Master the Waters: Swimming Strategies for Medium and Long Distance Triathlons

Winter is an ideal time to plan triathlons that will take place in the spring and throughout the summer. Establishing a solid foundation and clearly defining strategies for competition day are essential steps to ensure that we leave nothing to chance. Training and internalizing these strategies throughout the season is crucial. Today we begin the first installment of our three-part series, focused on optimizing each segment of the medium and long distance triathlon. We start with swimming, a fundamental component that lays the foundation for cycling and running.

Specific Swimming Techniques for Medium and Long Distance Triathlons:

• Breathing exercises: Practice bilateral breathing and full exhalation underwater to improve breathing efficiency and rate, especially over longer distances.
• Interval Training: Incorporate high-intensity intervals such as short sets of 100 meters with short rests, and combine them with your longer, more moderate sessions, to improve endurance and pace at both distances. Remember, even when you focus on long distances, each goal and type of training involves different physiological adaptations, and it is essential to include this variability in training to develop all capabilities. Of course, the importance, volume and intensity of each workout will be adapted to the specific phase and goal of the season.

Preparation for Open Water:

• Guidance and adaptation: Get used to swimming in open water conditions, practicing the spotting technique. From time to time you will have to locate the buoys to avoid losing your orientation. In a pool it is not necessary to look up to avoid losing direction, but in open water, deviating can make you cover key meters for a good time in the segment.
• Career Strategies: At distances of 1900 and 3800 meters, it is crucial to avoid starting too fast. It is common to enter with your heart rate racing due to the adrenaline of the gunshot. Calm down, an effort that sometimes borders on anaerobic in the first meters can negatively influence the rest of the swim. Look for groups to take advantage of drafting, maintaining a constant and efficient pace and little by little find your rhythm without major changes.

Nutrition and Hydration:

• Importance of a Balanced Diet: Eat a diet rich in carbohydrates, proteins and healthy fats, and maintain adequate hydration before and after workouts. Sometimes because we are in water we forget about hydration, which is as important as in the rest of the segments. In the race, of course, we are not going to eat and drink, but don't forget it in the rest of the training sessions.

Mental Preparation:

• Positive visualization and mentalization: Use visualization techniques for running and practice positive self-talk during training to strengthen mental resilience. This will mean that when you get into the matter you have everything more under control, you have already been in that situation dozens of times and you have a plan.

Use of Swimming Equipment:

• Benefits of Fins, Pull Buoys and Shovels: Use this equipment to improve technique and strength in preparing for your medium and long distance. Working on the applied and specific force with this equipment is key. Just like swimming and swimming without playing with intensities, the distance of the series or rest times is not the most efficient strategy, the variability of stimuli with this equipment will give that extra quality to your swimming.

By focusing on these swimming strategies, triathletes can significantly improve their performance in the 1900 and 3800 meter distances. Perhaps it is the one that we give the least importance to, due to the total time it represents in the test, but facing the cycling segment in the best conditions can be key for the final time. Open water preparation, along with a focus on technique, nutrition and mental preparation, are essential for success at these demanding distances. Pay attention because next week we will address the different strategies in the cycling segment, how to prepare for it and face it.

In the meantime, visit us at https://www.365rider.com/ and equip yourself with the best triathlon products, advised by our experts.