Although I have been participating in triathlon for over 30 years now, I have always spotted my competition a 5, 10, 20 minute head start. That’s because, as a Hydrosloth, my swim is pretty bad.
I’ve tried a few different swim improvement strategies over the years such as: Total Immersion, swim more, swim harder, swim easier, master’s swimming classes, swim with toys. All have worked, to an extent. My Ironman swim times have steadily improved. My first (2000) Ironman swim was 1:30 and my most recent was 1:13, something I was very proud of. The satisfying performance led to a bit of complacency but as we have all heard, when the student is ready the teacher appears. In my case the teacher’s appearance was a combination of a couple of factors.
You see, I live in Mission BC, and every day for the past decade as I got into the pool, I had to look at the mural on the top of this page. Sure, I knew of our local wunderkid, Brent Hayden’s exploits in pools, setting world records and going to the Olympics but I think of Olympians, especially swimmers, the same way I think of wolverines, they ain’t human. Nothing to be learned here, now move along.
Then, sometime in that Covid-infested year that was 2020, I heard that Brent was coming out of retirement and gearing up for the Tokyo Olympics. I was always a sucker for a comeback (Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong) so I became interested in Brent’s attempt.
I had just come off an incredible athletic year in 2020 and achieved some amazing results. My confidence was super strong, strong enough to start taking risks in my training. The 1st challenge that I attempted at and succeeded in was doing a 100 runs in 100 days. I managed to do it. More importantly, I enjoyed the process itself, regardless of any performance benefits that it potentially offered. About 2/3s of the way into the challenge, I noticed in my Facebook feed that Brent Hayden was promoting a new swim faster program. The confidence that I experienced gave me the courage and motivation to contact Brent and get on his program.
Entry 1: 6:30 AM. Saturday March 13, 2021.
Getting ready for my video session. This is going to be ugly
Entry 2: 10 AM. Saturday March 13.
The video session went well. My resourceful and helpful wife videotaped me from all angles to submit to Nadina and Brent. While being taped, of course, I began to overthink my swim stroke: entry, head position, arm extension, kick, or no kick, all the crap ran through my mind like a self-defeating poison. I was pretty relieved when it was all over. Now it’s time for me to look at my patented Hydrosloth stroke in all of its glory before sending it in for disection.
Entry 3: 4 PM Tuesday March 16.
Life happens! Instead of working on my swim, I’m working on my drive & I don’t mean golf. I’m 1500 K into my 1800 K trip back to Saskatchewan to visit my mom. No swimming pools in the part of the world. Still have to get those videos in as well.
Entry 4: 7AM Saturday March 27.
Ordinarily (like for the past 22 years) I’d be in the pool right now, instead, I’m in a Tim Hortons writing about swimming, or really, how I sort of miss it. I’m a bit disappointed that the swim fitness that I built when I returned to the pool in November may have vanished. Note that I said fitness, and not form. I have never had that, well, not good/proper/efficient form that is. That’s ok. Time to think of the big picture now.
Entry 5: 6 AM Friday April 2
It was back to the water for me this week. To blast off the rust, and as my last hoorah before embarking on the Swimming Secrets Program, I did my usual fun with toys session in the pool in Mission. Lots of work and play with the snorkel, paddles, fins, and paddles. As expected, I lost some swim fitness from being out of the water for a couple of weeks.
Entry 6: 5 PM Wednesday April 7
Getting back into the groove right now. 30 minutes to swim practice. Reviewed the video on kicking and was very happy to see Brent using the snorkel. It’s nice to be able to breath and not have to worry about doing anything else. Let’s see what happens at the pool!
Entry 7: 10 AM Saturday April 10. It was day 2 of kicking! Started the session with an easy 500 with snorkel, pull buoy, and paddles, then it was kick time. I did the body alignment kick offs, right into the kick drill. I alternated that drill with fins as well as the snorkel, not really working hard but focusing on the proper kick and getting as much air into my lungs as possible & gently expelling the air. Here are a few things of note:
A) When looking straight down at the pool, I could breath more deeply, but I seemed to go slower.
B) With fins I was able to relax more and control my breathing better.
