#gtncoachescorner How do you not drown? I tend to inhale water on my third breath, regardless of whether the water is very choppy or has only small ripples. BTW, I also drown in a pool, but don't have access to a pool normally. Can you maybe do a video in the Learnin to swim as an adult series on breathing?
A couple of thoughts. 1) Swimmers typically (and supported by research) have lower HRs, typically 9-14 bpm lower, during training/racing than land based sports because the heart does not have to work as hard to pump blood. This has been my experience as a lifelong competitive swimmer (pool and OW). I would add, unless the triathlete is trying to win a race, there is NOT much reason to push harder than Zone 2 during the swim. Adding to this, if you are not kicking hard, it is very hard to get your HR into Zone 3/4. I advise triathletes I coach to minimize kicking because Zone 3/4 means using legs which will compromise the bike/run, 2) your comments about the swimmer with nausea are good and there is one more possibility - the athlete was pushing too hard and has gone into oxygen debt. This probably occurred because they were not inhaling and exhaling completely so, essentially, hyper-ventilated. They should focus on starting slower and getting better inhale/exhale rhythm, 3) for Liam, the large difference in time is most likely due to being off-course - either from sighting too much or not enough. Practice swimming with your eyes closed to see how much you veer from a straight line and then compensate. As for getting kicked in the head, I always started on the fringe of the starting line (even though I was one of the fastest swimmers) to avoid the chaos. It is better to swim a bit further than get kicked. Finally, 4) why is pace slower in OW? It could because the swimmer losses a sense of speed they get in the pool when the bottom can be seen going past.
Another thought on the open water pacing: even if your open water course _is_ well measured, for example if you've got buoys marking out a defined distance, you might record a time going slower because you aren't able to swim perfectly straight, or because you slow down as you take corners, whereas in the pool you immediately reverse direction and even gain a significant speed boost from pushing off the wall. A 10 m speed boost every 50 m is significant, even if you don't take into account the extra rest!
Hi, really agree with all your thoughts in this coaches corner. The position of the head is important and maybe you (I) don’t have the head in the water as you think you have. Good to see yourself on video. This with choppy lakes was interesting. Jönköping 70.3 had to shorter the Swim cause of the wind. The same day Sweden Championship in Olympic distance in Säter , also lake, cancelled swim cause of wind!! Lisa was there . When I followed my friends in the IM app in Jonkoping , I wondered what they were doing. Theirs speed was so bad and they just swim 600 m ! I knew what they used to do. I heard later that the swim was really difficult .
To help with the exits out the water immediately focus on a point on land. If you have a tendency to lose your balance at the end of the swim looking at moving water really doesn't help you regain your stride.
Another reason for nausea could dehydration. This used to happen to me in the pool when I started swimming, just drinking some water every few laps made it better
The kick-off every 25m will add extra speed when swimming in the pool. I’ve often experienced that the extra buoyancy from a wetsuit is counter balanced by the lack of regular kick-offs, making OW and pool swimming times quite equal.
Don’t underestimate the “mini break” you get at each turn in a pool. A good swimmer can glide / kick 10-15 meters without a stroke, which is a long rest for your arms.
I’ve noticed that sometimes I can feel a little nauseous after a swim from breathing to deeply. I’m not a very good swimmer and when I’m already tired and wore out from work I’ll hit the lake. I usually don’t swim very well and that can throw me off. Big breaths do something to me and make me feel sick.
I find that every flip turn is worth about 1 second, so 1500 OPW will be 30 seconds slower than 1500 LCM in a pool and 65 seconds slower than 1650 SCY in a pool at the same effort for that reason alone.
Hello #gtncoachescorner During my swim training I find my left arm muscle is significantly weaker than the right arm. I also breath on only right side. What is the best approach to train my left arm to reduce the imbalance strength of arms?
A year ago I could swim 2:45/100m, but since then I have got progressively slower to the point where I’m now struggling along at 4:45/100m. I don’t understand why this is happening as my running performance is normal and I swim at least once a week.
Regarding doing zone 2 swimming. In triathlon the swim is always the shortest part, no matter how you measure it. If we were ever doing a 10k swim then yes, you need lots of LSD (long, slow distance) or zone 2 as non-swimmers call it. Even an IronMan distance requires some speed work to make sure you are ready.
There is the "equilateral triathlon", a relatively rare type of triathlon race where the distances are designed so that the time taken on each leg is roughly the same. Though it's mostly only worth pointing out as a curiosity, because very few people are actually racing equilateral triathlons.
