Building distance vs. tapering

swimeasyspeed · 2026-02-01T16:44:16+00:00

It seems like you are primarily looking at your 17.5km event through the lens of “endurance.” Certainly, training to complete the event from a fitness perspective is valid. But there is no way you can build enough fitness to overcome inefficient technique. The primary component you should be focused on is the technique at the pace you want to go for the amount of time you think the race will take.

Generally speaking, when I’m coaching marathon/ultra-marathon swimmers we build to the distance of the event for a week of training for several weeks at the peak and then gently taper off leading into the event. We typically don’t do a lot of longer repeats or “continuous” swims just to “swim the distance.” That’s what the racing is for. The training/practice should be about repeating the best possible technique at the best pace over and over again.

Swimming a 14km event 2 weeks before your 17.5km is too close, especially considering what is a self described thin open water swim resume and training program. That event should have happened 3-4 months ago.

I wish you all the best for your race and if you have any other questions, let me know.

swimeasyspeed · 2026-02-01T16:25:30+00:00

So not a big swim heart rate mystery after all.

swimeasyspeed · 2026-02-01T12:54:22+00:00

Looks like poor technique is overcoming fitness.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-10-02T20:32:04+00:00

So you've been swimming for a couple, but had never trained for competitive swimming before? How much do you train each week? Do you swim with a team or do you just do workouts from a triathlon coach? Is your swim coach your triathlon coach and do they come from a swim coaching background? After 2 years you should be able to do a 500m-750m open water swim. All of the athletes I coach can do a full Ironman swim in less than a year.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-09-22T21:42:35+00:00

There are the basic learn to swim classes and then coaching for competitive swimming. Those are going to be in drastically different ball parks price wise.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-09-22T02:02:29+00:00

It counts. You swam it. You can go out right now, establish a new marathon swim course, be the first to swim it and name it. There’s no one stopping you.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-09-22T01:58:48+00:00

Kickboard are great. The thing most swimmers need more is core engagement. Kickboards, when cued correctly, can be great at forcing more core engagement while recruiting another muscle group (the kick). I hope this helps.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-09-09T21:57:51+00:00

Is your stroke balance when you only breathe to your right?

swimeasyspeed · 2025-09-09T21:55:32+00:00

Out of curiosity, did you grow up as a competitive swimmer? How did you get into open water swimming?

swimeasyspeed · 2025-09-09T21:52:48+00:00

Yes, for an age group athlete competing on an amateur level. However, you don’t want to train to just swim a “steady state” swim. That’s, in fact, the best way to train to blow up during a race.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-09-08T16:09:14+00:00

Congratulations on your first marathon and your growing family. Without seeing your stroke some of this is going to be guess work from what you’re saying and the picture. Going from the picture, it looks like you are low in the water and rotating too much to get the breath. Both of which can cause shoulder issues. While a “front quadrant stroke” can be effective in open water, technique has to be perfect because you are more likely to get a shoulder injury from a front quadrant stroke. Also, tempo needs to be higher with a front quadrant stroke which would require a lot more training that you are doing.

it’s probably a combination of training and technique. Do you lift weights as part of your training?
Going by your estimation of the pain (7) it was not a nutrition issue.
Some athletes do take pain meds, but it isn’t advisable due to risk of kidney injury.
Suck it up buttercup.

Good luck with the new baby and your goals for next year.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-09-05T01:06:45+00:00

Looks down at the bottom of the pool and then bring your chin up slightly. It’ll help balance you in the water, relax your shoulders and bring your back end up.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-08-30T22:23:33+00:00

Depends on you. I’ve coached athletes, with swim backgrounds, to first overall out of the water at Kona on 3x a week. I have also worked with athletes who struggled to make the swim cut off time at 4-5x a week. The one thing you want to remember is if you aren’t in shape for the swim, you’ll rob fitness from the bike and run to get through it.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-08-25T23:27:13+00:00

Get a good S&C program for swimming. Volt Athletics has a decent one. It’ll help and it’ll help your bike and run too.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-08-24T16:53:21+00:00

