question on swimming article

I am not really interested wheather you agree on what I wrote , at the same time, go ahead to come up with suggestions whats misisng ( at the same time the article is certainly not gonne get longer) .



Iam nore interested is it too long and when do you switch off or what to cut out.

Would appreciate serious comments. and will smile about the douche bag comments.



Triathlon swim training: worth the hours?

There's an ongoing argument in triathlon as to whether the effort it takes to swim fast or to get a non-swimming adult learner up to a respectable swim split is worth the effort. Some argue that those non-swimmers would be better off focusing more on their bike & run, rather than spending a lot of time in the pool with little return on their investment. Others argue that you are only as strong as your weakest link.

They say different folks, different strokes and there cant be a final answer, weather swimming is worth the effort in triathlon, and some would argue it also depends on your level in triathlon. In this article, I will outline the impact swimming could have on bike and run performance, an impact which is often overlooked. Furthermore, I will consider the reasons whymany people give up easily rather than persisting in trying to become better swimmers.

To be fair, being a coach that runs swim sessions and 1-2-1 training, I am a bit biased in my thinking, given that from my experience as a coach, those who give it a real try, mostly succeed, and get the return for their investment. Therefore, Ifeel that those who decide to de-prioritise their swimming, sometimes, take this decision too lightly. At the same time while this article looks a bit more into why to swim, it certainly understands the amount of time needed and that it can make sense to swim less.

There is no doubt but that learning to swim after puberty is much harder. Not only do the young learn more quickly, their joints and tendons are also more flexible. But, while there is no hope of an adult learner becoming an Olympic swimmer, it is almost never too late to learn to swim at a decent level for triathlon.


Talent is obviously an asset. There are some who will never succeed in becoming good swimmers but most people have the potential to make significant progress in swim performance. On the other hand, many people are not willing to do is to change their habit of unsuccessful swim training, be it not enough effort in training to little swimming etc etc. Or in other words if you don't like swimming, or the effort it requires, it will be difficult to improve, but do not confuse that with not being able to swim.

The fact that the importance -or not- of the swim element is continually discussed is hardly surprising given that the swim forms a small proportion of the overall race distance in half and full Ironman distance racing, relative to the bike and run.
Of course it is necessary to consider the different swim proportions pertaining to different race distances. In a non-drafting Olympic or Sprint distance race, I would argue that all disciplines have a fair balance. Using Trevor Woods as an example, when he wins a race, his win margin is often the difference between himself and the 2nd place finisher exiting the swim. There are quite a few people who, on land, are as fast as him but the swim often makes the difference and is as important as the bike and run. In half and full Ironman distances, the swim is in smaller proportion to the other disciplines, so naturally less swim training can make sense. At pro level you see that ironman athletes swim a good bit less than ITU athletes (roughly 25k vs 15k in athletes with a good swim background or 40k vs 25k for those with a swim weakness ).

There are two main reasons I would suggest why athletes should focus more on their swim. Firstly, as already mentioned, while talking about ‘talent” most people who say that they can't swim have never really tried to improve or never trained properly. Just going to the pool isn’t enough! Likewise swimming 15k per week for a month, thinking that (s)he will become a great swimmer, and then gives up after a month because (s)he sees no improvement , doesn’t count as really trying. Truth: swimming needs time and it takes years to become really good and it’s a real tough sport in training harder than cycling and running ( with fast recovery after ;-)

While I can see that triathlon becomes more and more a bucket list sport, those who are serious about it should not forget that it takes time and hard work. I always use Bella Bayliss as an example as she started to swim in her later youth. She won IM Florida in 2003 with a 1.06 swim split. By 2008, she swam 53mins in ironman races. Few would say she was a swim talent but she mastered the Ironman finally being committed.


My second point is that we all know those really great cyclists who we can hardly keep up with in training but who, on race day, are out-split every time you race in a tri.To see- the often difficult relationship of swim bike and run - an example of a client of mine who you would call a good duathlete. Before starting swim training, this athlete did a 1.17 bike split in Dublin City Triathlon (DCT) 2012. The athlete would cycle quite well in duathlons, and for instance, beat an Irish duathlon champ at the duathlon worlds in 2012 (coincidentally also a good cyclist in duathlon but not as good a cyclist in triathlon). In 2013, following 9 month of continuous swim training, the athlete cycled DCT in 1.07. I would suggest that appox. 3 minutes of that improved bike split came from increased bike training (based on comparable duathlon performances 2012-13), 2 minutes from a new bike (on the DCT course which is technical and diminishes the advantage of a tt bike overthe well fited road bike) and approx3 minutes from the athlete coming out of the water fresher. I would attribute the other 2 minutes to other factors (though not drafting). The athlete's swim time also improved by 6 minutes in DCT 2013 due to an increase in swim volume of approx. 11k per week since 2012.

Now, the logical question to ask is whether that athlete is a natural born swimmer. I'd like to say yes, but the answer is a definite no and there is still a lot of work to do.. But the athlete happens to be one of the most driven people I have worked with and made the time to swim while, very importantly, maintained a positive approach and by now loves swimming . If the average person watches 3 hours of tv a day, so the average person should have the time to swim… There are definitely time crunched people but in my view half of those people who claim not to have time just don’t really want it badly enough. Or sometimes maybe duathlon might be the better option.

A small comment on adaption to training ,by the above referenced athlete/swimmer, “Swimming was tough going as it was a whole new experience to work hard in the pool. I tired very quickly during the session and used to be pretty exhausted after the sessions but it was worth it and by February I had adjusted and was beginning to make some good progress".

Looking back on 2012-13, I would say that only 5% -10 % of Pb3 athletes did not get the deserved swim return for their time investment in the pool. Even the minority who's times did not improve (unless it was due to injury) left the water fresher for their bike leg.

In the ironman swim one aspect that’s often forgotten by the swim less cycle more advocates is nutrition and the longer you are in the water the more it impacts your nutrition plan for the race.

To conclude while this article is certainly more on why to swim, rather than not to swim, what iam really trying to get accorss here is that before making a decision about whether it’s worth the effort to focus on swimming, reflect on some of the points that have been raised in the article. What I often see is that good runner and cyclist understand that they need to work hard in their favourite sport but don’t put in the same effort into swimming when swimming training hurts more during a hard session .


Different people will come to different conclusions, and again, article isnt aimed to give a solution it is aimed to help you in your thought process, on how to approach swim training in triathlon. While I try to outline that most adults and weak swimmer can improve their swim and that overall swimming is a very important part of triathlon, I certainly agree that for the time crunched athlete and the “rock” this is not as black and white, to decide for longer distances. At the same time I want you to make sure you don’t take this decision to lightly. Finally if you get overtaken all the time after the swim, more cycling and running is needed !