C) I need to practice kicking more because I was way slower without the fins and I really want to bridge that propulsion gap. Plus! Kicking I think is a cheap (read that LOW IMPACT) way of getting a greath cardio workout in.
To end off the session I did 5 X 50 on 30 full seconds of rest. I worked hard on keeping that deep breathing, relaxed arms, and a tight but rapid kick. The result? Fastest 50’s in about 7 years! (50 seconds). I think one of the… um… secrets of the speed was that I was so well rested from the ease of the session, when it came to hammer the 50s, I was super fresh and was able to really bury myself. I sure needed every second of that 30 seconds of rest to make it happen. That’s all for now. I’m looking forward to doing at least one more session like this before moving to module five.
Entry 7: Saturday April 24. 11 AM
My original plan to move into the stroke phase of the program was changed today since I couldn’t log in. I decided to just do another kick-based practice. Had a pretty swift 500 as warm up and then got down to work. Getting the body position and streamline is no problem but propulsion without fins is very weak. It is, however, a great low-impact cardio workout. I experimented with an all out set of 10 50’s on 15 seconds rest. I was a bit slower than last time (mostly 52 seconds). Went back to some more kicking, and an easy 2 x 100 to end off the session. I am ready to tackle the next phase I think. See you Monday!
Entry 8: Monday April 26. 7:30 PM
Just back from the Mission Pool where I started my body rotation module of the course. After watching the video, I knew that attempting all the drills would just overwhelm me, so for today I just focused on the first three. Prior to jumping right into the new stuff, I spent about 20 minutes doing stuff that I knew I could do, which, in this case was a moderate, toy assisted 500 as a warm up. After that I spent about 10 minutes continuing to get better at the alignment and kick.
Then it was into the main event of the event – becoming a human shish kabob. Drill one (alignment turnovers) was tough, even with fins, I found it very hard to get much forward propulsion. I started off with my face down in the water, launched from the side of the pool, began to rotate, continued to rotate, and as I was getting onto my back, (like Brent, at the 2:40 mark in the video for the module) I was spooked a bit, got a bit jerky, and had a nose full of eye-burning chlorine. I got up, walked back to the edge, composed myself, and tried again. This time I lasted about 3 seconds before I freaked myself out again. The next attempt was equally as bad. My fear of swimming on my back goes back a lot of years, and I’m thinking, that fear alone is the target of some focused work.
I cut myself some mental slack and instead of getting frustrated, I moved on to the next drill. The alignment 1/4 turns went a lot better. I spent the next 10 minutes, just working at those, being as smooth as possible while transitioning from one side to the next. Having a bit of success at that set me up with confidence to try the snorkel-aided isolated 1/4 turns. I wished that I had a waterproof cell phone or something, because I sort of forgot how to do that drill. Instead of looking at the bottom of the pool, I turned my head with my body. Of course you know what happened then, direct chlorine injection from snorkel to nose, eyes, and lungs. The next 5 minutes were folly, as I kept trying to the the drill in the same fashion, trying to find the “balance-point” to avoid submerging the top of the snorkel in the water. I sort of got the hang of it, but it was only now, upon re-watching the video (5:20 seconds in) that I discovered just how wrong, I was doing the drill.
With about 10 minutes left in the session, I decided to flog myself with some hard swimming. I did 8 sets of all out 50s on 20 seconds rest. Man, I was flying. I ended the swim with a relaxed 100 metres, focusing on breathing and perfect form and alignment. Paydirt! A very controlled 1:48. A fine way to wrap up the session. My next pool day is on Saturday. I am going to rewatch the video to the 6 minute mark and get more proficient at these three drills.
Entry 9: 10 AM Saturday May 1
Reminded of my lack of success with the drills from last session, I re-watched the first 5 minutes of module 5: Body Rotation.
Rather than write down the whole list of drills for the session that would either get soggy & unable to read, or, subject to misinterpretation, once I was on deck, I committed to memory just the first two drills. A) My modified alignment turnovers. B) Alignment quarter turns.
