter. It can get rough up there and it's basically full on sprint....but after the first rush everything settles down and we have none of the washing machine / WWF match that everyone else has (hate the game, not the playa )
• At IMCDA'08, like you, I lined up wayyyy to the outside and worked my way over to the buoy line. While I had 100% clear water for about the first 600-700m, I found myself stuck behind the ~1:02 crowd and had to swim through them. I think I went about a 58', about 3-4' slower than expected.

I think the best strategy for front of the pack swimmers is to:

• Line up in the front row, maybe about 25m or so to the side of the buoy line. Basically understand that all of the fast doodes in the swimglassagen swedish goggles will all be together right on the buoy. The farther away you get from them, the more "normal" people you'll find in the front row, but you don't want to get so far away from them that you miss the faster packs and are stuck behind slower swimmers.
• You gotta train to drop the hammer for ~400m and then have a good sense of pace so that you don't completely shut it down after that and fall well off your goal pace. So I'd say you're basically swimming a tick below the fastest you can sustain for 400m, and then plan to gradually dial it down to your 2.4mi pace over the next couple hundred meters.
• A good warmup helps. I do my best to plan my swim entry, warmup, etc so that I'm sliding into my position at the front at about 2-3' before the race start. Think of the warmup you do before a 500-1000m competition swim, in the warmup pool.

new2703

Get up front, pick your line and swim.

Paul Hough

Robin - I wish I had your problem, but I was just reading something this past weekend that suggested 200m ALL OUT, 1 min R then 800m time trial pace. Do that 3 times and I bet you'll nail it. Meanwhile, what the heck do I have to do to get a 65 min swim? BTW, my kick is fully aligned per your instructions.

Al Truscott

Robin - sounds like you need not only a placement and pacing strategy, but also  something to provide confidence on race day. You ARE a fast swimmer, so you SHOULD be up there with the other fast folks. But you are talking like there is a fear or doubt about your willingness to subject yourself to close quarters with other fast swimmers.

If I'm misreading, ignore this, But ... consider recruiting 5-6 of your fastest swimmers among your students or fellow masters. Get all of you in one lane, take off together, and swim 10-20 x 25 on 20 seconds ( or less). You'll learn (a) how to make space for yourself and (b) not fear close contact. Do this weekly until the race.

Jump4Joy19

Thanks all for the great advice.

@CoachR, thanks for all the details. Did you feel that you could get a decent warmup in at IMCdA? I'm worried that I'll get too chilled down if the water is really cold. Often at races in very cold lakes, I'll do most of my warmup on land (running strides, etc.), but I know that's much harder at IM because of the Transition Area logistics and getting down to the right position on the beach with all of those people.

@Paul - a well-aligned kick is a good start to that 65 minute split. Congrats on getting it going. You can always post a video if you feel like you want more feedback...

@Al, every post of yours is wickedly smart, and insightful, and thoughtful. Thanks for the insight, and you are right. I am basically a big ol' scaredy cat about this issue right now and I need to just get over it. Although I've done lots of tris, I am usually in a women's wave and have much less experience with the washing machine of the massed start. I will recruit my lake swimming buddies to do pack starts and beat me up on a regular basis as needed.  I'm doing a cold water Oly tri next weekend with a mixed start and I plan to put myself right up front and get over it.

 

 

robin sarner

 Good info from all.   Robin i am 60 minute guy.   Plus or minus 2 minutes.      And you are faster than me.     Yes get right up front!!!   My preference is off the buoy line by a little over half.

I have problems with the cold warm up.   I have a cold induced cough/asthma thing and preswim sometimes worsens this.   So the warm up changes pending air and water temps.

I have had no success doing the drafting thing.    Even in the fast front there are still a lot of moronic crooked swimmers.   And i have bad luck in choosing the guy swimming zig zag.    But folks enjoy drafting off me.    6-6 helps i guess.    Hopefully i find the right feet next time.

