The Butterfly Lane

Had an idea last week to try some long distance fly as a personal challenge and a great way to cross train for the finswimming and freediving competition that I do (core strength, efficiency). Thought I'd give a 10k open water race with fly a go next summer. Did the 10k two years ago freestyle. Here in Vancouver, we have a 137.5m pool. On Wednesday I tried to see what I could maintain, and managed only 50-60m of fly at a stretch, before lapsing into freestyle. I think the lack of walls is definitely a factor as they do give you rest and the chance to reset your stroke. I did this over 1000m and felt rather discouraged. Last night after coaching, I jumped into the pool and without really much fuss on my part swam 500m fly non-stop in the pool. After last night's swim, I am quite excited. It is definitely a different style of fly that got me through the 500m without much difficulty. Long glide in streamline and the smallest head tilt to get air. And crucial was getting my chest lower than my shoulders (ie. arching the upper back) on every stroke. It wasn't particularly fast, but encouraging. The long glide seems especially important for letting your muscles stay out of the red zone as even a second helps to recharge them for the next stroke. But given the small margin for error on breathing (head lift/hips falling), swimming in chop sounds grueling! I've found this thread after searching for others who have trained in long-distance fly. Some helpful stuff on this thread. Thanks to everyone. Anyone try longer swims? Anyone stumble across long-distance fly training and technique experiences on the web? If you've heard of any references that I could look up beyond what is here, that would be a great help. Thanks! Pete

Had an idea last week to try some long distance fly as a personal challenge and a great way to cross train for the finswimming and freediving competition that I do (core strength, efficiency). Thought I'd give a 10k open water race with fly a go next summer. Did the 10k two years ago freestyle. Here in Vancouver, we have a 137.5m pool. On Wednesday I tried to see what I could maintain, and managed only 50-60m of fly at a stretch, before lapsing into freestyle. I think the lack of walls is definitely a factor as they do give you rest and the chance to reset your stroke. I did this over 1000m and felt rather discouraged. Last night after coaching, I jumped into the pool and without really much fuss on my part swam 500m fly non-stop in the pool. After last night's swim, I am quite excited. It is definitely a different style of fly that got me through the 500m without much difficulty. Long glide in streamline and the smallest head tilt to get air. And crucial was getting my chest lower than my shoulders (ie. arching the upper back) on every stroke. It wasn't particularly fast, but encouraging. The long glide seems especially important for letting your muscles stay out of the red zone as even a second helps to recharge them for the next stroke. But given the small margin for error on breathing (head lift/hips falling), swimming in chop sounds grueling! I've found this thread after searching for others who have trained in long-distance fly. Some helpful stuff on this thread. Thanks to everyone. Anyone try longer swims? Anyone stumble across long-distance fly training and technique experiences on the web? If you've heard of any references that I could look up beyond what is here, that would be a great help. Thanks! Pete