SWEETWATER SWIM STUDIO
  • Tour
  • About
  • Services
  • Videos
  • Product Partners
  • Clothing & Gear
  • Blog
  • Contact

Simply Faster! 

Welcome to my blog, Simply Faster, attempting to simplify the art of swimming faster!

There are dozens of ways to improve your swim. Unfortunately focusing on dozens of skills at once will likely leave you confused, frustrated and potentially not any faster.

Through this blog, I hope to share proven ways to become faster in the water, one concept at a time.


Above all else mentioned here, if you truly want to improve, it is critical to make time for the pool.  Show up, prepare and plan your pool time.  Nobody gets faster by skipping swims or jumping in without a method to the madness.

About the Author

U.S. Masters Swimming 2018 National Coaches Clinic:                                               5 Key Takeaways from a Triathlete’s Perspective

10/24/2018

6 Comments

 
USMS National Coaches Clinic: 
5 Key Takeaways from a Triathlete’s Perspective

​After an intense two day clinic filled with captivating speakers, a few Olympians, and a roaring crowd of USMS coaches with impressive backgrounds, my head was spinning with delight on my way home. How could I share what I learned? How can swimmers get faster right now with this information? 

I distilled the hours of lecture, demonstration and pool time down to, “Five Key Takeaways.” Ultimately these take aways are real training habits swimmers / triathletes can implement THIS WEEK to become healthier, stronger and faster at any age.  

1) Dryland Warmup  

Bo Hickey, a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, detailed the importance of a dynamic warm up before hitting the water. This aids in injury prevention and prepares the body before it is loaded in the water. Many runners have a standard pre-run warm up routine and swimming should be no different.  Bo details a pre swim dry land warm up via article and video here. 

Takeaway: Don’t skip the dryland warm up pre-swim.

2) Reduce Frontal Drag  

Olympian Dr. Gary Hall Sr. of The Race Club reminded us we are always moving forward in the water, which happens to be 800x more dense than air! Frontal drag is significant and we have to find ways to work through the water effectively. A very common yet fixable area of drag for many triathletes is toes pointed down or out to the side when swimming. Swimmers with biking and running backgrounds can have limited plantar flexion which can increase frontal drag up to 30%.  Working ankle flexibility out of the water can save valuable time in the water.  Dryland training can include sitting on ankles with toes pointed inward for :20 - 2:00 at a time daily.  For more on ankle flexibility and dryland work from The Race Club, click here. 

Takeaway: Plantar flexibility is a critical piece to reducing frontal drag.

3) Interval Train 

Coach Bruce Gemmell shared great insight into his time coaching Katie Ledecky. In addition to working hard, setting goals and prioritizing self-care, swimmers must know their training zones/paces. Similar to training on the bike using Functional Threshold Power and running using VDOT values, swimmers should be aware of their various working paces (easy, aerobic, aerobic endurance, and anaerobic). Coach Gemmell uses the Jon Urbanchek color system with his swimmers. Each swimmer has detailed charts of their various paces in various work zones. There is an app for that! 

Take Away: Interval train with specific paces. Perform a threshold test. 

4) Perform Tri Specific Skills in the Pool

Jack Mcafee, IMFL Male Winner 2016 and Helen Naylor, USMS National Coaches Committee Volunteer, reviewed opportunities to work open water skills in both the open water and pool throughout the season. These skills can easily be practiced in a pool if open water is not available. Pack swimming, drafting skills, treading water starts, sighting, etc. can be creatively practiced in pools. This video details various ways to draft in open water, and can be adapted for the pool with 2+ people in a lane. Various sighting skills shown here can be perfected in the pool before hitting the open water.  

Takeaway: Open water skills can be practiced in a pool. 

5) Refuel 

Joel Stager PhD., Indiana University, spoke of his recovery fuel study. After a pre season build, his swimmers were tired, sick and not improving despite solid training. He instituted a recovery fueling plan using chocolate milk within 45min post practice. The team bounced back into the season healthier and stronger than before. Read the formal study from IU on Chocolate Milk as a Post Exercise Recovery Aid. The body must be refueled shortly after working out to recover well. More information on nutrition secrets to improving fitness here.

Takeaway: Have a recovery drink (and/or quality whole foods) within 30-45min of your workout.  

6 Comments
Becky hecox
10/26/2018 04:28:50 pm

Simple things to do for that 30% improvement, I like the chocolate milk the best!

Reply
Stacy Sweetser
10/26/2018 06:01:20 pm

Agreed Becky! We're talking about a slice of improvement that doesn't involve added yardage. Mindfulness and preparedness can go a long way. Of course the work needs to get done in the pool but the time out of the pool is key as well.

Reply
jeanne littlefield
10/26/2018 07:33:38 pm

great blog here Stacy! Good information. Can't wait to be recovered to get back in the water!!

Reply
Amy Sparks
10/27/2018 07:44:27 am

Absolutely love how your distilled what sounds like a great clinic to these 5 keys points. Although many of us know about these, its great to see them reinforced by these prominent coaches. I will definitely pass this on to my athletes. Thanks!

Reply
Stacy Sweetser
10/27/2018 01:00:33 pm

Thank you Amy. These key takeaways are simple yet often pushed aside despite yielding big dividends in the long term.

Reply
Punjabi Hookup Washington link
1/23/2023 12:34:48 am

Thhis is awesome

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    "Swimming faster by keeping it simple."
    Stacy Sweetser

    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    March 2021
    February 2021
    March 2020
    August 2019
    July 2019
    October 2018
    June 2016
    May 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly