Bad Swimmer

Your Name said:

Hi,

After last Triatlon season I was practicing my technic al
winter long. I thought I was progressing. Wath I did
where the following things: putting hands in the water in
the right way, breating left and right instead off left,
beeing more symetric, pulling water trough the complete
stroke, etc. Yesterday in my first triatlon with
1350meter swimming I finded myself with a bad time of 30
minutes with a wetsuit. I did last year without wetsuit
28 minutes on 1500meter. Wath is going wrong??? Please
some advice, Bernard

Did you do any timetrials during the winter? You have to
swim fast to swim fast, as trite as that sounds.

Was the triathlon swim in open water, or in a pool? An open
water swim will usually be significantly slower than the
same distance in a pool.

How well does your wetsuit fit? A bad fit will create a
lot of drag.

In message <[email hidden]>, Your
Name <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Hi,

After last Triatlon season I was practicing my technic al
winter long. I thought I was progressing. Wath I did
where the following things: putting hands in the water in
the right way, breating left and right instead off left,
beeing more symetric, pulling water trough the complete
stroke, etc. Yesterday in my first triatlon with
1350meter swimming I finded myself with a bad time of 30
minutes with a wetsuit. I did last year without wetsuit
28 minutes on 1500meter. Wath is going wrong??? Please
some advice, Bernard

Are you sure that the 1500m distance has been measured
correctly?

I presume this is an open water swim and (apparently) they
don't always get the distance right. Also you could have
been affected by currents etc.

If the previous swim was also open water you might have been
short on that one.
--
Richard Cant

Your Name said:

After last Triatlon season I was practicing my technic al
winter long. I thought I was progressing. Wath I did where
the following things: putting hands in the water in the
right way, breating left and right instead off left, beeing
more symetric, pulling water trough the complete stroke,
etc. Yesterday in my first triatlon with 1350meter swimming
I finded myself with a bad time of 30 minutes with a
wetsuit. I did last year without wetsuit 28 minutes on
1500meter. Wath is going wrong???

As the others suggest, course measurements vary greatly, as
do currents. It's hard to compare times on the same event
from year to year. The closest measure you have is how well
you compare to the median swimmer.

Ideally you train in OW with a known course and time
yourself on it. A well fitting tri wetsuit garners me ~45
seconds per 400m.

Did you fight more crowding in this swim than the other one?
Take less direct lines? Any known currents? 2 weeks ago I
swam (first swimming of year) in a race - 1000m stated in 33
minutes. It had surf and an opposing current for 600m.
Yesterday I did 2400m in 34 minutes. It had a very favorable
current, plus I got a couple more workouts in prior.

Is anyone watching you practice? A lot of bad exercises
builds strength, but not necessarily speed.

--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com