Swimming Tips

Swimming is nearly always the first discipline in a triathlon and is normally the one that takes the shortest amount of time. It is also the one that instills the most fear into novice triathletes, especially if there is an open water swim with a mass start.

The swim can be of any length but normal distances would be as follows:

Age or Type of Triathlon	Distance	Special Conditions
Tristar Start (8yrs)	50m (max)	Must be Pool Based
Tristar 1 (9/10)	150m (max)	Must be Pool Based
Tristar 2 (11/12)	200m (max)	Must be Pool Based
Tristar 3 (13/14)	300m (max)	Must be Pool Based
Youth (15/16)	400m (max)	can swim Open Water
Sprint	750m	Wet suit may be used under 24^oC
Standard	1500m	Wet suit may be used under 24^oC
Middle	2500m	Wet suit may be used under 24^oC
Long	4000m	Wet suit may be used under 24^oC
These are British Triathlon Distances - International Triathlon Union and Ironman distances may differ

As the aim is to complete the distance in the shortest possible time the standard stroke to use is front crawl, but any stroke can be used in triathlon. Unlike races held under ASA (amateur swimming association) rules any stroke you do does not have to be "legal" and you can even stop and stand for a time if you wish.

Water is 1500 times thicker than air and moving through it quickly takes a great deal of skill. For this reason swimming sessions have 2 main purposes:

To develop the skill to travel efficiently through the water ....... and
Building the strength to swim fast over the distance required

All of our sessions will be aimed at developing these in our swimmers, plus developing a competition pace that's fast enough to be competitive but still leaves you being able to bike and run well.

Although triathletes generally use front crawl, the club coach's believe in training other major strokes as well. This improves overall musculature and strength. The links below show examples of how sessions might be structured.

Aim	Sessions Name & Link
To Learn Even Pacing	Hundreds