So yes, go fast for a few hundred yards.     And the fast folks will then pass and you are then left in a fairly clear area for the rest of the swim.

mrudy331

Hey Robin! I observed something very interesting at IMCDA in 2010. With a crowded beach start, I lined up about half-way down the beach from the buoy line. To seed myself I looked at the dudes standing at the water's edge with that determined "I must break you " look about them and then the crowd about 3 rows back with the "Oh freak! I am scared silly" look of fright. I knew the first row guys would take off like a shot and the folks 3 rows back wouldn't be in too much of a rush so I lined up in the 2nd row.

When the cannon went off, sure enough the first row was gone like a bullet. I had CLEAN water for several hundred yards. Although I could feel swimmers coming up on me and hitting my feet, they had to expend all sorts of energy to find a way around me. I found some feet to follow and enjoyed relatively clean water all the way to the first 1st turn buoy. I swam a 1:16.

It was one of the most 'peaceful' triathlon swims I have enjoyed. Maybe I just got lucky, but I plan to invoke the same strategy this year.

tri.bassett

 Robin - IMLP will be a bit different that most IM mass starts for a couple of reasons.  First, there is the "wire" which EVERYONE wants to swim on.  The wire is what is used to tie the sighting buoys and runs about 5ft under the surface of the water.  It's really easy to see, and acts like lane line.  Everyone wants to jump on the wire, because you don't have to sight near as often as an regular open water start.  

Also, the starting area is pretty narrow, so swimmers are a BIT better at self seeding, from what I've observed (from the shore) and experienced (2005, 2008).  

The 400y sprint, back-down to race pace approach is perfect for IMLP.  You can't NOT draft on the swim on this race, because everyone will want to get within site of the wire.  If you can see the wire (and you need to be within 5-6 feet either side of the wire) then you'll be in a line of other swimmers, and this is the fastest place to be.  .  You'll be able to easily see the feet in front of you, so just line up and move along.  You'll easily go sub 1:00!  

If you can find some recent overhead photos of the swim starts at IMLP you can see how narrow the lake is, and how swimmers get lined up pretty quickly

You also got some great advice about gaining confidence in the scrum by going 3-4 abreast in a lane and hammering 20x25s.  I did this very drill with two VERY fast and VERY strong guys (former pro and 48min IM swimmer, and a Kona qualifier and 52min IMer.).  I got put in the middle and told 'prepare to defend yourself!  .  It took about 10 of the 20 sets for me to get my HR out of the 'call 911' zone, but I  did get comfortable with being in the scrum.  

Jump4Joy19

I did an Oly race yesterday, primarily because it's one of the few around with a massed start - no waves and no women's only start. So I put myself up front and center with the big boys and went out HARD. The good news is, this worked beautifully and by 300 yards out I had clear water to swim in. The bad news is that I went badly hypoxic and nearly missed a full-blown panic attack (58 degree water and it being the first wetsuit triathlon of the year probably didn't help). I think if I'd had, oh, 2000 more people behind and around me and had to keep it up for another couple hundred yards, I might've passed out or something. I don't do "fast" well, I just do "moderately fast" well for a long time.

So bottom line: I'm still thinking about, and questioning, my IM swim strategy!

Coach Rich

Maybe just don't go out as hard?

Jump4Joy19

Posted By robin sarner on 11 May 2012 06:59 AM

 Good info from all.   Robin i am 60 minute guy.   Plus or minus 2 minutes.      And you are faster than me.     Yes get right up front!!!   My preference is off the buoy line by a little over half.

I have problems with the cold warm up.   I have a cold induced cough/asthma thing and preswim sometimes worsens this.   So the warm up changes pending air and water temps.

I have had no success doing the drafting thing.    Even in the fast front there are still a lot of moronic crooked swimmers.   And i have bad luck in choosing the guy swimming zig zag.    But folks enjoy drafting off me.    6-6 helps i guess.    Hopefully i find the right feet next time.

So yes, go fast for a few hundred yards.     And the fast folks will then pass and you are then left in a fairly clear area for the rest of the swim.

Let's see, 60 minute swimmer, 6'6" and swims straight?? I've found my swim start position: right behind Robin #1!!