After a fun 500 with paddles, pull buoy, and snorkel, as warm up, it was time to get to work. I started with about ten minutes of review. What I mean by that is I re-did a few of the alignment and kick drills from modules 3 and 4. This provided some extra cardio and more focus on an area where I really need to improve on – my kick. Then the alignment turnovers, or, I should restate, my modified, alignment turnovers. As I had mentioned in my previous blog, swimming on my back is both a mental and physical challenge, and rather than invest the needed time in overcoming this, specific obstacle, I modified the drill, so I could still accomplish the goals that Brent set out when he wrote this module.
For me, wearing fins was essential to get enough propulsion for the drill. One of the things, I immediately noticed was my lack of symmetry On my right side, I could easily move through the water “in alignment.” The other side was a different story. I would instantly get bent out of shape. Instead of being like Brent’s hot dog on a stick, I resembled a cashew, plowing through the water. Simply put, my body would not do, what was asked of it. No alignment was possible. *I have some theories about the cause of this, which I may post at the bottom of this page.
Since I could do the drill on my left side, I did what I could. I probably spent about 5 minutes doing it on the right side, and really feeling what that alignment was supposed to feel like. Then, once I felt comfortable with that, I tried again doing it on my left side. Not pretty. Not in alignment. I took a short break to distract myself from the building frustration, and then spent the next 10 minutes just working on my left side. One thing that really seemed to help was taking LONG (10-20 seconds) breaks between each length (25 M) of the alignment drill. Things were starting to improve. I got reflective. I was thinking that in a regular masters swim program with 5, or 10, or 15 athletes in the water, there is no damn way, that you could spend 20 minutes of the class’s time fumbling around, and trying to master 1 drill.
Then my teaching brain kicked in. I teach ESL and for some of my students, their progress in writing, is about as glacial as mine is with the drills. And as a teacher, you do want your students to succeed. And you do want to spend an adequate amount of time practising and repeating for mastery. But when 70% of the time, is spent on 20 % of the slower students, you have to be fair to everyone and draw the line. It really is up to the student/athlete, to put in the needed time, alone, or with others of his or her ability to master the work that is required.
With a 10 minute warm up, 15 minutes of kick review, and 20 minutes of modified alignment turnovers, I had 7 minutes left in the session. I’m NOT telling what I did.
Thanks for reading. The next update in about a week.
Entry 10
Saturday May 8. 9 AM.
Well, sometimes things don’t go according to the plan – they exceed them. And today was one of those gems you put in your pocket and pull out when things go to crap. Here’s the story.
I think the Marlins swim club is back in the Mission pool because my previous swim times on Monday & Wednesday afternoons has been scrapped. Thankfully I have a swimmable lake that I can go to on my lunch break. Thursday was a cool and choppy day but with the warmth and buoyancy of a wetsuit, it was a fun 30 some minutes.
As you can see above. That was today’s plan. I’m continuing to use my baby steps approach to Brent’s practice sessions. Since I couldn’t do the module 5 alignment turnovers at all, and the isolated 1/4 turns that well last practice, that was my goal for today.
After 12 ounces of Nabob dark roast, I was off to the Mission pool with my wife. The warm up was the usual 500 metres using snorkel, pull buoy, and paddles. It’s a fun way to get started.
After that, just like last Saturday, I spent 10 minutes re-practising the alignment and kick drills from modules 3 and 4. I REALLY focused on relaxing my breathing. I felt confident and powerful, much due to the fins!
At about the 25 minute mark, it was time for today’s main course. Because doing the alignment turnovers involved swimming on my back, and I have a BIG issue (mentally & physically) with that, I started off with what I could do, the isolated 1/4 turns. I spent about 5 minutes doing those. RESTING for about ten seconds after each length. My confidence was high. I was ready to tackle the alignment turnovers.
Off with the snorkel, the fins remained on. I clumsily shot off the wall and down the lane. Deep breath, about 4 metres, then, roll onto my right side, so far so good. A little extra kick and a sip of air, holy cow, I’m on my back, the first time since Cobain died. Breathe, relax, kick, holy shit I know my head is gonna hurt if I run into the wall, quickly back to the neutral position. Made it! OK, let’s try this again. Make yourself look like Brent in the video.
