The most important thing about getting swim fit for an Ironman-distance triathlon is to spend time in the water regularly and consistently. Twice a week is ideal if you can do it on a regular basis. 　　Get your swim stroke looked at by a swim coach – it’s the best way to make improvements in your swimming and make your...

　　If you’re trying to improve your swimming, it can be overwhelming to consider what you need to work on to reach your goals. 　　From a skill perspective, you have to worry about your kick, your pull, your breathing, your body position, and more. 　　From a training perspective, you have to worry about developing aerobic fitness, developing speed, preparing to race,...

　　For those looking to improve their swimming, in particular the skill and fitness of their pull, a swim leg band, which goes around the ankles, can be an attractive strategy. 　　It makes perfect sense, too – take away the legs and stress the arms.While simple in concept, it’s actually an advanced training strategy, and swimming well with a band is...

　　There are some great drills than can make a huge impact on your swimming.And it’s my recommendation that you focus on using the best drills rather than using lots of different drills. 　　The problem with that approach is that doing the same drills can become boring, and worse still, they may no longer be able to continue to improve your...

　　Developing a solid kick during freestyle swimming is difficult to do.The mistake many triathletes make is that they’ll perform a kick set to develop the skill and fitness of their legs, and then they’ll perform a swim set.Or they’ll perform the kick set at the end of a workout after they’re swimming. 　　The problem with this approach is that they’ll...

　　Swimming can be really challenging because you have to be physically fit and possess tremendous technical skill. The problem is that working really hard to develop your fitness can lead to poor skills, and focusing exclusively on your skills can lead to a loss of fitness. 　　It’s a really tough balancing act that’s hard to get right. However, by using...

　　Fins and buoys can be useful tools for improving your swimming.And when appropriate, you should never hesitate to use them.The problem is when you need them to feel good and swim well. 　　Unfortunately, you can’t use a buoy or fins in a race!And even if you can wear a wetsuit, you want to have the ability to swim well without...

　　Many triathletes diligently work on improving their skills by performing drills yet find that when they return to full stroke swimming, nothing has changed.It can be an extremely frustrating and mystifying experience.The drills are supposed to improve your skills, but they don’t! 　　The issue isn’t necessarily that drills don’t work, it’s that they need to be used in the right...

　　While it seems like it should be one of the simpler skills to learn in swimming, improving the kick can prove to be quite the challenge for many triathletes. 　　While most of the speed and propulsion comes from the upper body in freestyle swimming, the legs can be important in assisting body position and well as creating some extra propulsion....

　　There are a couple of things to consider when trying to get rid of a stuffy nose after swimming. 　　Firstly, have you tried swimming in other pools or is this an issue everywhere you swim? And secondly, have you tried wearing a nose clip? 　　Why do I get a stuffy nose after swimming? 　　The main reason for nose and sinus...

　　If you’ve been involved in triathlon for some time, and you’ve sought to improve your swimming, you’ve likely heard about swimming with a ‘dropped elbow’. 　　To get as strong a pull as possible, you want to use your hand and your forearm to move water backwards.That means you have a bigger surface area and a bigger paddle to pull with....

　　All triathlons are races, and so it always comes down to speed, even in the longest races.You have to speed to compete successfully. 　　And while endurance training is rightfully the emphasis of most training programmes, some triathletes forget about speed altogether.Skill is also key, particularly learning to create more length with each stroke – but that gets overlooked, too. 　　So...