Swim Videos and Analysis

A few weeks ago, I had a video taken from a swim coach in TCSD (Triathlon Club of San Diego) and saw how much difference there was between what I thought I was doing and what I was actually doing....
I learnt a valuable tip there to try and get observation incorporated into our plan.

So this week as I did my swim practice session, I brought my iPhone and had my hubby Nigel take a short video of me swimming. I did the same for him. Here are the videos with my commentary on what's working and what's not.

Lucy's Swim

This is much improved from the prior video (no copy available) and from the training classes I have been attending. Some of the areas I have been focused on:

• Hand Shape: I keep my fingers together as I pull in the water......this gives you more pull in the water. Consider the difference between a hoe and a rake in the amount of dirt it pulls towards you. The same applies to the shape of your fingers on your hand, keeping then together is more efficient that having them spread apart.
• Arm Entry: The entry point of my arm into the water is earlier and more smoothly entered than I was doing this a few weeks ago. I waited until the full reach extension of my arm before putting in my hand, whereas here my hand enters during and before the full arm extension. It feels odd to do this and I'm not sure I feel an improvement in power, but it does keep the overall swim movements more smooth rather than 'choppy' so that means extra seconds saved.
• Breathing:Better but still learning that taking a breath should not cause a delay in the swim but rather be part of the overall movement. Currently there is a slight pause as I breathe during my arm movement, and a slight pause on every stroke will mean MANY extra minutes over a 2.4 mile IronMan swim.
• Body Rotation: This is not as good yet, but using the rotation of the body when I reach in the water provides an extra few inches of reach in the arms, and therefore a longer pull, meaning more power and distance per swim length.
• Leg Kick: In a triathlon you want to use minimal legs so that you save them for the bike and run. You want overall to have fewer and smaller leg kicks. The kicks should be from the knee down, and the feet should be flexible at the ankles. My swim shows this is an area for improvement. I'm not kicking a full leg which is good, but it's not a tight smooth kick from the knees, the feet look too rigid, and the kick seems overall uncoordinated.
• Speed: This video feels sooooo slow. At some point I am going to have to get my speed up (and total distance) to make the 2:20 hour cut-off for the IronMan Arizona.

Overall, for 5 weeks of swimming, I have learnt and applied many skills and am feeling a difference in the effectiveness of my swim. Still of course much to improve on.

Nigel's Swim

Here is my commentary on Nigel's swim:

• Hand shape: good, keeping the fingers together
• Arm Entry: Interesting to see the difference in the 2 arms here. The right arm looks really good and a smooth entry. The left arm seems to not rise as high and not glide in as easily. When I asked Nigel he said his left shoulder does not have as much rotation in it (due to a car crash 10 years ago)....so here's an area to build into strength training
• Breathing: Nigel has that same small pause in the breathing during the stroke, so this is an area to practice in. He breathes on 1 side consistently in this swim. There is no 'right' way for what side to breathe on, everyone is different.
• Body Rotation: there is less body rotation than me...
• Body Flotation: I noticed the difference first in Nigel having a lower placement of his bum and legs in the water. My bum is higher. The aim is to keep your bum and legs as level to the top half of your body. If it is lower than it is creating extra drag for you to pull forward in your stroke. Nigel will have to ask about drills to practice raising his bottom half of his body. I have heard that a wetsuit helps in this due to the added buoyancy.  
• Leg Kick: similar comments to me here about his leg kick, the video was also not the best to see the legs over time.
• Speed: Nigel's speed is faster than me overall so even with these differences in our techniques, he has overall strength and power that keeps him moving forward faster. 

Nigel claims to be a more novice swimmer, so the sample above of his swimming after 5 weeks of training is very good. Well done!

I liked being able to look at these videos and take the technique elements into consideration, so I plan to repeat this video exercise down the road.

Extra

This is a 5 minute video link from a professional IronMan, Scott Neyedli, as he swims in a pool to get technique tips. It compares the difference in the factors I considered in his swim when he uses different swim clothing options - trunks, tri-suit, wetsuit.