Past Articles

A Strategy for Swimming Long-Distance Races
By Dan Frost

Are you thinking about competing in a long distance race? There are frequent opportunities throughout the year to challenge yourself in swims of various lengths and types. Most of the larger Masters meets offer the 1000yd. (800m) and "mile" events. There are also a number of postal events being staged like the annual one-hour, 5k and 10k events sanctioned by USMS. During the summer months, there are open-water events, including triathlons, held in the region, as well as USMS open-water National Championships.

Competing in a distance race, whether in the pool or not, is not for the faint of heart by any means. Rowdy Gaines, while commentating for ESPN during the 1650 yard Freestyle of the 1995 Men's NCAA Championships, said "I swam this thing a couple of times, and, I can tell you, I have never been so nauseous in my life as that last 500 of this race. I don't know how they do it. I'm really, literally sick to my stomach by the end of it...it's a tough race to swim." Distance races are perhaps the toughest challenge there is in the sport of swimming.

However, preparing for, and competing in, distance events does not require any complicated strategy. Neither must one spend endless, mindless hours in the pool, logging as much long and slow yardage as possible. You will get out of the effort that which you put in. So, with a little special attention towards training, as well as a little fun, you can be on your way to a satisfying achievement of your distance swimming goals. Here is a general strategy for overcoming the long-distance challenge:

Plan ahead.
Find an event that you would like to compete in, and give yourself time to prepare. Swimming a distance event at a zone or national meet is a great end-of-season goal.

Technique, Technique, Technique!
Work hard on improving your swimming efficiency. Small stroke defects can add up to higher energy cost and slower times. You will need all of your strength to complete a long-distance race. Learn how to get the most out of yourself, and waste not.

Do a "benchmark" swim.
Sometime before your event, get into the water and swim your race distance without stopping. You can do this as fast or slow as you like, but it is important to physiologically and mentally feel what it is like to cover the distance. You may have to deal with pain and nausea, like Rowdy Gaines, during your race. Performing a benchmark workout will help you anticipate these situations during the race itself. If you are preparing for an open-water event, learn to deal with the challenges of navigation and swimming in cold water (make sure you take along a buddy). This is also a chance to evaluate the effectiveness of your training.

Focus on pacing.
Success in distance racing depends mostly on holding a fast but constant pace. Once you become comfortable swimming long intervals in workouts, begin to increase your workout speed. If you have set a time goal for yourself, say swimming the 1500 meters in 20 minutes, work toward lowering your intervals to your desired race pace (1:20 per 100m in this case).

Taper.
More than any other swimming event, you need to give yourself at least a couple of days of rest or easy exercise before your competition. You need to give your body the chance to restore its muscle glycogen by tapering your workout intensity and eating a high-carbohydrate diet. Most distance races are held on the opening day of meets, so that you won't waste precious energy competing in your other races. The most energy that you should spend in the days before the race should be spent just traveling to the competition site.

Swim your best race!
You should be confident in yourself if you have trained well. Do a brief warm-up swim, so that you can concentrate on form and take a little bit of the edge off. Swim with control, for adrenaline will not help you here. A winning race strategy includes good pacing and endurance through the difficult parts of the race.

Completing a distance swim is a lofty challenge that you can achieve! Again, there are many opportunities to swim with (and compete against) others driven to master long-distance swims. Your Masters coach can help you plan specific workout sets designed to build your endurance base, lower your race pace, and improve your technique. You can take the BIG PLUNGE!
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Dan Frost is currently vice-president of the Masters Aquatics Coaching Association.
Taken from MACA