At Ironman Canada this year I swam 53.27.
It was the 4th fastest women's time, and 38th fastest overall.
It demonstrated a marked improvement in my swimming.
Let me say for the record, I am not a fast swimmer. I was not a swim-club-kid, and at the beginning, I was much slower. I had to learn how to swim.
One of the most valuable things that I learned from my old coach is to always compare myself to the best in the world. If you think you are good, that’s the end of improvement.
Compared to the best swimmers in the world, I am not fast.
The women’s world record for 1500m long course is 15.42.54. That’s 1.03/100m. Now that is fast. Until you are among the best in the world at something, you are not fast.
This perspective has served me very well over the years. If the “ceiling” of swim performance is 15.42 for 1500m, then I am so far off that room for improvement is significant. My mere 1.25/100m pace is, in reality, quite mediocre.
That said, when I reflect on where I came from when I started this journey, I am very pleased with my progress in the pool and the lake. I attribute my increased speed (in 2005, I swam 1.01.23 at IMC) to two very definite factors:
1. The patience of Darren Smith.
Darren coached me for 5 years, and it probably took 3 of them before I made significant and permanent change to my swim technique. For 3 years he tried every trick in the book to effect change to my stroke. I can remember swimming endless hours with a band tied around my ankles, or weights attached to my wrists, or various contraptions strapped around my hips. I remember one day in Spain when Darren took a saw to a plastic crate in order to make hand paddles in exactly the right shape that he felt I required. One fall day in about 2004 or 2005 we spent 4-5hours together, just him and I, on swimming. Our video equipment was anything but state-of-the art. His little handheld camera had a waterproof case and he held the contraption just below surface level as I swam by. Then, I got out of the pool, into the next room to watch. After that, I would jump back in the water, try some changes (that invariably felt awkward and weird), video again and repeat the process. By the end of the day, I was a prune, but I still consider that to be the day that I learned to swim properly. More to the point, that was the day that I learned to catch the water.
The following spring, I started racing consistently with the main group of pro long course women. My swim was no longer a weakness. It simply set me up for the rest of the race.
For years I was frustrated with the fact that my swim technique always seemed like it was better than my speed showed. I was often told I was a “pretty” swimmer, but believe me, I would rather be fast than pretty!
2. The cunning of Clinton Lien.
Gone are the days when the swim is not important in Ironman. It’s increasingly difficult to win an Ironman if you spend over an hour on the swim. So, when I first started my coaching relationship with Clint, we increased my swim volume and intensity. This year I swam about 25k a week and swam hard more often than not. When I used to train with Faris (yes, Al Sultan, that’s a whole other story which I will blog about one of these days), he told me “you need to swim harder”. So, 3 years later I finally took this advice. Clint put together a great swim program whether I was training alone or with a group.
The other thing I changed this year is that I started swimming with the new long course elite group here in Victoria (VELCA) which is coached by Clint himself. With a handful of swimmers in the pool who are faster than me, and another handful who are about the same, I was in good company and I have definitely been pushed out of my comfort zone.
This final change really put the meat on the bones of the swim stroke that Darren and I perfected together those years ago. No amount of technique work can replace hard work and a smart training program.
If I have advice for others wanting to improve their Ironman swim times it would be this: Be patient with yourself when it comes to swimming. Technique may not change overnight. It may take years, and it will feel awkward and you will wonder if anything is really changing at all. Work hard consistently and have faith in the process, and like most things, the changes will come.
My new website is under construction so I am using this blog temporarily. Please send coaching requests to saragross@yahoo.com.
0 comments:
Post a Comment