Tricks of the Trade

Competition Warm-up: If possible, warm up in the lane you will race in. In a LCM pool look for ‘landmarks’ on the bottom of the pool about ¾ way down the length (when you are wondering when the hell is the end coming and might be tempted to look up). For a 50m it is important that you don’t even think about the end until you see your mark (e.g. the drain at the deep end). Looking for the end too soon just slows you down and checking for the lane’s ‘T’ on the bottom can be difficult in a deep pool, especially when bulkheads are involved. For 100m it is also good to know where you are in the length and how much more suffering is left to go. (a psychological benefit – maybe) When bulkheads are involved in a 50m pool set up for SCM as two 25m pools, it is especially important to checkout the bottom and ends – there may not even be a lane-line ‘T’ in front of the bulkhead and the end wall where the bulkhead is normally parked for LCM may be tricky to judge. In the warm-up, always practice race speed turns on the bulkhead from 10m out, and race speed finishes to the end wall (whether bulkhead or not). Don’t feel you have to always swim complete lengths in the warm-up – hang around at a turn and do as many as needed from 10m to feel comfortable. There is a lot to competition meet warm-ups – unless I missed it, I’m hoping that Ande will expound on this topic in his ‘faster-faster’ thread. Hint hint. Ian.

Competition Warm-up: If possible, warm up in the lane you will race in. In a LCM pool look for ‘landmarks’ on the bottom of the pool about ¾ way down the length (when you are wondering when the hell is the end coming and might be tempted to look up). For a 50m it is important that you don’t even think about the end until you see your mark (e.g. the drain at the deep end). Looking for the end too soon just slows you down and checking for the lane’s ‘T’ on the bottom can be difficult in a deep pool, especially when bulkheads are involved. For 100m it is also good to know where you are in the length and how much more suffering is left to go. (a psychological benefit – maybe) When bulkheads are involved in a 50m pool set up for SCM as two 25m pools, it is especially important to checkout the bottom and ends – there may not even be a lane-line ‘T’ in front of the bulkhead and the end wall where the bulkhead is normally parked for LCM may be tricky to judge. In the warm-up, always practice race speed turns on the bulkhead from 10m out, and race speed finishes to the end wall (whether bulkhead or not). Don’t feel you have to always swim complete lengths in the warm-up – hang around at a turn and do as many as needed from 10m to feel comfortable. There is a lot to competition meet warm-ups – unless I missed it, I’m hoping that Ande will expound on this topic in his ‘faster-faster’ thread. Hint hint. Ian.