The brain-dead simple approach to learning swimming in Triathlon fast

I can tell you that learning to crawl properly with all its elements like performing an effective stroke, breathing properly and leg work, was probably the biggest challenge for me. And I still have to work on it more than on every other discipline in Triathlon. Though I learned "the basics" of doing the crawl in school I failed miserably when doing it for longer than 30 feet (approx. 10 meters). Then I read a great book from Hermann Aschwer called "Handbuch für Triathlon" which is unfortunately only available in German.

Hermann described his first challenges when trying to learn to crawl. He wrote that he couldn't do it for longer than a couple of meters before he had to stop. And he learned to crawl a whole kilometer (approx. 0.6 miles) during his 3 weeks of holidays. I felt great! There was finally someone with the same challenges that I had. Once in a sudden I was not so unique anymore and I decided on changing my swim style from breaststroke to crawl.

There are several advantages of doing so. First doing the crawl is the fastest and most effective way to swim. If you crawl the right way you can preserve the muscles of your legs for cycling and running. The danger of injuries during a competition is much lower.

Hermann describes how he broke two toes during an ironman competition in Almere, Netherlands in 1985 while doing the breaststroke and hitting into another athlete before he switched to doing the crawl.

When I really started doing it "the right way" it took me probably one year of regular practice before the crawl felt kind of natural to me and made me faster than any other swimming technique.

If you are starting out I would recommend investing in a wet suit which is an incredible cool tool especially for athletes with poor style (like I am). Because you dramatically improve your waterline, that is the position of your body and especially your legs in the water. And while most beginners think speed in swimming comes from a lot of power in your arms it is really your water position and a perfectly performed stroke with your arms and legs combined with a precisely coordinated breathing cycle.

Here are some simple but very effective drills for your workouts to get you started.

Swimming is a very technical sport and to reach your full potential, your time is spent best by improving your technique. If you have got a great stroke you will continuously outperform triathletes with lots of power but poor technique even if you did not practice for weeks.

If you improve your style you will benefit your training in three different ways.

Your performance will soar. By learning how to execute the stroke with greater efficiency, you'll produce much better results with the less effort. By improving your stroke, you can increase your speed noticeably without trying harder. Doesn't that sound tempting to you?

You are also reducing exercise-induced injuries or pain. By crawling in a more relaxed, smooth and natural way, you are also going to place less stress on your muscles, joints and tendons. Now, this applies to all the other portions as well: If you learn to run more smoothly then you'll experience less impact stress in your body every time your foot hits the ground.

And finally you will also enjoy yourself much more. By moving your body through the water in the most efficient way, it will feel comfortable to you. You will be looking forward to your swim workouts, rather than fight through them.

As I told you that learning to do the crawl is a rather technical process you will notice that I tend to go into a lot of details about this subject here. Please bear with me. Go through this once and then just come back before each training session and pick up just one idea to implement into your workout. Even if it does not sound too adventurous at the first sight it will eventually become so when you start to do it. Okay enough hand holding. Let's jump straight into the blue water!

Here are the most important things to focus on:

Position of your body in the water

Water is about a thousand times denser than air. So it plays a paramount role how your body is positioned as you propel it through the water. The see what I am talking about just try to run through the water and then take a streamlined position and float. What is easier for you?

The right balance

You need to balance your body. An excellent swimmer floats almost unopposed flat on the water's surface and remains horizontal with little effort. You can practice this by pushing your chest into the water. This little trick will make your hips rise and reduce your frontal drag significantly. Keep your head in a relaxed position, looking down and slightly ahead of you.

The stroke

Once you're positioned well in the water, you can start to focus on your propulsion. I consider swimming "from your hips" as perhaps the most important element of your swim stroke. Most triathletes swim solely with their arms. That is a fairly natural tendency that is slowing you down. By leveraging your hips you can generate power in a much more efficient way.

It will also enable the roll of your body. That is the final puzzle of your improved swimming stroke. Take a strong swim stroke and glide on your side as long as possible. That way you can maximize your efficiency and minimize drag.

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