@@JimCullensign me up! I really want an event that takes the distance that the most elite male athlete in each discipline can do in two hours. Basically anchoring it on the male marathon world record. In my opinion this would even the playing field and find us the TRUE best at the sport. We could see about a 10-12k swim, 100k bike and a marathon. I’m down for that!! For me that would be within the same as my IronMan time and the time I spend doing each sport would be far closer. Bike/swim about the same and run a bit longer.
@@lizzobeach5179 while I appreciate the goals of the equilateral triathlon, I actually don't think it achieves them in the best way. Because the time to complete a leg is not the only factor. There's also the energy expended in that leg. 2 hours of running takes a lot more out of you than 2 hours of cycling does. So the run in an equilateral triathlon is way worse than the bike.
#GTNcoachescorner I have a question for James who has just done Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee again. I am doing Challenge Walchsee in 2025. I have two bikes with pretty much the exact same specs - a road bike and a triathlon bike. Both are full carbon, Shimano 105 and hydraulic disc brakes. With the bike course having 1140 meters of elevation over the 90km - would you bring the road bike or the tri bike?
JC: I would always take a tri bike for a non-drafting triathlon (even Alpe D'Huez!). If it's well setup and you've climbed on it in training, and learned the handling, it will be faster. Put it like this - aero matters most at any speed over 15km/h, so what is your average speed for the entire bike going to be?
Huh interesting I'm always faster in the open water than in the pool. Except if said open water is a river with a current but I think that's to be expected xD
Doing 500m in pool at a pace 1:32 quite comfortably yet still getting 1:45 in openwater is really unpleasant 😅 Especially when 100m pb is 1:10, 1:20 100m intervals isn't that hard for me.
Any other tips we missed on improving open water swimming? 🏊
#gtncoachescorner How do you not drown? I tend to inhale water on my third breath, regardless of whether the water is very choppy or has only small ripples. BTW, I also drown in a pool, but don't have access to a pool normally. Can you maybe do a video in the Learnin to swim as an adult series on breathing?
Would breathing from both sides alternatively help those who suffer from nausea? Just a thought I have no experience of this.
A couple of thoughts. 1) Swimmers typically (and supported by research) have lower HRs, typically 9-14 bpm lower, during training/racing than land based sports because the heart does not have to work as hard to pump blood. This has been my experience as a lifelong competitive swimmer (pool and OW). I would add, unless the triathlete is trying to win a race, there is NOT much reason to push harder than Zone 2 during the swim. Adding to this, if you are not kicking hard, it is very hard to get your HR into Zone 3/4. I advise triathletes I coach to minimize kicking because Zone 3/4 means using legs which will compromise the bike/run, 2) your comments about the swimmer with nausea are good and there is one more possibility - the athlete was pushing too hard and has gone into oxygen debt. This probably occurred because they were not inhaling and exhaling completely so, essentially, hyper-ventilated. They should focus on starting slower and getting better inhale/exhale rhythm, 3) for Liam, the large difference in time is most likely due to being off-course - either from sighting too much or not enough. Practice swimming with your eyes closed to see how much you veer from a straight line and then compensate. As for getting kicked in the head, I always started on the fringe of the starting line (even though I was one of the fastest swimmers) to avoid the chaos. It is better to swim a bit further than get kicked. Finally, 4) why is pace slower in OW? It could because the swimmer losses a sense of speed they get in the pool when the bottom can be seen going past.
Open water swimmers tend to have a slighly higher stroke rate. Also a good way to get better is to swim in open water a lot.
Another thought on the open water pacing: even if your open water course _is_ well measured, for example if you've got buoys marking out a defined distance, you might record a time going slower because you aren't able to swim perfectly straight, or because you slow down as you take corners, whereas in the pool you immediately reverse direction and even gain a significant speed boost from pushing off the wall. A 10 m speed boost every 50 m is significant, even if you don't take into account the extra rest!
Yuo can see the advantage of the push-off as well between a 25m and 50m pool
I double down on the suggestion of ear plugs to avoid getting queasy in the water! It’s a must for me.
Agree! I feel like I have been punched in the side of the head with cold water and no ear plugs.
Thanks for the response! Will pay attention to my head rotation more, and getting some water into the system was definitely an issue that day.
Hi, really agree with all your thoughts in this coaches corner.
The position of the head is important and maybe you (I) don’t have the head in the water as you think you have. Good to see yourself on video.
This with choppy lakes was interesting. Jönköping 70.3 had to shorter the Swim cause of the wind. The same day Sweden Championship in Olympic distance in Säter , also lake, cancelled swim cause of wind!! Lisa was there .
