A simple schedule to help aspiring triathletes improve their swimming so that they achieve a reasonable time and, more importantly, feel confident while doing so. In that way, they can swim safe and know that their performance in their stronger legs – the ride and run – won’t be adversely affected by the swim. The schedule is based on a pattern used to prepare beach lifeguards and rescue swimmers for their qualifying swim.
It seemed like a great idea down the pub… One of your mates said he was taking part to raise money for a really worthwhile charity, and now you’re lumbered. You’ll look a right wimp if you don’t have a go, only you’ve just discovered how far you’ve got to swim and there’s a little problem… you’ve NEVER, EVER swum THAT far before!
Ok. Let’s not panic shall we? Once you can swim 200m you can swim almost any distance, it’s more about time and comfort. Most ‘beginners’ triathlons involve a 750m swim. That’s 30 lengths of a 25m pool or, as competitive swimmers would say it’s “15 sets of 2 [lengths]“. See, it almost sounds achievable like that!
Most triathlon swims are in open-water, which adds a little complexity, though quite a few novice events are in lidos and similar places where the pool may even be 50m. That said, most of your training is likely to be in a 25m pool.
Let’s start by being realistic… You probably won’t be in the first 25% of competitors by the end of the swim. In fact, our goal is more for you to finish the first leg (the swim) without a nagging script running in the back of your head saying; “You idiot, why on earth did you agree to this? You’re going to die!” We want you to finish calmly, with plenty of energy in reserve to go on and complete the next two legs without the swim having had a bad effect on you. Believe me, that will still put you ahead of a fair few of your competitors!
We’ll work on a target time of between 20 and 25 minutes for the swim. That’s going to be your ‘nirvana’ for the training, at least. Of course, there will be faster swimmers. But they’ve been training for years and you’ve only just begun. But there will also be slower swimmers. The qualifying time for a beach lifeguard is 400m in 8 minutes and I know a lot who struggle to make that, so to do 750m in 15 minutes is going some. As I said, the whole idea is for you to arrive calm and confident so that you can do well in the next two legs – the ride and the run.
I want you to do a reasonably quick 2 lengths and time yourself. If you are close to the 1 minute then you’re obviously fit and are actually quite a good swimmer. If you are close to the 2 minutes, then you have more work to do, but a 25 minute swim would not be impossible – especially if you had some one-to-one coaching. Hopefully, this has set an expectation, given you a few benchmarks, so you’re not swimming ‘blind’ if nothing else.
I am not going to focus on technique here – I write on that elsewhere. What I want to do is give a few tips for training, and a schedule that you could follow. Remember: my aim is for you to be able to finish calmly and with plenty of energy in reserve.
We are NOT therefore going to focus on swimming the 750m for the time being. Instead, we’re aiming for 1250m swims. I know it isn’t a common distance, and I realise it might sound bizarre to go so much further, but if you can complete 1250m calmly and with some energy left, then you’ll be even better on the shorter 750m.
1250m is 50 lengths of a 25m pool. Again, that’s ONLY 25 sets of 2.
I don’t know how much time you have before the big event, but I’ll assume it’s a couple of months – eight weeks to be more precise. I am also going to assume that you’re busy and can only foresee the possibility of swimming once or occasionally twice a week.
Here’s your schedule of distances:
Week 8 – 600m (= 24 lengths) – One long swim – focus on length, roll, minimal kick, and breathing
Week 7 – 800m (= 32 lengths) – 4 blocks x 200m – focus on length, roll, minimal kick, and breathing – all MEDIUM PACE
Week 6 – 1000m (= 40 lengths) – 4 blocks of 250m – first 200m at MEDIUM PACE, last 50m at FAST PACE, rest to normal {M 200m, F 50m, REST} x 4
Week 5 – 1200m (=48 lengths) – {M 200m, F 50m, M 50m, REST} x 3 + 200m MEDIUM
Week 4 – 1250m (=50 lengths) – M 400m, F 100m, REST, M 200m, F 75m, REST, M 200m, F 75m, M 200m
Week 3 – 1250m (=50 lengths) – M 400m, F 100m, REST, M 200m, F 75m, M 200m, F 75m, M 200m
Week 2 – 1250m (=50 lengths) – M 400m, F 100m, REST, M 200m, F 75m, M 200m, F 75m, M 200m
Week 1 – 750m (=30 lengths) – M 300m, F 100m, M 100m, F 100m, M 100m, F 50m
THE TRI
A few explanations…
Medium pace (M) is a pace that you could keep up for a reasonably long distance, where you are not out of breath when you finish.
Fast pace (F) is going to leave you a little breathless but you can recover quite quickly.
Rest means waiting until your breathing is normal again.
If you get a chance to swim a seond time in the week, then repeat the routine from the PREVIOUS week.
So, let’s explain one of these weeks so you can understand the schedule. In week 6 (that’s after a couple of weeks of training) you are going to swim a total of 1000m (1k sounds a bit easier). You’re not going to simply get in the water and swim. Instead you will do so in four blocks of 250m – after each of which you’ll rest and recover. For the first 200m (8 lengths of 25m or 4 sets of 2 lengths) you are going to swim at that medium pace, then you’re going to have a little busrt of two lengths (ie 50m) at a faster pace. Stop and hang around in the corner of the lane until your breath has recovered. (If you want to look cool, lift your goggles, and look as if you’re measuring your pulse.) Then repeat the process three more times.
Once you’ve done the 1k, you’ll have turned a huge corner in your training. If someone can swim 200m they can swim almost anything. Once someone can swum 1000m they could even build up to cross-channel distance. Certainly, you’ll be able to go on holiday and swim a decent distance along the beach. (When swimming long-distances at the seaside, always do so parallel to the shore and ideally in chest height water – it is MUCH safer to do so and means that you can then strut your stuff back all along the beach!)
I hope this has helped. Why not let me know? Send me a message – I’d like to know how you get on. I shall be writing more tips for the longer distance swimmer, aspiring triathletes and potential lifeguards over the next few weeks.
Graham Wilson
graham@life-saving.net
