The swimming leg of the triathlon spooks many contestants. If you are swimming in the ocean, you might lose your way or find yourself in a riptide. If you're swimming in a lake, the wind might create a chop higher than your head. Your wetsuit might be too tight and your goggles might fill with water. And on top of all that, proper technique is more important in the swim stage of the triathlon than in the run or bike stages. So, if you intend to compete, or improve your times, in the triathlon, developing or improving your swim technique is the best way to make the swim stage a pleasure rather than a nightmare.
Arm Stoke
Although you might see people doing the breaststroke or backstroke in a triathlon, the overhand crawl is the recommended stroke. The technique in the crawl stroke might appear to be simple, but it is not. There are four phases to a crawl stroke: hand entry, underwater catch and pull, hand exit and recovery. As triathlete and swim coach Marty Gaal explains, your hand should enter the water about 12 inches in front of you, align with the forearm in a near-perpendicular angle pointed to the bottom of the ocean as you catch and pull and, when it leaves the water, should not rise higher than your elbow.
Leg Stroke
My Triathlon Training expresses the view held by many triathletes and coaches: "You don't want to spend all of your energy kicking in the swim portion... ." Some triathletes use their legs as stabilizers and little if at all as a propellant. In doing so, they save their legs for the bike and run segments of the triathlon. At the least, your legs are important to stabilize your body and keep it as horizontal as possible. Picture yourself swimming inside a narrow tube. If you can do so, you reduce the drag of the water on your body. Since water is roughly 1,000 times more dense than air, reducing as much drag as possible will enable you to swim faster while expending less energy that swimmers who thrash and flair though the surf.
Breathing Technique
Well-known Australian swim coach Brenton Ford says that proper breathing technique often is overlooked by triathletes. Poor breathing technique results in an inefficient overall stroke. He and other experts recommend bilateral breathing, meaning breathing to each side every other stroke. Not only does this type of breathing improve your stoke, but it also allows you to see where you are on the course much more easily, Good training for a triathlon includes hypoxic work to build up your lung capacity. During practice, try breathing after three, four or five strokes instead of after every other stroke.
Considerations
Many triathletes believe that working with a swim coach on technique is money well spent. You also could find a master's swim team in your area and work out regularly with the rest of the team and receive some instruction from the coach. Prepare for the specific site where you will be swimming by practicing in the ocean or lake. Practice spotting markers on the course. Find a wetsuit that is neither too tight nor too loose. By learning the proper swim technique and preparing thoroughly, you can relax and enjoy the swim leg of the triathlon.
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