When I followed my friends in the IM app in Jonkoping , I wondered what they were doing.
Theirs speed was so bad and they just swim 600 m ! I knew what they used to do.
I heard later that the swim was really difficult .
To help with the exits out the water immediately focus on a point on land. If you have a tendency to lose your balance at the end of the swim looking at moving water really doesn't help you regain your stride.
Another reason for nausea could dehydration. This used to happen to me in the pool when I started swimming, just drinking some water every few laps made it better
The kick-off every 25m will add extra speed when swimming in the pool. I’ve often experienced that the extra buoyancy from a wetsuit is counter balanced by the lack of regular kick-offs, making OW and pool swimming times quite equal.
Not quite. That gain of speed is barely enough to compensate time loss from the flip from the pool's end.
Don’t underestimate the “mini break” you get at each turn in a pool. A good swimmer can glide / kick 10-15 meters without a stroke, which is a long rest for your arms.
Thanks guys! Helpful as always
12:17 - We call that the Bird Box drill. 😣
I’ve noticed that sometimes I can feel a little nauseous after a swim from breathing to deeply. I’m not a very good swimmer and when I’m already tired and wore out from work I’ll hit the lake. I usually don’t swim very well and that can throw me off. Big breaths do something to me and make me feel sick.
I find that every flip turn is worth about 1 second, so 1500 OPW will be 30 seconds slower than 1500 LCM in a pool and 65 seconds slower than 1650 SCY in a pool at the same effort for that reason alone.
Hello #gtncoachescorner During my swim training I find my left arm muscle is significantly weaker than the right arm. I also breath on only right side. What is the best approach to train my left arm to reduce the imbalance strength of arms?
A year ago I could swim 2:45/100m, but since then I have got progressively slower to the point where I’m now struggling along at 4:45/100m. I don’t understand why this is happening as my running performance is normal and I swim at least once a week.
Regarding doing zone 2 swimming. In triathlon the swim is always the shortest part, no matter how you measure it. If we were ever doing a 10k swim then yes, you need lots of LSD (long, slow distance) or zone 2 as non-swimmers call it. Even an IronMan distance requires some speed work to make sure you are ready.
There is the "equilateral triathlon", a relatively rare type of triathlon race where the distances are designed so that the time taken on each leg is roughly the same. Though it's mostly only worth pointing out as a curiosity, because very few people are actually racing equilateral triathlons.
@@JimCullensign me up! I really want an event that takes the distance that the most elite male athlete in each discipline can do in two hours. Basically anchoring it on the male marathon world record. In my opinion this would even the playing field and find us the TRUE best at the sport. We could see about a 10-12k swim, 100k bike and a marathon. I’m down for that!! For me that would be within the same as my IronMan time and the time I spend doing each sport would be far closer. Bike/swim about the same and run a bit longer.
@@lizzobeach5179 while I appreciate the goals of the equilateral triathlon, I actually don't think it achieves them in the best way. Because the time to complete a leg is not the only factor. There's also the energy expended in that leg. 2 hours of running takes a lot more out of you than 2 hours of cycling does. So the run in an equilateral triathlon is way worse than the bike.
@@JimCullen understood. It is all in good fun anyway trying to figure out how to make it more equal.
#GTNcoachescorner I have a question for James who has just done Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee again. I am doing Challenge Walchsee in 2025. I have two bikes with pretty much the exact same specs - a road bike and a triathlon bike. Both are full carbon, Shimano 105 and hydraulic disc brakes. With the bike course having 1140 meters of elevation over the 90km - would you bring the road bike or the tri bike?
JC: I would always take a tri bike for a non-drafting triathlon (even Alpe D'Huez!). If it's well setup and you've climbed on it in training, and learned the handling, it will be faster. Put it like this - aero matters most at any speed over 15km/h, so what is your average speed for the entire bike going to be?
@@gtn Thank you very much! I will train and race on my Argon E117 tri disc. 👌
Huh interesting I'm always faster in the open water than in the pool. Except if said open water is a river with a current but I think that's to be expected xD
Doing 500m in pool at a pace 1:32 quite comfortably yet still getting 1:45 in openwater is really unpleasant 😅 Especially when 100m pb is 1:10, 1:20 100m intervals isn't that hard for me.
Mine is in reverse. Im much faster in the open water
but youve got the draft in open water , and dont have to stop - ive always been faster than the pool
Am I the only one who thinks James should really stop interrupting co-hosts?