Hi Swim fans,

I hate to mention that we have been in lockdown coz it’s just tempting fate (touch wood). So, let’s look to the future and all the great events that lie ahead, just waiting for us to enter and have a go at. GVSS, Pier to Pub, WOW Challenge, triathlons, Ironmans and more – but how do you train for these events?

First: You take it seriously (and have fun taking it seriously). That means you go for a swim no less than three times per week. And you should be working up to swimming at least 2km each time you swim. And that’s 2km of quality swimming, pushing yourself and raising your heartbeat. If your heart rate is not elevated, you are not training, you’re just moving your body (which is good) but you’re not getting stronger, fitter and ready for a big event.

Second: Training for distance doesn’t mean just going for a long swim. Do intervals of fast swimming as well as a long weekly swim. A good schedule might be two hard training sessions plus one long swim per week (minimum). And of course, the more swimming you do the better.

Now you’re doing all that, you can start thinking about what distance freestyle is about. It’s different to sprint freestyle for the pool. You could be doing thousands of strokes in a distance event so your technique is much more important. A small inefficiency will be repeated thousands of times, so great distance swimmers are often the swimmers that get everything right. Here are the main elements to a good distance freestyle technique:

Use a higher arm recovery when swimming long distance and in the open water. Stretch out at the front and catch the water. Get your forearm vertical as soon as possible.
Maintain long, straight body position and use long strokes. In distance freestyle, minimise the number of strokes, longer the better.

Measure your SWOLF (Swimming Golf) score which is your time in seconds plus your strokes over a set distance – lower the SWOLF score the better.

Keep a high elbow position when swimming. That includes during the pull (under the water) and the recovery (out of the water).

Use a two-beat kick for long-distance swimming. Fast kicking is not needed and tires you out. Two beat kick means two kicks per stroke cycle. Don’t worry too much about counting kicks, just slow it down and don’t do a lot of kicking.

Learn correct breathing technique. Keep head low, don’t turn from neck, turn from abs. Hold yourself up with your front hand. Breathe in quickly and deeply through your mouth and out slowly through your nose.

Maintain a neutral head position. This is important. Your head is heavy. Keep it low and your neck and spine straight.

Keep fingers slightly open and hands relaxed. Tension will wear you out and you won’t last to the finish.

Breathing for long distance:

Many distance swimmers breathe every stroke. They get into a rhythm and use their front arm to hold them up as they inhale. In the open water you need to inhale more often than you might in the pool.

HOWEVER: When training you still need to use bilateral breathing and spread out your breathing-in to one every three or four strokes, at least some of the time. This helps you develop a balanced stroke and manage your breathing so you have an easy, long exhale.

This week we are building our speed and strength for the distance events that are coming soon. The attached pool training sessions feature the Stayin Alive drill – which means get both your arms locked straight at the elbows at the same time – one pointed out in front of you and one exiting the water near your hips or thighs.

Jason