Triathlon Swimming: Gliding through the Water!

Arend Pryor
Aug 20, 2017
3 min read

Month 1 - Week 2:

Mon: Bike: 30 minutes easy or spin class
Tue: Run: 20 minutes easy
Wed: Off
Thu: Swim: 10 to 16 x 25 m easy, rest 20 seconds
Fri: Bike: 30 to 40 minutes easy or spin class
Sat: Swapped out running for swimming. 600m total
Side Kicking Drill: 2 x 25m
Shark Fin Drill: 2 x 25m
Triple Touch Switch: 8 x 25m
Freestyle: 6 x 25m
Sun: Off

Seriously! I was gliding through the water during my freestyle strokes like I was teaching a class on it! Keep reading for all the resources that helped.

After being out of commission with stomach problems this week (see previous post), I was happy to wake up this morning feeling good enough to get back to some sprint-tri-training.

Tri Swim Coach app:

Great app, I highly recommend it. Best part is the drills and if that's all you end up using, it's still worth the five bucks you'll pay to buy it. Check out my previous post where I talk about their online program, DVD and the app.

The drills focus on nailing the basics of freestyle swimming and each one builds upon the last. So, I spent this week watching drills, planning out my next practice session, and getting excited about the possibility of making progress with my freestyle swimming.

I started with the Side Kicking drill from the app. The video below is the closest thing I could find on YouTube so you can have an example, but I can tell you the videos from the app are much better.

Side Kicking Drill:

Tips:

Head Position: Make sure you're looking straight down and not up/forward
Body positioning: Very important to keep your body positioned at 90 degrees (straight up and down), which is going to help you later.
Speed: You're gonna go slow and your legs are gonna get worked. Focus on your form and don't freak out. Video from the app recommends using swim fins (optional) and I can see why.
Breathing: I had problems here and there. Make sure you're rolling from 90 degrees to a 45 degree angle, on your back to breath, and keep focused.
Switch Sides: Be sure to alternate arms on each lap

Next is the Shark Fin Drill. I definitely recommend adding this one to your workout or practice session. Not available on YouTube, but I did find it on their web site. Click here to check it out.

After watching those and getting pumped up for when I could actually practice again, I decided to look up some examples of good freestyle technique. What I ended up finding was a video of Michael Phelps winning his first gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, doing a 400m medley.

Michael Phelps' 1st Gold - 2008 Beijing Olympics Men's 400m Medley

Which then led me to a video with his coach, Bob Bowman, and my favorite drill of all. The triple touch switch. I did this one for 6 laps today and it really got me to focus on body positioning and proper technique.

MP Swim Tips by Bob Bowman: Freestyle Triple Touch Switch

Here's one showing his freestyle swimming technique from multiple angles that's just awesome to watch!

Michael Phelps freestyle multi angle camera

After doing the above drills, I ended my swim session with some freestyle practice and my first two laps were the best I've every swam! I was rotating my body, catching and recovering, and gliding effortlessly through the water. It was amazing!

One last video I found helpful was on whether or not you should use fins. My initial thought was no, but after doing a little more research, I like the idea of adding some resistance by using fins.