The Swim

If you look at most elite triathletes, they usually have a strong background in one of the 3 sports. With a finite amount of time to train, this allows extra focus to go towards the weaker sports, while staying very competitive. Luckily for me, I have years of swimming under my belt. This is reflected in the fact that swimming only takes up about 25% of my training. However, this does not mean I don’t have room for improvement. There are two main issues in the swim that I will try and address this year: sighting and start positioning. Unlike in a pool with lines to follow, open water swimming requires you to constantly pick your head up to sight the course buoy’s, and ensure swimming in a straight line. In my first season, this turned out to be more difficult than I anticipated. As a result, I plan to spend a little more time doing some head up swimming drills, where you pick a point on the pool deck to focus on while swimming freestyle. One of the exciting things about Xterra triathlons is the mass start. However, after getting caught in swim traffic at a few races last year, I will need to make sure I find a better position to start in. Some of the variables that effect the best position at the start include course set up, tide activity (for ocean races), and number of competitors. After meeting a lot of the pros and learning who the stronger swimmers are, I plan to address this issue by increasing my aggressiveness at the start line to secure a spot next to the stronger swimmers with course experience. After taking almost 5 years off from my college swimming days before starting back last year, my speed and endurance in the water should continue to improve this year.