My previous swim coach used to talk about the kinetic chain. Today I actually felt what she had been talking about. I’ve got a new swim coach and I had my second lesson today. The first lesson had already helped me significantly. Swimming is all about form, and I’ve always thought that I have pretty good form, but I’m learning that “you don’t know what you don’t know.” With just a few suggestions, I felt my movement in the water improve. The two things that made the most difference were pointing my hand towards the sky and slapping down hard on the water. Reviewing these today and working on the drills for them reminded me of their value. But there was one thing missing, and it was the key piece in the kinetic chain.
At my first swim lesson, my new swim coach talked about coordinating my kick with my stroke. It made sense, but I wasn’t able to connect. I’ve always used a 6 beat kick, which essentially ends up separating the kick from the stroke. In a way, the two are disassociated. Today, I associated my kick with my stroke. This happens most simply with a 2 beat kick, which makes sense, as each kick is coordinated with each stroke. After trying it out for a few lengths of the pool, I actually swam 100 yards at the end, completely with a 2 beat kick. The best part was recognizing that this was associated with less energy expended.
I’m very excited about the next few weeks. I think that I’m about to undergo a major breakthrough with my swim. I have a better feel for the water, and I think that I know what the kinetic chain is all about. There is a rhythm that I discovered today, especially during my last 100 where somehow it was ok to kick and stroke at the same time. My coach talked to me about feeling like I was throwing a baseball, and it actually made sense.
So, what does this mean? What will it lead to? A few years ago, my ironman swims were usually done in about an hour and twelve minutes. I had one event where I swam an hour and eight minutes, and I went an hour and eighteen minutes at Boulder in 2016. Since that time my swim has slowed down by another ten minutes. The major reasons for this slowing down is probably a complete lack of swim training. This gives me something by which to set my goals for this year. My first goal is twelve weeks from now at IM Boulder. In the past, I could swim 1:40/100yds forever, and this translated to an ironman swim time of around 1:12. More recently my basic swim pace was probably closer to 1:50, but suddenly today I’m expecting that in the coming weeks, 1:30 will become my norm. If that is the case, then swimming 2.4 miles in closer to 1:05 feels realistic. More importantly, if that 1:05 swim is also easier, that makes for an easier bike and run. This could be quite interesting!
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