So a lady friend of mine and I were discussing Masters training yesterday, specifically the art of sharing a lane with a mixture of like-minded people not necessarily doing the same work-out (ie: public swimming). Right now all of us are in the same boat; the local indoor Olympic-standard pool has been closed for bi-annual maintenance and we are all having to share a wierd old 50-yard outdoor pool which has long-course lap swimming for only a four hour window each day. Most everyone knows everybody by now, so we are all getting along pretty well. With the exception of the triathletes.
So, without trying to poke a sleeping bear with a stick, why is it that tri-athletes cannot seem to get along with competitive swimmers in the training pool? Here are my observations of the group we have here, though they might not be typical examples:
1) Holy smoke are these guys serious about talking about serious training. Note how I worded that. They talk the talk a lot, ignore anything us competitive swimmers might have to say on the subject of training swimming, and generally clog up the end of the pool as they talk. and talk. and talk. Despite the fact they all sport the same middle-aged paunches, they just cannot conceptualize that they are not truly elite athletes and they do not get to set the rules of the pool.
2) They hog the lane. If these guys can drive, how come they cannot figure out circle swimming? It seems to me a pretty simple concept that you stay on your side of that black line on the pool bottom going one way, and then circle to the other side of the line on the way back. That darn line was not painted on the bottom of the pool just so you can swim straight.
3) Circle swimming and trying to mesh the circle swimming of several lanes is just a foreign concept to most of them. It just seems proper that if lane one is circling clockwise, lane two should circle counter-clockwise so you don't bash you freaking arms across the lane lines. The tria-athletes seem to always circle the absolutely wrong way, and with those wide-ass strokes they all seem to use, it is almost inevitable that you will clash. Thankfully most ex-competitive swimmer have developed that 6th sense that tells you to duck when you are about to be smashed (you all know that 6th sense: its called watching where you are going, another apparently foreign concept. Goggles are obviously used for finding floaters at the bottom of the pool rather than looking ahead periodically)
4) Interval training. Tri-athletes seem to believe that is a innovative, modern concept that needs far more study (usually done while they have deep discussions at the end of the pool) before they actually implement it. Serious tri-athletes just know that swimming the same 1000 meter swim with no set pace every single session is a clear formula for winning the next Iron-man. The tri-athletes seem to resent the breaking up of swim sets into reps on intervals, especially if it done by some pathetic competitive swimmer that keeps on passing them while they grind out that standard 1000.
5) Finally, my greatest irritation: X marks the spot!! When you sit at the end of the pool, discussing deeply distressing new concepts such as interval training, circle swimming, and high elbow recovery on the front crawl, why must you sit right in the center of the lane. Did it ever occur to you that the center of the lane has a big cross painted on it and generally Xs and crosses designate landing zones. Of course I know that you rarely use flip turns, but some of us poor simple-minded swimmers do and, from force of habit and in the interest of not smashing into the person behind us, we usually flip-turn on the X. We also tend to come in on one side of the line (that line on the bottom of the pool, put there presumably for some swimmers to find their way back to the discussion at the end of the pool) and leave on the other side. Its called circle swimming.
Is there some shortage of information on swim training for tri-athletes? I know that there are all sorts of magazines and books about triathalon; do they all ignore the fact that to succeed at swimming you actually have to follow some sort of structured training program? Do they even touch base on simple pool training etiquette?
I used to think that it was just my cross-eyed cussed and curmugeonly ways that found the local tri-athletes to be slightly slow and backward with regards to training-pool etiquette, but my lady-friend was far more cynical than I: she was pretty sure that the tri-athletes purposefully are difficult as part of a competitive strategy.
Former Member
I share lanes with Tri swimmers all the time and never have had any problems. I am lucky that we never have to circle swim at my pool, so that is never an issue. I do get some questions and looks while doing drills, but I enjoy having two or three swimmers drop in to do a 1000 and get out during my workout. Sometimes it gives me sombody to chase.
- giving each other pointers on technique/training advice, LOL!
The pool where I swim has a TON of tris, and they all give each other technique advice that is laughable.
I was talking with a coach this summer about triathletes. This is a very successful club coach, but he was amazed and annoyed w/ triathletes who would blow his workouts off b/c he "doesn't understand triathlons" and the role of swimming in that sport.
