Swimming - Part 1

Since I started competing in triathons in 2005, I have made a huge improvement in my swimming abilities, but it has been a long journey. I started swimming for fitness in 2004 when I was injured and I couldn't run. I had a friend go over the basics of swimming freestyle so I went to the pool and put it to work. I swam "water polo" style for awhile but I eventually upgraded to putting my face in the water. I would swim 2 - 3 times a week and I really enjoyed the workout. I decided right then I would also look into cycling and if I enjoyed that I would attempt a triathlon. That fall I bought a bike, liked it, and decided to train for the winter going into the 2005 tri season. That first year competing in triathlons I swam in the ball park of 23 - 25 minutes for a 1.5k open water swim. I did so by swimming twice a week with maybe a third swim on big weeks. I was able to bike/run down most of my competitors at the local races so I was happy with how I was finishing in races. The following year I got a little faster in the water (but not much) and started to win some of the local races (I was also stronger on the bike so that helped). I was swimming 2 - 3 times a week of maybe 3,500 yards. So swimming 10,000 yards in a single week was a HUGE week. I was content with having a small deficit out of the water and then chasing everyone down. This worked great at local races, but I got my eyes opened at USAT Nationals in the summer of 2006. This was my first "big" race so I was very niave going into the race about my abilities. I got SMOKED on the swim. I came out pretty far back from the leaders and was also extremely worn out from the swim. I had never felt that "out of shape" after a swim leg before. I did manage to qualify for the World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland. I went there in September of 2006 and again came out of the water pretty far back from the leaders and that left me a lot of work to do on the bike/run. When I got back to the US, I decided I was going to improve my swim. I joined the Wildcat Master's swim team and this helped a lot. I was swimming with faster swimmers, I increased my weekly yardage to roughly 15k a week, and was in the water about 4 times a week. That next spring, my first several races I was in the ball park of 19 minutes for the 1.5k open water swim. I was top 20 out of the water at Collegiate Nationals allowing me to finish in the top 10 overall at the end of the race. I kept that routine for 2007 and really didn't improve much. During the off season after the 2007 season, I decided that 2008 was going to be my year. I worked hard during the off season and was in the water 4 - 5 times a week, sometimes swimming more than 20k in a single week. That season I was regularly in the top 10 out of the water at big races such as Memphis in May, St. Anthony's, Clearwater 70.3, Chicago Triathlon, etc. and this allowed me to finish VERY well in most of those races. I got my Pro card at the end of 2008 and increased my yardage even more in 2009. I was swimming around 100k a month and having some really solid workouts. However, I learned the difference between a Pro triathlete and an AG'er triathlete: Pro's are VERY strong in the water. They were all great swimmers and I went from being top 5 - 10 out of the water to "back of the pack" swimmer. I found that the wetsuit gave me some confidence and I was able to hang with the average swimmers when I swam in a wetsuit. I kept working on my swim, but was getting a little burnt out so I wasn't as consistent with my swim workouts as usual. I might make it to the pool 4 times a week and was putting in about 20k a week, but this was a decrease in yardage from the beginning of the year. I had some decent results for my first year as a Pro, but I was happy to end the season at the end of September after Augusta 70.3. I took a long down period and enjoyed taking time off. I actually enjoyed it too much and didn't train hard until almost April of 2010. I didn't touch my bike for several months, I was swimming but not regularly, and was running only about 30 - 40 miles a week. This really hurt everything that I had built up over the past 4 years. I swam about 4 minutes slower than the leaders at the Kansas 70.3 race. I knew I needed to get stronger in the water. That summer I swam more long course than I ever had and I was actually 4th out of the water in August at the Steelhead 70.3 race. This gave me a lot of confidence about my swimming, so I focused on my run and bike for the next 1.5 months and I lost some of my swimming fitness. I was only in the water 3 - 4 times a week going into Augusta 70.3 and I paid for it. I finished 7th at Augusta 70.3 (after being 18th or so out of the water) and had a "light bulb" go off at that race. It is a down river swim, and I was still about 2 minutes back from the leaders out of the water when I was within 45 seconds of the leaders the previous year. This "light bulb" told me I should work on my swim. To be con't. A great link to check out before I post "Part 2" is from Matt Dixon at Purple Patch Fitness. He discusses the importance of swimming yardage. http://purplepatchfitness.com/purplepatch_fitness/Knowledge+/Entries/2011/2/19_Secrets_of_the_Triathlon__Secret_1_Swim_More!.html