How To Become a Better Triathlon Swimmer
Many triathletes are late-onset swimmers, meaning we struggle in the water. However, we must remember that we are trying to succeed in the sport of triathlon, not swimming (or cycling, or running). Therefore, attempting to imitate elite pool swimmers' technique and training protocols is not prudent. Triathletes don’t have the training hours required for this approach, nor do the technical aspects of pool swimming translate to the open water. Although swimming is the most technically dependent of the three triathlon disciplines, it still requires significant fitness and muscular endurance. At Purple Patch, we try to keep things simple by aiming for ‘good enough technique and focusing on three elements: posture, alignment, and propulsion. In unison with developing these elements, we are always trying to teach our athletes the importance of being comfortable in open water and developing the skills necessary to thrive in a race situation. Swimming doesn’t have to be complicated, but it takes time, dedication, and awareness. Read on to delve deeper into how we approach the development of the three technical elements of becoming a better triathlon swimmer.
Let’s Become a Better Triathlon Swimmer:
Posture
Correct and stable posture is essential for all three triathlon disciplines but even more so for the swim. The water displaces most of your weight and makes it easy to fall into poor posture.
You can have the strongest upper body in the world, but if you’re like a wet noodle flailing around in the water, all that power will do you no good. So, you want to build a hydrodynamic vessel from which the power transfer to the water efficiently propels you forward.
What Good Posture Should Look Like:
Solid and stable from head to toe
No wiggle or noodling in the body while moving through the water
The shoulders, hips, and feet should be in line
Drills to Train Good Posture:
Kick against the wall into swim
Kick with arms out front using snorkel and then into regular swimming to transfer the feeling
Toys We Recommend:
Snorkel - removes breathing rotation and enbles awareness of where you are in space
Ankle strap (with buoy if necessary) - forces you to keep the hips up and in line with the shoulders, or you will sink (trust me, it’s hard!)
Alignment
Alignment refers to ensuring the right side of your body stays on the right side and vice versa. This is important to remove wiggle as you travel through the water and inefficiency in your stroke. You want to be moving forward, not side-to-side.
Common Alignment Mistakes:
Mechanical entry - rigid hand trying to slice the water. Remove the tension. It isn’t needed.
Reaching towards the end of the pool on entry - causes overreaching, fingers creeping up to the surface, and resultant over-rotation. Rotation shouldn’t be forced or overdone.
Crossing the midline on entry - pulls the legs and body out of alignment.
Crossing at the pull zone of the stroke - exposes weakness in the midstroke, and crossing the midline causes ‘the wiggle.’
Drills to Train Good Alignment:
We only use one drill for our athletes to enforce proper alignment, the Purple Patch Drill. One arm lays by your side while the other hones in on proper shoulder use, entry location, connection, and, finally, pull. We always lead into regular swimming directly afterward. Remember, drills should help you swim better; they are not standalone tools.
Toys We Recommend:
We also only focus on one toy for alignment training, the snorkel. The snorkel is useful for three main reasons:
It removes the rotation of breathing, so you can look and see what’s going on, and your body won’t be pulled out of alignment by the bowling ball head yanking the body everywhere.
It allows for visual awareness, where you can see the hand entry in the periphery, as well as the pull underwater.
It gives you the headspace to focus on timing, as rhythm in swimming is vitally important.
Propulsion
Arguably the most important part of the stroke, the pull. Now that we have posture and alignment down, we need to learn how to propel the vessel. Don’t let the media intimidate you when it comes to the catch phase. It does not need to be complicated, and the finer mechanics of the action are unnecessary.
There are 3 phases of propulsion:
Entry - shoulder forward and toward the bottom, palm back, and grip the water.
Catch - hold the water.
Pull - retain your hold and accelerate the water backward.
Drills to Train Strong Propulsion:
The only ‘drill’ we recommend for propulsion improvement is dryland swim bands, there are three different strengths, you can progress through them as you become more competent. Swim bands are a great way to develop form and muscular endurance.
Toys for Propulsion Improvement:
Ankle strap and paddles - forces good posture and increases the efficiency of your pull.
Snorkel - used in unison with the fist drill and then into open palm swimming to feel the connection and hold.
Parachute (advanced swimmers) - trains high-end power.
Putting it All Together
To best set yourself up for effective triathlon swim improvement, you need to be patient, and establish good habits early. Too many triathletes rush for fitness first, and never build proper swimming habits. This highlights the essential benefits of a proper off-season for athletes (the time between the last race of the year and when serious training begins again).
For many amateurs, this 2-3 month period can be a gateway to optimize the hard work ahead, and the lower emphasis on fitness development allows space to focus on the technical elements. We tend to split up swimming technique into separate pieces, in a specific order, to best develop the swimmer. Here are 3 examples of technical swim sets that are all integrated into Purple Patch coaching sessions. Remember, with all of these it is critical to practice the technical element before applying it to full swimming.
Set #1: Posture Focused
8 x 25 kick with snorkel
The aim here is to have the swimmer create a long and stable vessel (long spine), and allow the head to drop into the water in a natural position. Aim to lengthen the distance between shoulders and hips. Stretch the arms out straight, but do not cross the midline out front. Instead, keep the arms in line with the shoulder.
Take 15-20 seconds rest between each, there’s no need to kick hard. It isn’t a leg strength exercise!
Follow this with 2 x 50 form-based swimming at a steady to strong effort, but with form focus.
Repeat 2-3 rounds before any main set.
Set #2: Alignment Focused
This set aims to improve awareness of good alignment, but also swimming with your total body. Timing and connection is important, you can execute this set with a snorkel and fins (if they benefit you with finding timing).
150 single arm drill (1 lap right arm, 1 lap left arm x 3)
3 x 50 swim strong feeling good connection.
2-4 rounds of this.
Ensure you are aware of the arm not falling into the water across the midline, and keep your palm facing back as you accelerate the water straight down and behind you. Don’t over-focus on rotation, which is an over-used cue in swimming instruction. Instead, focus on letting the shoulder of the entering arm slide forward towards the end of the pool as the hand drops in. This extension will create rotation, and avoid the ‘finger high’ reach to the end of the pool that so many athletes mistakenly deploy when thinking about entry.
Set #3: Propulsion Focused
We do a lot of propulsion work in the pool but here we give you insight via our dryland swim bands. Here is a sample workout you can execute with dryland swim cords.
Simple as that, it doesn’t need to be any more intricate for triathletes. Remember, we swim in a dynamic, open water environment that often includes waves, bodies, and other obstacles. There’s no time or need to consider multiple phases of the pull, once you find the right position, drive backward in a controlled and strong fashion.
Swim Analysis
Still want more help? We have an advanced swim analysis and improvement offering that we have rolled out to our athletes. It is working wonders for the adult-onset swimmers among us. Learn more about Squad and our swim services here. Additionally, check out this episode of the Purple Patch Podcast with our resident swim expert, Coach John Stevens.