And then when one of them found out that he had coached numerous world record holders and they respected him, then maybe he knew what he was doing after all. :confused:
Interestingly, the only irritating tris in our workouts are in the slower lanes.
When Wendy Ingraham swam with us, she was faster than most of even the guys, and she was fun to swim with. Now Chris Lieto (who's been on our team seemingly forever) has sort of taken her place. Good swimmer, nice, and most people like him. Never had a problem with tris at the faster end of the pool.
Now the other end of the pool... that's another story. They don't always play well with lanemates. And we'll leave it at that!
I've never had direct probs w/ tris. On one team in LA that had a numerous Ironmen, a few of these amazing athletes were just pissy about getting pretty much zero rest, so instead of doing our workout they would take the crappy lanes off to the side and swim their straight 1000's on 10 seconds rest. Their argument was that there wasn't enough bang for the buck if they worked on speed.
I hate/hated that attitude. Plus at least on that team they were all type A obnoxious jerks.
A couple of years back I got to work out w/ elite tris, and I had no idea that they were triathletes. Very much go-with-the-flow men and women...
I guess it's time that I stop telling triathletes that they should spend a fair amount of time in the winter working on their swimming.
I don't compete in pool meets, but I started back into OW racing a couple of years ago. I also started doing tris at the same time because at 57 I could workout whatever sport my body would allow me to do that day. So let share my thought on triathletes.
First, as a rule they are a great group. Lots of fun to compete against and socialize at the finish line. There are of course those exceptions.
Second, as for their pool behavior some of it is a result of their inexperience and frustration. Some is just bad attitude but you don't have to be a triathlete to have that.
It is often said that triathletes can't swim. While this may be true of a few, it is more like they are not good at swimming. (There are of course some amazing swimmers at the top of the sport). They usually come from cycling and running where if you want to go faster you just train harder (or buy a faster bike). The whole concept of less is sometimes more escape many of these athletes.
What I have found is that they get frustrated with their swimming progress. At times they even discuss their swim workouts among themselves to find good ones even though they usually don't have a clue why they do or do not work for them. They even have some strange notions about training which they then decide to "share" with others.
I feel for their frustration with the sport, but many triathletes do not have time or interest in becoming good swimmers. The problem they have is that is that they are used to being on top of their sport, and in the pool they are getting destroyed by swimmers with a bit more than their 5% body fat.
One final note. While swimmers complain about triathletes, triathletes do their share of complaining about swimmers. Some have great things to say about Masters teams, but some do not. Now if I could only get them to dump their MP3 players while swimming and pay a little more time focusing on their stroke (and others in the pool around them). I never met a swimmer who could say that they got to be a better swimmer because of an MP3 player. With triathletes the justification in using them is because it is too boring to do all those laps without one, to which I say: Do fewer laps and focus completely on your stroke. That will make you faster.
So to finish off here is a list of a few swimming tips that triathletes share with others even though their race results show they barely swim under 2:00 per hundred in the 1 mile leg of an Olympic distance race:
1) Do open turns and do not push off the wall hard because it gives you too much rest and that is not what happens in an open water swim. (I love this one)
2) Wear a drag suit in practice to make you a better swimmer. Ignore the fact that they all wear wetsuits in a race and the lack of one in training provides more than enough drag.
3) You have to use paddles to get fast (I never use them).
4) You have to use a buoy to improve your stroke (I never use one)
5) You have to use these and any other water sex toys you can get your hands on. Make sure that you use them in every workout.
6) Once a week you should spend some time working on your stroke.
7) To work on your stroke you need to do specific drills even though they are not sure why)
8) You need to workout so that you can do a really fast 100 time. This is the best way to find out if you are getting better. Forget that a 1500 meter swimmer never swims as fast a 100 as a sprinter does. (a lot of the same people say they break 1:15 for a single hundred and then average 1:45 - 2:00 in the swim leg
9) You can't become a good freestyler by training different strokes. Worse yet is that you lose all that time you could be doing just freestyle (OK so I don't train different stokes anymore, but that's a different story).
