[sharkweek]

This is super fascinating, thanks for sharing.

I did an olympic triathlon a few years back, and while I consider myself a decent runner and a strong cyclist, the swimming absolutely kicked my ass to the point that I'm not sure I'll ever do another triathlon to avoid it. Seems to take another level of strength to be great at it.

[alexfoo]

Technique buys you so much more speed and/or efficiency in swimming compared to cycling or running. Those that lack good technique will thrash themselves into a tired mess in order to keep up with the others on the swim.

Some swim coaching, and subsequent drills in your usual training, would soon get you on your way to enjoying the swim part of a triathlon and stop it being horrendous.

The cheap and less effective method is simply watching/studying this video every time before you go to the pool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3HhNlysFDs and then watching it afterwards and thinking about your own stroke.

[mykowebhn]

One thing I noticed in the video you included: when the shot is following him from behind I noticed that Van Hazel's head is completely stationary, no lateral or up-down movement. Amazing!

[irrational]

Also notice how far his shoulders rotate. I see lots of people mainly moving their arms instead of rotating their entire torsos.

[taurath]

Thats been a big thing for me to learn - if you want to be able to breath without taking long pauses, your whole torso needs to move, and it creates a very natural motion to pop your head left or right to breathe a pocket of air

[gideon_b]

Another bonus to rolling -- it is initiated with your core, so it uses large powerful muscles. Once the roll is initiated you can feed your kick and your pull with that momentum. You end up using more powerful muscles to feed your stroke, so you can pull harder without wearing out your arms.

[stevesimmons]

A few years ago, I did a swim workshop taught by Dan Bullock from Swim for Tri (https://www.swimfortri.co.uk). His technique is optimized for long distance open-water swimming and emphasizes smooth, energy efficient motion.

Watching him swim with literally no splash on arm entry was amazing. And torso rotation far further than

Most of my previous swimming was for water polo: short, sharp sprints, mostly head-up freestyle, focus on power and claiming space, often jostling with your opponent. Exactly the opposite of Van Hazel and Dan Bullock's focus on perfect technique.

[enraged_camel]

>>Technique buys you so much more speed and/or efficiency in swimming compared to cycling or running.

I know this isn’t the topic, but the exact same thing applies to rock-climbing. After a certain point, sheer strength won’t help you if you don’t have sufficiently good technique.

[nradov]

I recently started doing triathlons and had kind of a bad experience on the swim portion of my first race. Made it through but had to stop and tread water a couple times just to get my heart rate under control. But after training more I really enjoy swimming in triathlons. It's quite different from lap swimming in a pool. Most likely your problems can be easily fixed.

Here are a few random tips that might help, in no particular order. Sign up for an open water swimming clinic to learn from the experts; race organizers and local triathlon clubs put those on in some areas. Triathlon swimming is a contact sport so if you're uncomfortable with others bumping you then start near the back of your wave and stay towards the outside of the course (you won't lose much time). If the water is cold then buy a dedicated swimming wetsuit; suits meant for diving or surfing restrict arm motion too much. When you first enter the water that will cause your heart rate to jump up so get in the water early before your wave start time to acclimate. Practice lifting your head every few strokes to sight on a fixed landmark and stay on course. Practice bilateral breathing so that if the water is choppy you can always turn your head away from the waves to breathe. Buy tinted goggles in case the sun is in your eyes. Use your arms mostly and save your legs for the rest of the race.

[phamilton]

I was the opposite. A swimmers and a runner who got rocked on the bike. I too haven't wanted to do another triathlon because of the bike.