I love to swim sprints in a masters meet but I also have enjoyed doing triathlons. It is very difficult to train for both. I'd love to hear from folks that compete in both masters meets and triathlons to learn how they balance training and competing in both.
I coach a number of triathletes...and not one single one has ANY interest in swimming in a swim meet. I can understand the mindset...but have tried to explain that racing is racing and so many multisport athletes right ff the swim leg...or think the best thing they can do is just bang our more mileage to try and get better. Enter meets, race almost every weekend whether that's a 5k run, a 100 mile ride or the 1500 at your local meet...IMHO.
An interesting article published in the current issue of ASCA by Scott Volkers an elite swim coach from Brisbane, Australia. I like what he has to say about Speed…listen up all you Triathletes, open water swimmers and distance swimmers who do not believe that speed work is important…your wrong!! A sample of the article:
“ Train like you race. If someone was to ask me what happens in Queensland compared to a lot of places, why do we go well? Across the board I think we train like we race. I have been pushing that for about 16 years in Queensland, about speed. Speed is important. Speed is the most important thing now. If you do not have speed you are in the wrong event. Look at Grant Hackett. He goes 49 (long course meters) for a 100 freestyle and he is going to swim 1500. If your best is 53, you are a little bit behind on the first lap. Then he can’t hang with any of the toughest guys around”.
I coach a number of triathletes...and not one single one has ANY interest in swimming in a swim meet. I can understand the mindset...but have tried to explain that racing is racing and so many multisport athletes right ff the swim leg...or think the best thing they can do is just bang our more mileage to try and get better. Enter meets, race almost every weekend whether that's a 5k run, a 100 mile ride or the 1500 at your local meet...IMHO.
An interesting article published in the current issue of ASCA by Scott Volkers an elite swim coach from Brisbane, Australia. I like what he has to say about Speed…listen up all you Triathletes, open water swimmers and distance swimmers who do not believe that speed work is important…your wrong!! A sample of the article:
“ Train like you race. If someone was to ask me what happens in Queensland compared to a lot of places, why do we go well? Across the board I think we train like we race. I have been pushing that for about 16 years in Queensland, about speed. Speed is important. Speed is the most important thing now. If you do not have speed you are in the wrong event. Look at Grant Hackett. He goes 49 (long course meters) for a 100 freestyle and he is going to swim 1500. If your best is 53, you are a little bit behind on the first lap. Then he can’t hang with any of the toughest guys around”.