10) Swimming with your eyes closed is good training for open water. (Seriously does anyone swim with their eyes closed in a race? I have never done this drill)
11) You should swim as fast as you can at the start of the swim and fight to stay in with the pack. Forget that you will die 50 - 100 yds from the start. (Alright so this is not a training tip but I had to include it)
12) Swimming is boring, that's just the nature of the sport so just get used to it. (Talk about negative attitude)
13) I had a friend that swam in college and he says you should ALWAYS . . . . (forgot to mention he was a sprint specialist)
14) I have a friend that swam competitively all his life and he says in a race you should ALWAYS. . . (forget that their idea of open water was a lane by yourself in an outdoor 50 meter pool (Not that this isn't an awesome way to train)
15) You have to log everyone of your workouts so you can look back on them (what is the purpose of this if you don't know why things were or weren't working)
Some may think these are good swimming tips, but if you saw the people sharing these among themselves I think you'd agree that they should probably skip these and get some one-on-one lessons. D*mn this is a long post.
10) Swimming with your eyes closed is good training for open water. (Seriously does anyone swim with their eyes closed in a race? I have never done this drill)
i don't swim with my eyes closed when i am racing, but i do think it is good practice to do so when you have the luxury of your own lane or in the OW.
i feel like i can "see" my stroke much more clearly when my eyes are closed.
i don't swim with my eyes closed when i am racing, but i do think it is good practice to do so when you have the luxury of your own lane or in the OW.
i feel like i can "see" my stroke much more clearly when my eyes are closed.
I knew someone would call me out on that one (and the water sex toys). A bit of levity was intended.
6) Once a week you should spend some time working on your stroke.
Bob, great post.
interesting point #6, sometimes once is all people get into the pool anymore.
At times they even discuss their swim workouts among themselves to find good ones even though they usually don't have a clue why they do or do not work for them. They even have some strange notions about training which they then decide to "share" with others.
And when you are privy to this ----> comedic gold
D*mn this is a long post.
Honestly, your 15 points are well appreciated and ****ing funny as hell! Plus we actually learned a lot about some of the stuff that some of us may be able to address w/ triathletes.
One thing I've noticed with some triathletes is that it's really hard if not impossible to convince them of the importance of spending time improving their stroke, which requires slower swimming at much shorter intervals. I've had a few ask me how I learned to swim so well, or state that I must swim a lot to get so good. While it's true that I swim quite a bit more than they do, they stare in disbelief when I tell them that I get better and faster when I swim slower, shorter and focus on technique. Some triathletes have a quantity over quality mindset.
I also think that where I swim, there are more triathletes swimming than there are competitive swimmers. The coach of the local age-group team comes in every now and then, but to my knowledge he and I are the only masters swimmer using this particular pool. I'd rather have people actually swimming in the lanes than people walking in them.
As an aside, I give them props for running and cycling as much as they do. I can handle the cycling, but I'm a horrible runner and lack the will/discipline necessary to get better at it.
:banana:
Visibility is pretty poor in some algae-filled inland lakes, so doing some lane swimming with the eyes shut can actually be a good way to prepare for it. Some people freak out the first time they get into such a lake and can't see more than a foot or two in front of their outstretched arm.
Most of the triathletes that I'm acquainted with really do want to swim better and are constantly looking for ways to do it. I don't agree with their emphasis on only swimming freestyle, but I can sort of understand it.
As for pool toys, in my brief experience with a master's swim club there was a lot of pull buoy/kickboard/paddle use thrown into those workouts as well. Maybe the triathletes would be better in a master's group, maybe not. Masters swim clubs are not always welcoming or inclusive.
Visibility is pretty poor in some algae-filled inland lakes, so doing some lane swimming with the eyes shut can actually be a good way to prepare for it.
When I am swimming in algae-filled lake I use many things to keep me on course. Sometimes it's just the position of the sun: something I can see with my eyes open under water. Sometimes it is a mountain or tree that I can see as I breathe. And of course there are those times you just fall in behind someone that's faster than you even though you can only see the bubbles from their feet. When all else fails look up. The less time I spend with my head up sighting the better. I never want to be swimming blind. That is why I don't find this drill helpful, although people disagree with me on this one.
