Tag: Open Water Swim tips

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How To Not Suck At Swimming – The Ultimate Guide To Open Water Swimming

Triathletes and swimming often don’t mix, but Crushing Iron Triathlon thinks that should change! Yes, swimming can seem complicated, but Crushing Iron Swim Coaching gives you ways to make it easier and more enjoyable. And let’s face it, standing in line to start a triathlon is a lot more fun if you are confident and don’t have open water swim anxiety.

Crushing Iron has now over 125 podcasts and has released a Four Part Swim Series designed to make you a more powerful and purposeful open water swimmer. We believe pool swimming and open water swimming are two different sports, so it’s important to train for race conditions so anxiety and fatigue don’t destroy your best race before you get to the bike.

Below, you’ll find four podcasts focused exclusively on being a better open water swimmer. We recommend starting with How To Not Suck At Swimming – Part 1 and work through to Part 4. Dozens of athletes have not only become better swimmers, but have begun to love swimming in general because of this podcast series. You can love the water, too!

Don’t be one of those triathletes that think the swim doesn’t matter because it’s only a small percentage of the time you’ll be racing. Having a solid swim that warms you up instead of sucking your energy is the first solution to having a great race.

We’ve kept it simple, sort of like the Rosetta Stone of swim coaching, but if you can’t seem to grasp the technique we offer an excellent personalized Swim Analysis that can save you hours of wasted practice. We also offer general triathlon coaching and will be happy to connect you with current athletes to see why they are so happy with Crushing Iron Triathlon Coaching. You can also check out our Swim Specific Camps located in Nashville, TN that are sure to up your comfort in open water, make you faster, and more confident.

As always, thank you for listening to the Crushing Iron Podcast. If you have any questions about coaching or a personalized swim analysis, feel free to contact Coach Robbie at [email protected].  Happy Swimming!

  • Are Swimming Tools like a Drag chute right for you?
  • How many days in pool to see faster times?
  • How to avoid bending at knees while kicking?
  • Need to bilateral breathe?
  • How to stop crossover arms? Drills?
  • Importance of stroke cadence… what to measure and wis it important? why? confused about speeding up stroke
  • The Truth about Total Immersion swimming?
  • Strength work outside of the pool?
  • What muscles should we target?
  • When and why to use stretch cords?
  • How to practice sighting in a pool
  • Master’s Swimming Rant?
  • Beating Drag. What to do about Sinking Legs –
  • How do you beat periods of Breathlessness in a race?
  • Fixing incorrect kick timing after years of doing it wrong
  • How much kicking is ideal to “save legs” vs. going faster
  • Is your kick actually slowing you down?
  • How to get into cold water? inch in, use ladder, jump in?
  • Benefit to using other strokes? breast, back, butterfly?
  • How to beat goggle fogging?
  • Flip turns? Beneficial?
  • What’s the ticket to speed?
  • Proper breathing – How and When
  • Body Positioning and how to get it right
  • Hand entry and exit – How and When
  • How to deprogram from bad advice, including workouts that get you there
  • How to structure a swim week of workout
  • Should you join a Master’s Team?
  • Swimming square and why you swim crooked
  • Why drills are a waste of time
  • Why building swim fitness should be powerful and purposeful
  • The bigger your mesh bag, the slower you are committed to being
  • The correct and most effective way to use paddles
  • Why pool swimming and open water swimming are two different sports
  • What an expensive wetsuit really does for your swim
  • The power of the Pull Buoy
  • The tools you need and the tools you don’t need

The Crushing Iron Podcast releases every Monday and Thursday. We have over 125 Episodes, including several that focus on the journey of our athletes. Please subscribe to the Crushing Iron Podcast on iTunes or sign up for the Crushing Iron Newsletter on this page.

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Inspiring Quotes from People I Follow

I’m following more and more swimmers, bikers, and runners every day.  Each of them say things that make me think, create discovery, and inspire.  Here are a few of the latest with links to their blogs.

This from a couple of guys from Budapest who decided to quit their jobs and go on the ultimate cycling adventure.  This is an excerpt from their latest ride in France that highlights the random hospitality I often hear shared by endurance travelers:

We had a first great surprise at sunset : a motorcyclist started riding with us and chatting on the road. He was also a keen cyclist and traveller, and asked us few questions about our project. After few minutes chatting with Nico (Yves was ahead), he hit the accelerator and left us. But then, at the next traffic light, he was there, waiting for us. “Where do you stay tonight”, he says. “We don’t know!”. “Ok, come to my place if you want. It’s up in the hills -a place called Eze, I have some wine, bread and saucisson. We can have dinner à la bonne franquette’”. “Sure, excellent. Let’s go!”. – Cycling Further

It just makes me want to hit the road and see what’s out there in the world.

One of the greatest things about reading other people’s training blogs are the constant reminders that help us learn how we can be better triathletes.  Iowa Tri Bob has helped remind me that technique in the water is not honed by laps alone:

“As I’ve focused more on technique and drills I’ve become much more efficient in the water.  I love watching swim techniques on YouTube or on the blogs I come across and I’ve come to really love the drills in swimming.”

Read more about the his favorite drills and techniques here — Iowa Tri Bob

I think one of the biggest questions triathletes ask themselves is, “Why?”  Why do we put ourselves through all of this?  I found an interesting analogy about life, fulfillment, and self-worth in the breakdown of a scene from Rocky at Tri Fatherhood.

“I wondered why Rocky didn’t have confidence in himself. But now I’ve come to understand that winning in life is relative. Winning wasn’t what Rocky needed. He just needed a chance. He needed a chance to stand up after being knocked down. Again and again. He needed a chance to still be there when the bell rang. Just the chance was enough. And survival.”

And here’s another from a woman who loves swimming more than southerners like corn cakes and hones her passion in open water.  She offers these tips for swimming in the sea.  I was especially intrigued by her “kelp” insight:

  • Learn to love your wetsuit – it is your anti drowning, warm, speedy friend.
  • Do not put Vaseline on your hands then touch your goggles
  • Put anti chafe on your neck and other hot spots – chafe is not your friend and you will scream in the shower.
  • Sharks don’t like kelp so you are safe in there but it is scary so head up and motor it
  • Sight! If you don’t, you can end up in the middle of nowhere
  • Swim with a buddy and be aware if in the sea – conditions can change quickly.
  • Have fun and don’t fight the water (or people in the water).
  • And for the ladies, stay away from guys in the water, they are notoriously bad sighters and will swim right over you in all directions (sorry boys).

There is tons of good stuff out there and I’m excited to be connected to fellow swimmers, bikers, and runners on my quest for Ironman Wisconsin.