Thames swims

How many tumbles will you be doing in the Thames? 😉

off 2 mins

Thanks, I’ve been wondering what that means.

16 * 100 off 2 is my new plan!

Edit – if I sorted out tumbleturns my times would literally, err, tumble.

Wildswimmer Pete on the Dee at Llangollen. The greatest wildswimmer about!

I used to go kayaking regularly at Hurley Weir on the Thames and have come out of my boat and swum a few times to no ill effect.

Keep me updated – that will be brilliant if you can do that at this stage. Dont despair if it starts to hurt after 8 or 10 of them!!!

How about starting with 10 * 100 first!!

If you are thinking of an Oly or more, then start substituting 200m sets. I find those really start to hurt and your really build up speed endurance quickly. But not needed for a sprint, where you want speed more.

Oh no, you have got me started. Here’s another drill linked to your comments above which is great for tris. Do your intervals but tumble turn early so that you cannot push off the wall. Like a deep water start every length. Its a killer!!!

i can help with training if you like, i’ve got a remote control hovercraft that i could gaffa tape knives to and chase you?

Swimming the Thames is going to be the only way to get to work for a lot of people when the Olympics are on.

My problem with turn is that even when I get them right I am breathing so hard that I have to come up for air immediately, rendering the whole thing a bit pointless.

Mol, much faster then to do an open turn but with very aero body position for push off past the first set of lines. Dont stress about tumbles unless you are racing in a pool.

Molly – my (tumble)turns are shocking to the extent it’s normally better to just do normal turns. Was discussing them with a guy down the pool and he advised going down when it’s quiet / I’m knackered and just practicing them without doing the length first… just swim in from a couple of meters, turn then stop. Exhalation during the turn is what is causing me most problems.

Ok I’ll start with 10 intervals and add technique drills to make up the distance. Not a hope in hell I’ll be doing them every 2 mins with early turns though!!

Cheers Phil 7am tomorrow near Didcot ok?

And what is up with Pete’s skin up there^

TSY – for sure you wont do them off early turns!! That’s a one in twenty drill at best!!!

[ is it speedo’s new flesh coloured wetsuit? At least he is the right build for cold OW swims. Chapeau to him!]

I do want to be able to do the turns though. I hate a cop-out. Apart from the breathing thing the other issue is timing. I don’t get close enough to the wall so I just end up sticking my legs out like an idiot and not going anywhere 🙂

Yep I’ve been there Molly, and rolling too close (swimming too fast in my opinion).

One of my main motivations for nailing the tumble is that I find it frustrating when a slower swimmer keeps catching me on the turn just because they can do it. Sad, but true.

Couple of links that might help swimmers out there (I’m currently working on flip turns and getting up to one mile for tris this year):

How to flip turn (part 1 of 5): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFQpLyihI5M

0 to 1650: http://ruthkazez.com/ZeroTo1mile.html

Seriously, if you focused on the correct push, strict V, one hand on the other, head tucked in, hold position, you would nail the other swimmer 9/10. The difference for me between fast open and tumble is not that great, but difference between concentrating on push off and not is massive.

I will try and find the link to an expert open-turner. Swim coach down on the S coast with his own website.

Cheers. I want to get back in the pool already.

Ok, so these intervals are hard!! And should possibly be preceded by a quieter day of exercise.

Following a 400m warm up I completed 5 sets at 1:30 to 1:35 for the 100m. Starting forgetting to breath so spent the remainder of the swim focusing on drills particularly breathing and effeciency of stroke.

Reckon that the intervals will greatly aid my stroke efficiency too but concious that I don’t want to sacrifice my breathing.

I improved my stroke efficiency by trying to to a length in the fewest number of strokes. Dunno if that was the right approach but seemed to help.

Yeah, that’s what I ended up doing today. Kept on eye on length times as well though as I didn’t want to end up gliding into dead spots.

TSY – no surprise there for me but an interesting lesson! Hence my advice to start with fewer and slower reps. It’s a lot harder than it sounds, hey? You need to get the balance right here especially if you are working towards longer tris such as Oly or HIM distance.

Use the WU to focus on breathing maybe only 200m. Then do 10×100 off 2 mins. Try to pace at between 1:45 and 1:50 right from the start rather than 1:30 which seems to fast at the moment. See when you stroke or breathing starts to break down and note that point for reference. Once you can hold the session, then you can try to up the pace by a small fraction and/or add more reps.

But remember not to goo off too hard – first 2 or 3 intervals may well feel too easy (good) but the rest will test you for sure. Well done for the commitment and 1:35 should have you swimming near the top of your wave.

TSY you are already a pro if you are talking about dead spots. The curse of the over gliders like me. I spent too long on efficiency and forget about stroke rate. So had to learn hard how to up my stroke rate to eliminate dead spots.

But remember not to goo off too hard

😆 I’ll try, very wise words, and more often than not what lets me down.

Edit: I’ve read a lot of stuff, analysed my stroke to death etc. Naturally I have quite a high stroke rate, just trying to cover more distance per stroke at the minute, catch up drills have been a real eye opener.

TSY what pool do you swim at? Cotswolds has a series of triathlons and from April you can awim in the lake on weekends it is lovely and clean too and can see the fishes as you swim!!! I have loads of training programmes for swimming if you need any? Stowe Olympic on 13th may? Bicester has a Sprint on 22nd April? Thame or buckingham sprints in June??

Noooooo, catch up drills are not a great idea. Any idea what your stroke rate is ie strokes per minute?

Cheers M_C, I swim at the gym on Milton Park. It’s only a 20m which is a bit of a pain.

Oxford Tri train at various pools across Oxford and I intend to join in with some of those.

Is Cotswolds South Cerney? There is another lake over at Dorchester that has swim sessions on Weds evenings and Sun mornings.

Looks like I need to get the calander out and do some proper planning!

THM – about 60 spm. Roughly.

Teamhurtmore… why are catch-up drills a bad idea?

Did over 2k this morning.

2 x 500 off 10.
5 x 100 off 2.
Alternate breast stroke and sprint freestyle lengths for 400.
Some pull buoy stuff and some other drills and bit of breast stroke for a cool down.

Why do 100 off 2 kill me more than 500’s off 10?