[Sportsandrec] A little swim science

[Thornbury, Kelly]

The first thing to remember is that water is about twenty-five times more dense than air, so naturally it is much harder to propel yourself through the water (ironically, about twenty-five times harder...go figure). 

Second, while swimming (especially the longer distances) is an aerobic exercise, it is more anaerobic than treadmill or cycling work because of the times you spend holding your breath. Its not a big difference, but there is a difference. To put a little science into it, you use slightly different energy stores. The body develops energy usage based on the loads put on it (similar to how resistance training builds anaerobic strength and cardio develops aerobic strength, only at a cellular level). How your body can, within reason and genetics, be manipulated by training protocols. 

Next (I've lost count already), all the cycling, running, and elliptical training in the world doesn't build local muscular endurance in your arms, shoulders, or back. One reason you are feeling like you are getting your butt kicked, Joe, is that your upper body muscle endurance is not up to the level of your lower body, and think about where most of your propulsion in the water comes from; its training specificity by definition. Think of triathlon athletes, you almost always hear of those athletes being particularly good at one of the three events, because each sub event takes a different type of training, and these athletes are either more gifted in one event due to genetics and base training, or they train one area more than the others. 

So, try hitting the pool a couple of times a week for several reasons. First is to develop the swimming skills and training specificity. Again try swimming with a float held between the knees to develop that upper body movement and neurological adaptation. 

Second is something called "running economy," which refers to movement economy. Take someone who is at their genetic max for performance, by increasing economy of movement they can continue to make performance progress. In a runner for example, losing a few pounds, or wearing lighter running shoes, improves running economy. In the water, a long-term swimmer would train for leaner muscles (bulk and hydrodynamics), but I don't think Joe should do this for one race against a buddy. Second is stroke efficiency, which comes from several laps/sessions at sub-maximal speeds to develop the mechanics. Finally, lose the fluffy swim trunks for some real Speedos...C'mon Joe, you know you want too. 

So, fourteen full out laps is nothing to be ashamed about. You know you can certainly do the 2-lap race. I would spend some time at sub-maximal efforts working on the stroke economy (its huge for water events), and doing sets of one lap efforts with a rest interval no longer than it takes to swim the lap. Believe it or not, you were able to put out more effort in lap one than lap fourteen, and if you want to develop the speed for two laps, you need to be able to train at or above those levels...its an energy usage thing again. Also include sessions of four or five lap sets for developing that local muscle endurance. Over all, the more time you can spend in the pool before the race, the better the outcome will be, and it offers a nice change of pace to training, you just might find yourself blowing through a plateau you might not know you are in.