The Faster I swim, the Slower I Get??
So I noticed something last night during my swim. The set was 4 x 50 descending, so I started off easy. :51. I increased the effort for each subsequent 50 and each was a bit slower. (Not exactly the relationship I wanted!) Last 50 I basically sprinted all out, and it was :51. Now I know there was a little fatigue with each 50, but the difference in effort was like an RPE of 5 vs. 10 for the same :51. I am assuming my form must go to such crap when I try to go fast, that it is a total waste of energy. That being said, if TRYING to go fast has the opposite effect, how do I actually GET faster? More drills? Swim with good form and forget about speed? Pump iron?
I have recently had some significant imrpovements in my swim speed in races, but that is more due to feeling more comfortable (mental) and not stopping as frequently. So now that my OWS speed matches my pool speed, I'd like to continue with the improvements but my efforts seem futile.
Thanks!
Comments
Just did a swim clinique last weekend and the coach's (fellow IMer) main point was that to get faster we need to get more efficient in the water.
For example, When you were trying to go faster did you kick harder, which then led to your feet coming further apart which made you feel like you were working harder but really just created a bunch of drag and slowed you down...this is just one example of what a lot of average swimmers (my self included) do in the pool. During the clinique we then watched lots of videos of each of us swimming and it was amazing how 90% of the class did this crazy scizzor kick type thing. Luckily this is not my issue as I barely kick and keep my toes rubbing against each other as a physical que to remind me to keep my feet close together to reduce drag.
i've seen it written before, that a function of going faster is really a matter of pulling harder with more water with your catch and pull. You can either pull soft or hard or in the middle. This is the paddle that makes you go faster. you can also increase your arm turnover (cadence) which can also increase your speed but then may also do other bad things to your form depending upon your style.
Personally, what I find is that by concentrating solely on technique, and getting the technique ingrained into muscle memory - I end up going faster with less effort. I try to disturb the water as little as possible, create as few splashes as possible, and try to sense pressure on my body while swimming - a slight degree of pressure on my torso, for example, tells me that it is exposed to oncoming water, and hence drag.
What I'd say (only because it has worked for me, so it is up to debate as to whether it's actually good advice or not) is that if your extra effort isn't paying off, then dont sweat the extra effort and just take the opportunity to impress good form technique in your muscles by staying at your comfortable pace until such time that your body is able to expend the extra effort without compromising form. It's basically the Total Immersion method of swimming, and I find that it has worked out really well.
I agree with what has been said above. It's a technique issue, and largely the way to swim faster is to develop better swimming technique. Kind of like learning to ride a bicycle with one gear. You add the extra gears (extra speed) when the technique is there to support it. Technique in swimming is difficult to improve much on your own - I would seek out a good coach or get video coaching to target the areas where you are moving water inefficiently and/or creating drag. The example above of a scissor kick is just one great example of ways in which an inefficiency in swimming can become magnified as you try to swim faster, thus creating more drag and not creating more speed.
Thanks all!
And don't beat yourself up about a 19 min swim TT — as Coach R says, it is what it is
I discovered back in the day when I was a cross country runner (in the 1980s) that there are always people faster than you, and ones slower than you — for me the best approach is to focus on what you can do to improve yourself and don't worry waht everyone else is doing.
Not sure if you listen on podcasts at all but this weeks IMTalk had a decent blurb on swimming from Gordo. He mentioned one of his favorite open water sets to do with people is to have them swim 5 loops of something around 300-400M (I guess). Using a increasing effort scale of easy, steady, medium, medium hard, all out (or something like this). What people find is the difference in effort yields an almost negligible amount of speed (maybe 1-3 sec per 100). To me this speaks to the importance of staying relaxed and focusing on technique -- all the more easy when you don't feel like you are going at an RPE of 9+
Link to the podcast is here --> http://traffic.libsyn.com/ironmantalk/IMTalk_Episode_317_-_Gordo_on_Open_Water_Swimming.mp3
The interview starts around 55 minutes in...