Hey Triathletes, I got one word for you: SWIMSENSE™. You gotta go and get this new toy and add it to the arsenal. Why? Give me 5 minutes.
As a coach and Pro Triathlete, pacing is crucial in any open water swim. Most newcomers to the sport and those that battle with the swim, have major problems when it comes to pacing over a long swim distance. Out in the open water there are no coaches to whistle you along, no lane ropes and turn walls to rest on, and no clocks that tell you the splits. You have to learn to do it yourself. Pool swimmers learn over the years on how to measure their performance in a pool that is of standard size. What happens when you need to swim 1.9km or 3.8km with no yardsticks to work off? You buy yourself a Swimsense and train with it, that’s what.
I have taken a few screen shots and used myself as a guinea pig. I did this morning’s workout as a pre Ironman South Africa 70.3 warm-up (which takes place Sunday the 23rd). 30 x 100m repeats on 1:30. Normally I would swim more repeats on a 1:20 interval, but I’m getting ready for my race.
Take a look at the “stroke count” charts for starters, both the pie chart and the bar chart of the 30 x 100 repeats. My stroke count remained consistent at 20 strokes per length (10 stroke cycles) for almost all the repeats. That is a pretty solid tempo.
Then we take a look at my pace chart. All the 100 meter repeats hover between 74 and 76 seconds with only 1 straying out o
f those parameters. You will also notice that my concentration levels seemed to slip a little from #21 to #27 before I regained my composure and focus.
This is the type of pacing you will need to swim a solid ironman swim or any open water swim distance for that matter. Swimsense is an incredible triathlon tool when it comes to honing one’s swim pace skills and is definitely a MUST for any triathlete looking to swim better and more efficiently.
I have cut and pasted only 6 of the hundred meter repeats to show you the pacing measured over each 25m. You will notice that the 1st and 3rd 25m are always fastest per each hundred meter repeat, The reason? Simple. The pool I use has a strong current flowing in one direction and this is evident with my pacing (although stroke count still remains consistent).
Anyway, a lot of jargon and times/splits etc. The bottom line with this workout is to show you what the Swimsense can do for you in your search for the perfect triathlon swim. An absolute winner in my books.
- Glen