And so it went for the next 20 minutes, just working on that one thing. Things started to improve. After about 5 minutes, I wasn’t swimming into the lane rope when I was on my left side. After another 5 minutes, I had the courage (not confidence, it’s different!) to begin the turn going in the other direction. This got really messy!
I decided to alternate directions of the turns. I slowly improved, but the thing is, I did improve. The reason I could tell this is because of where I was situated in the pool as I was rotating my body. Toward the end, I was covering much more water. And as a bonus, I know my body was moving much more quickly. You can tell that, by the way your hand hits the wall at the end of your length.
Where’s the gem in all of this? Well, I really didn’t expect to be able to swim on my back at all. My plan was just to try it, and then when it didn’t work, I would just go back to the isolated quarter turns.
Being able to do the alignment turnovers changed my plan. And when I tasted success, I just kept doing it over and over and over burning that feeling into my muscles and bones, moving the experience from a mental (brain says do this and do that) and visual one (envision Brent’s form) to a tactile and in a non-sexual way, a sensual one.
Finally, to end off the practice, I did an easy but deep-breathing 100 metres. Amazing! The first 50 metres felt like I was swimming on ball bearings, no friction at all, the second 50 that frictionless sensation abated and a bit of work was needed to bring it home. Double amazing was the time on the stopwatch, without question it was the easiest 1:51/100 metres in my life.
Something good is going on here!
Thanks for reading – more next week.
Entry 11
Tuesday August 3. 10 AM
Well that was one hell of a long week.
While our coach was breaking records and amazing the swim world in Japan, I was (& still am) in the blue cum grey of the Okanagan Valley.
Has it really been 3 months since I have been in a swimming pool? Yep. Since my last post, due to laziness and opportunity I have been swimming exclusively in lakes. Since the Ironman swim is held in Okanagan Lake and not a swimming pool, I thought this would be a good idea. Since last writing, with the exception of a 2 week period in July, I have been swimming between 3 and 5 times per week. About 60% of the swims have been with my wetsuit… leaving the other 40%, well you can do the math…..
If you have never had the good fortune to swim exclusively in open water for long periods of time, here are some thoughts from my experiences. The big takeaway is that it is not the best training approach for swimming, even if your goal is an open water triathlon. Here is why.
1st of all, lake conditions change. Depending on the lake and the time of day you swim at, you may be swimming on glass, or in a washing machine. If you have a specific workout that needs to be done, it may have to be modified, or scrapped altogether because of waves.
Secondly, depending on the place you swim in, it could really be tough to do swim intervals. Say for example that your workout calls for 8 X 200 on a leave time of 4 minutes, how do you know when that 200 metres is complete? Sure there are watches that can do that for you, however depending on the sounds in the water and above it, those beeps may be inaudible. And yes, you could use the swim buoys as a guide, that is if where you are swimming has them. Then, of course there is the issue of consistent distances between the buoys. If you are looking for precise measurements for your workouts, a pool can’t be beat.
Thirdly, going all out in open water can be intimidating. As we all know, one of the ways to get faster, is to just hammer it. Doing this in a lake, potentially a long way from shore can be intimidating. With no lane walls to hang on to when you are toast, you might not push yourself to the same extent you would/could, when you have a safety net. Of course with those personal swim buoys this problem is reduced.
The final reason I contend swimming in open water only is not ideal is because of people. And by that I don’t mean having a swim safety buddy. In fact, I mean quite the opposite, a swim enemy, ideally a person who swims in the lane next to you, who is just a bit faster. Talking to dozens of fellow swimmers, I know that I am not alone when I say that I usually dig the deepest, when I am chasing my “competitor” in the lane next to me. When you are swimming in a lake (or ocean) your competition is likely the product of several million to half a billion years of swimming evolution. Try pacing off a Great White, or even a carp, and find out what I mean.
In spite of these drawbacks to exclusively swimming in the open water for triathlon training, there is also no substitute for it. Whether you need the mental toughness that swimming in roughwater forces you to develop, or the special pacing and sighting requirements that are part of a “complete triathlete’s” toolbox, open water swimming is essential. Finding the optimal balance of pool to open water swimming is perhaps less important than just getting out there and doing it.