06/12/2023
WHAT IT TAKES to be a FRONT PACK elite swimmer in triathlons......
Lets be honest and not sugar coat it. The price of entry into the front pack club is STEEP, it s actually enormous. The time, level of physical pain, emotional numbness and mental suffering is off the chart. It will bring you to some dark place at time but if you stick with it...you will growth pass this and once you get your ticket for the club, you have it for life....
The picture show the WEEKLY swim volume of a elite/professional triathlete. Those numbers are not realistic for age group athletes with jobs, family and responsibilities.
Today, i want to talk about what I consider the most important element needed to improve in swimming;
LOVING IT/ATTITUDE
Let's be clear, no everyone love swimming. But you can change this if you really want to. Fake it till you make it!!!! You will need to pass a lot of hours in the pool. You need to be excited to be there for most part. You need to be obsess about it, you need to be actively in a quest to get better, watching video on youtube of good swimmers, researching technic.... work with coaches, groups, training partners...visualize success. You need to get on a mission and set the variable so the only possible outcome is SUCCESS.
Arrive at the pool early, do your stretching routine while psyching yourself up about the coming set. Check on the workout the night before to know what swim set is coming up..... it give you a chance to start thinking about it.... see how you will approach it and execute it. How you will manage the session and your effort. Observe the fast swimmer, look at what they do...try to imitate them.
Toys! Yes.... you are passing so much time going up and down a black line in the pool...toys are essential to make it fun. Pull boey, paddles, snorkles, kickboards, fins etc. Build your own...try different one...toys making swimming more fun!
You are in charge to create the right environment and make it happen. Swimming is highly technical and it s about THE FEEL OF THE WATER. The good news is that once you made some technical gain...they are going to stay with you for ever. They wont go away.....
Now go have fun........ in the pool 😉