Does drafting hurt the lead swimmer (draftee)?

My group typically goes 10 seconds apart on non-fly sets and even with that sort of spacing I can definitely say going 2nd is an easier swim than going first. I've done 20x100 where we swap leaders every 5 and when I'm going second I turn in faster repeats than going first.

The lead swimmer works relatively harder. The person who is most hurt would be the drafter, since they are doing less work, and this has both mental and physical repercussions. Someone who drafts off 100% of the time has a very poor concept of how fast they are and never experiences how much energy it really takes to go that fast in a lead situation. This has been my experience. I was a big-time drafter in high school until my senior year when I got fast enough to lead a lane. The first 2 weeks were miserable for me in practice, I was sucking wind while my lane mates were chatting. After I became conditioned I noticed when others led, if I didn't wait 5-7 seconds, every swim felt like a warm-up. Incidentally, I had my fastest swims as a senior (much of it due to becoming a year older I'm sure, but I think leading helped prepare me more for what it would be like during a race). Now I have no one to draft off of but that's fine with me. More like racing!!! :banana:

To answer the question,not hydrodynamically(psychologically maybe.)Unfortunately,unlike NASCAR,it doesn't really help either as the bow wave from the drafting swimmer is too close to that swimmers head to provide any measurable effect on the lead swimmer.

www.jssm.org/.../v7n1-9pdf.pdf +1 The only way a trailing swimmer could affect the drag coefficient of a swimmer in front would be to change the hydrodynamic properties of the leading swimmer. The easiest way to do that would be to climb on their back, but of course that brings to mind other issues. There is obviously a large benefit from drafting closely behind someone. In an OW swim it drives tactics and makes races so unlike pool racing. If you can get a gap by surging you can swim the person off your feet and leave them to fend for themselves. You can also try the slow down veer off and sprint method. But no matter what you choose never let it affect you mentally. Think of it: if you could draft off someone faster than you, you would do it.

But no matter what you choose never let it affect you mentally. Think of it: if you could draft off someone faster than you, you would do it. I like your post, since you seem to have understand the original poster question. He was not asking to know if the lead swimmer was working harder than the draftee, but rather if the lead swimmer has to work harder when he has someone drafting him (compared to not having anyone on his tail). The answer to this question is no. It is not more difficult for the lead swimmer to move forward if he gets drafted. Now what I particularly like with your answer is the mental thing. Come on folks. You're giving a ride to some swimmer (on your tail). Do not let this affect you mentally. If you give a ride to someone in your car, would you accept this person to dictate you how fast you should be driving? Do not rush. Do not change anything on both the physical (e.g. increasing stroke rate) or the mental aspect. This way, being drafted is absolutely never an issue, except maybe when comes to flip in situations where the wall is busy.

Sounds like there are some variations or scenarios to drafting: 1. OWS. In OWS, this is a race so it will hinder the final performance of the draftee, due to greater energy conserved by the drafter during the earlier part of the race. Does it hurt the draftee's performance? No. Just their finishing place. You can draft on me if you want during an OWS, just don't get too close (I kick). 2. Practice (with a club/team). This should be understood and it should honestly provide greater (long term) strength to the draftee. It only makes you stronger. Now, there've been times during practice when I might have a stronger day than a like-swimmer so I lead that day. Then the next workout, maybe I'm not as strong, so the other swimmer takes the lead. Or one leads the first half of the workout or set and then you switch leadership (just like in cycling). 3. Sharing a lane with strangers. Now this is just rude. If you find yourself being the draftee of a stranger, I think you have all reason to stop and ask them to split the lane or give you some space. Maybe my being an only kid has left me with that mentality, but I like my space, especially from strangers. Now, its not a competition, so no kicking if they get too close!

Open water drafting is not anything like what happens in a pool. It is strange that some of you think that drafting off a swimmer is done from behind. When I drafted off swimmers I was in very close to the draftee my head was at their shoulders. Their suction on me would pull me in close and I would some times find my self being sucked under them. We had lots of bumping into each other. No one ever took a swing at me I guess I was to big to tangle with. Abou Heif did a lot of drafting when he tried to draft off me we would almost come to a stop. I would not let him draft off me. He once offered to split prize money with me If I let him draft.

Personally I don't compete in the pool anymore and when I did I never drafted. I am strictly an OW swimmer & triathlete. I have found that while drafting at someone's hip can be effective, swimming shoulder to shoulder interferes with my stroke too much. If I found myself swimming shoulder to shoulder with "a big guy" I too would have ended up stopping and letting him go ahead. The only reason swimming side by side could be faster is if it resulted from more intense competition between the swimmers. I've never seen anything that would lead me to believe swimming side by side is more efficient (& thus faster) than drafting at ones feet or hip.

In an open water swim I loved to swim between swimmers. I once drafted between Horatio Iglesias and Herman Willimese (Both of these swimmers are in the Hall of fame) for twenty miles down the Saguenay River. With the current and drafting that twenty miles took two hours. I was fresh as a daisy for the next eight miles that took 5 hours against an outgoing 20 foot tide in the Bai de Ha HA.