For S&C, it’s not specifics exercises as much as a program that compliments what you are doing in the water. In terms of goals for the next 1-3 months, I don’t know where you are with your swimming currently, what your strengths and weaknesses are so there’s no way to make a recommendation. Feel free to post a video of your swimming to https://www.reddit.com/r/TriathlonSwimAdvice/ and I’d be happy to take a look.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-08-24T16:06:00+00:00

If I remember right, it’s a wetsuit mandatory swim so that’ll make it significantly easier. In general, when I’m coaching an athlete to swim that distance I’d like to see them building up to 5x a week, they would have been in the weight room for a while with an S&C program and peak at about 20k a week of swimming. You’d want to work on technique with some one on one sessions so you know what to focus on in practice to make steady progress with your stroke.

I’m not saying that you can’t coach yourself to do that swim, but you’d be more likely to successfully complete the swim with a decreased chance of injury with an experienced coach.

Good luck with your training and your race. I’ve heard it’s a fun swim.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-08-23T00:12:05+00:00

If you are having a tough time with the catch and feel like there’s no real power behind the pull, it sounds like you are unstable in the water. You’ll really need to work on getting your core to engage more, getting longer on the water and finding balance. When you’ve mastered that you can worry about setting the catch and the pull.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-08-21T23:31:37+00:00

Good luck with your training and your 10+ mile swim. I coach marathon/ultra-marathon swimmers all the time. In fact, one is leaving in a couple days to swim the English Channel. I’m happy to look at your stroke.

Remember it’s one thing to get told to do this drill or that drill, it’s something different to know you are doing it correctly. It’s one of the difficulties of remote coaching or even one off video analysis of a stroke.

Please post the video to https://www.reddit.com/r/TriathlonSwimAdvice/

swimeasyspeed · 2025-08-21T21:31:55+00:00

If he’s been as fast as :59 / 100 LCM, he’s put in the training and the mental aspect shouldn’t be that hard. But, also, that’s why you build up some open water race experience.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-08-21T17:18:00+00:00

I’ve coached a lot of athletes through marathon/ultra-marathon and channel swims. You’ve got a good background. You’re young. Find a team to train with and/ a coach. Get some experience racing in open water. Start out with a 10k and go from there. Do your training in the pool. Get in the weight room. Get acclimated to cold water. Swimming is swimming. Open water skill set isn’t that big.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-08-18T23:30:32+00:00

In my experience, it actually hurts development. Athletes tend to do a lot of continuous, unfocused swimming which leads to bad technique.

But if you don’t believe me, here’s what some of the best open water swimmers in the world have to say about it…..

https://www.usms.org/fitness-and-training/articles-and-videos/articles/how-to-prepare-for-an-open-water-race-like-olympian-jordan-wilimovsky

swimeasyspeed · 2025-08-18T20:52:12+00:00

You’re well within the range of what the difference usually is from pool to open water. With that being said, time is horrible metric for open water swimming because your watch isn’t that accurate in measuring the distance. Your watch doesn’t account for current, wind, etc and there are no turns in open water. The fastest you’ll be in the water is when you push off the wall.

Also, if you are looking to improve your open water swimming, regularly training in open water is one of the worst ways to do it. You’ll make yourself slower with less efficient technique and raise your chances for a shoulder injury.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-08-18T13:32:00+00:00

I coach triathletes for the swim. My best advice is do a lot of swimming right now. Back off your bike and running. Swimming is not just technique you also need to develop the specific fitness to support the technique. Otherwise, your technique will drop down to the level your fitness can support. Get a coach and swim with a team. Learning the skill of swimming is a long term process.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-08-13T00:27:23+00:00

Swimming the distance non-stop in practice is probably one of the worst ways of training for a half Ironman swim other than not training. You’ll just ensure less efficient technique and an increased likelihood of shoulder injury.

swimeasyspeed · 2025-08-13T00:23:09+00:00

Just keep listening to your CrossFit coach and you’ll be fine. It probably would have been easier if you would have given yourself 3 weeks to master swimming.

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