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Tulsa Area Triathletes – Ready for Spring Camps! Beginner CAMP! Intermediate CAMP! Beginner CAMP! Intermediate CAMP! 1. Learn to swim or Beginners (LTS): Monday nights – For those new to triathlon or continuous lap swimming. 8 week camp, Prep for: Spring sprint triathlons: Upcoming local events include: April – TAT’s Spring Fever or the Will Rogers Sprint Tri in May. 2. Mastering the Mile: Wednesday nights – For intermediate swimmers who want to become faster and more efficient in the water. The workouts are tailored to the participants. For those looking to do an Olympic or Half Iron Man distance, also to work on form and speed for Sprint or Full Iron Distance. This is not a Learn to Swim (LTS) class. I consider it the next step after LTS. Requirements: Able to Swim a 500 continuously or anyone who has completed a learn to swim camp or clinic. Both classes include: One Video of your stroke with detailed e-mail of what to work on, drill instruction, dry land exercises, and pacing and mental prep. for race day. Also includes workouts to do between classes, usually the classes are broken down into two or three groups and each group gets a workout. I also try to take notes at most sessions so each individual will get personalized notes. Where: ORU Aerobics Center 50 meter indoor pool. When: Monday nights – Learn to Swim 3 time options – #1. 5:40 to 6:30PM*, #2. 6:40 to 7:30PM, and #3. 7:40 to 8:30PM When: Wednesday nights – Mastering the Mile: 5:40 to 6:30 Date: *The Monday LTS class at 5:40PM will start Feb 27th. All other camps will start the week of Feb. 6th. Learn to swim and Mastering the Mile classes go for 8 weeks. They will meet every week for the 8 weeks unless the pool is closed or I have a scheduling conflict Cost: Beginner Class $120 I am limiting each Learn to swim camp to 10 people, 8 weeks. Mile class $100 The Mastering the Mile class is limited to 15 at this time, 6 weeks, we finnish up the week Wed. night ride starts. Coach: Coach-Janet – I have over 20 years experience doing triathlon and swimming competitively, including St. Louis Masters and Tulsa Masters. I’ve been coaching swimmers for triathlon for over 8 years. Certifications: USAT Level 1 Coach and USA Swimming Level 1 Coach. I have several 26 minutes or better (1500 MTR swim) in Olympic distance races Required: Membership in Tulsa Area Triathletes – http://tatok.com/join-tat/ I had a client tell me about how his races have changed since becoming a better swimmer. All the good things about controlling pace and being efficient, well trained and ready… Well all that was good. The bad thing was it became much harder to find the bike in T2. After the Redman Aquabike swim I have decided to get a pocket added to my wetsuit to carry business cards. On my second lap of the Redman Aquabike swim I noticed several, maybe 25 or more people standing (not swimming) in the shallow water side of the swim course. That’s right – standing up during the swim. I can’t imagine getting in to swim a mile or more in a lake and truly not being able to. What a scary and unsettling way to start a race. Please get with your local tri club or fitness center and find a coach to help you learn to swim. It’s a life long skill that could save your life, besides the fact it will make your triathlons way more fun. Also teach your children to swim. I’m so glad my Mother got me in lessons at 5 years old. I spent most my youth at the local pool playing. I raced in High School for the small local team and several years later raced again in a masters program in St. Louis. I’ve have great success with beginning swimmers in just 3 to 5 lessons. Sometimes even one session gives someone a breakthrough. My first goal is to get them efficiently swimming and then to control the pace, find and complete their goal distance at a comfortable pace. From there we work on more technique and swim strength, endurance and speed. Good swimmers are built in my opinion. Get in the water!
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Click above to watch the 3-minute swim class by Janet Wilson. You’ll learn 5 keys to a strong swim leg for your next triathlon. Want a larger version? Click here for the triathlon swimming tips page.
I got an email from a beginner triathlete that went like this: “Can you help me with my triathlon swimming? When I get in the water I sink like a rock and can’t keep myself near the top of the water. Any tips?” This is a pretty common problem for triathletes struggling with their swimming. It is an important problem to fix, too. The more of your body (low hips and legs) you have to pull through the water, the slower you go and the more energy you use during the swim. Slower and more tired getting out of the water is not a good combination. If your hips are sinking then you aren’t level in the water and that causes problems. Here are 5 tips on how to teach yourself to swim level in the water during your next triathlon swim. 1. One common misconception is that you need to swim “on top” of the water. The first thing you need to understand is that your goal is not to be “on top” of the water – you can work so hard on pushing your body up that your stroke suffers. Your goal is to be level in the water, with mainly your arms and mouth (during your breathing) out of the water. Swim some without your swim cap so you can feel where the water line hits your head. You want more than half your head to be below the water line – higher than that and you are probably holding your upper body too high, which can cause your hips to drop. 2. Take a big breath. When your lungs are full of air they act like a life preserver and make it easier to keep your whole body higher and level in the water. Use this as your “ballast” that you push to raise your hips (see tip number 3 for more about this). Practice holding your breath during most of your stroke, exhaling quick at the end just as you begin your next big breath. 3. A big part of swimming is just getting comfortable. Practice floating on both your stomach and your back. Practice rolling from your stomach to your back and then back to your stomach. Concentrate on pressing your chest (if you are on your stomach) or your shoulder blades (on your back) into the water. You should notice that your hips pop up level with the rest of your body. 4. Concentrate on your balance during drills. Swim lengths of the pool doing stroke drills where you concentrate on your balance and pressing your chest into the water. 5. Improve your kicking form. Many beginner triathletes kick by bending their legs a lot at the knee – this can definitely cause your hips to sink in the water. You want to stay very long in water, so your kick needs to be from your hips, not your knees. Swim some drills wearing flippers and concentrate on keeping your knees somewhat straight (they can bend, but only slightly). Flippers will also improve flexibility in your ankles, which will further improve your swim stroke. I sometimes imagine that I’m wearing flippers while swimming to improve my kick technique. If you use these tips during your swim training you should see your swim times drop and you should have more energy on the bike when you get out of the water. |
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