Sprint Distance Triathlete Can't Break

Nicole is a sprint distance triathlete who is trying to break 1:28/100m in her races. There are 3 things she needs to do to get faster.
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[@teamofsteve]

Love to see a similar video for someone swimming a pace of about 2:15. Asking for a friend...

[@EffortlessSwimming]

😂

[@brucejohnston6184]

I'll pay up & send a video once I'm organised 😊

[@SaschaRissling]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJWXmKuEpcd9fac

[@Claudia18915]

As someone who is about the same pace, I am really looking forward to this video!

[@TM-li7bl]

I can see myself in her swimming …, this was a great help for me! Thank you!

[@fountainvalley100]

What has helped me besides studying your videos is adding a separate motion to cock my wrist downwards. At the end of the glide the wrist makes a deliberate downward motion then the movement of the catch begins. I find the cocking of the wrist leads my arm into a more vertical position. Or as least as vertical as I can get. Overall I’ve gone from 24 strokes per 50 yards to 20 strokes.

[@richardbrown1337]

This, but if you rotate your palm slightly outwards just before you perform this downward palm manoeuvre notice how your elbow will now be pointing slightly upwards as opposed to slightly downwards after the entry. With the elbow now pointing upwards you can correct your palm position to vertical and pointing directly behind you. If you now initiate a bend at the elbow it should help to create a more EVF (early vertical forearm). Take care not to press on the water at this stage, it's a gentle movement and be patient with the pull until your arm is in a good high elbow paddle forearm position and once there you can initiate the propulsion and put the power in from your back muscles. Also bring your shoulders right up close to your ear and really stretch your arm forward to try and capture as much water in-front of you as possible. It's all about stretching and 'catching' the water in-front of you as best you can before you start propulsion. Try this movement out of the water by holding your arm out straight in front of you with your fingers pointing dead ahead. Bring your shoulder up to your jawline and stretch as far forward as you can. Then rotate your palm nearly 90 degrees outwards away from your body. Notice your elbow. With your opposite hand, grab just above your elbow towards your body and hold it in place. Now rotate your palm back to the original position. Now your palm should be facing the ground parallel and from this point you can cock your wrist downwards and start to bend your elbow. Keep holding your elbow in place until your whole forearm is straight and your finger tips are pointing to the ground. Once here, this is where you can start your propulsive phase. Hope that makes sense, check it out!

[@apmcsilva]

Great video, thank you.

[@arthursalari5444]

I love Nicole because she swims exactly like me to the tiniest detail lol. I’m a U23 triathlete who races either Sprint or Olympic distances and I’ve never managed to crack 1:27 per 100 over 1500m in open water. I know I could increase swimming volume (I swim around 10k per week) but I also know my stroke could use some tweaking (hand too high underwater in front, hand pause in front) Love, love seeing a case that’s so similar to mine

[@cotefacekillah]

Same here. I’m always saying to keep my head down but why’s it so hard!

[@arthursalari5444]

@@cotefacekillah What I have the most trouble with is having my arm a bit deeper when in front, and also increqsing cadence since I've always been at a slow cadence

[@Fabdanc]

@@cotefacekillah I know, right? I switched pools, and now I swim at my local YMCA. They do not separate into slow v fast lanes... so I cannot focus on head position because I am usually sharing a lane with someone who cannot swim in a straight line/stay on their side of lane... last time I was doing some paddle training and focusing on head position... some guy drifted all the way over the center line and caught my paddle right into his head 😵

[@Fabdanc]

Do you incorporate the other strokes into your volume? I find adding the fly and fly drills really helpful for increasing my freestyle turnover, more so than using paddles and just freestyle. You glide too long in the fly and you're gonna die -- great saying. I find that the fly is a great way to build up the strength and activation needed to sustain a higher arm turnover without getting super tired. I'd probably also do some pull drills with no kick. As a fellow triathlete, I think you can get in your head that you want to conserve a lot of energy, and that sort of leads to subconsciously gliding longer. I will alternate from a 2bk to a 4bk over 1,500 to conserve energy and just power through with my catch and lat/tricep strength. I can save my legs on the swim portion while everyone else is burning more energy with more kicks. If you look at Katie Ledecky's underwater on her 1,500... she's barely kicking until the end.

[@arthursalari5444]

@@Fabdanc Yes but only for the purpose of warming up and "rest" sets. I may be a triathlete but I'm really approaching swimming as if that was the sole discipline I was practicing. Personally I have never ever felt gassed after a swim going into T1 so saving energy during the swim is no concern at all for me. On the other hand, my best swims (only talking about swims, not what happens afterwards) were when I really restricted myself from increasing my pace. I don't think I have what it takes to swim in a engaged manner over 800 or 1500m.

[@motoarch]

I wish I could go 1:28.

[@rustyheyman214]

You can. Keep working and you will get there.

[@motoarch]

@@rustyheyman214 lol, thanks for the support

[@bronwynwood9647]

Me too!!!

[@sujstet]

good analysis i also feel that she should take more breaths as if you go fast you got to have more oxygen

[@MooseOnEarth]

Look at the position of the fingers at 0:44 - her thumb is splaid out from the hand during the whole pull. Same at 1:26. At 1:39. At 2:24. At 3:27. Sometimes the thumb is splaid out during the whole pull, sometimes just at the last third of the pull. There she loses area on the hand. The other 4 fingers are very close together. She should hold her thumb close to the hand, and the fingers separated by a few millimeters (water cannot push through at pulling speed) to create a nice "large paddle hand". When her hand enters the water, the thumb - especially on her left hand, is also splaid out, like 3:13 or 3:44. But the thumb should be close to the hand.

[@bobdillen5641]

Her thumb is correct. Look at Ryan Lochte or Stephanie Rice their thumb is exactely like hers.

[@ThePicoypala]

I noticed her fingers, too. It looks as if she doesn't feel the water, and just does the movement as she was taught, without pulling water.

[@pcmjpcmj6854]

Small point. She seems to be 'flicking' a lot of water when her hand exits the water.

[@spesinskis]

What stood out to me is the beginning of the breath a little too early. But I could be wrong...

[@robohippy]

Higher stroke rate will help for sure. That would also require a different breathing pattern other than the 4 strokes per breath. 2, 2, 3 or 4, or every other arm stroke. Higher stroke rate = higher oxygen burn....

[@johnds1963]

Would her head further down reduce her wake drag? Like the bow of a ship? (or a dolphin's nose).

[@MooseOnEarth]

When seeing the footage of Lucy Charles-Barclay in between: I am not sure, whether this is really encouraging for hobby athletes. I mean, her whole body is slim and streamlined (58 kg for 1,70m). Her legs are lighter, her arms are lighter, they are basically all muscle, hardly any fat (just look at promo pictures), her hips are way slimmer. With such a physical condition, obviously your swimming can be different. Also, the footage looks sped up.

[@oldmandice2731]

I am 60 years old and am primarily a sprint distance triathlete. My last event I swam at a 1:18/100M pace. When I started competing a little over 2 years ago I was swimming at a 1:45/100M pace. Much of my improvement is due to watching your videos. Should I submit a swim video for analysis?

[@MooseOnEarth]

The footage from 4:49 to 4:56 with a top view, same at 5:12 to 5:30: when she moves her arms forward, the hand is *way too much* to the side (almost like a semicircle) instead of a nice high elbow and keeping the hand close to the body. This is energy consuming, tiring, and slow. There, during that period she should practice the three tip drill (butt, shoulder, head) or the "pulling a handkerchief out of your own pocket" drill (keeping the thumb splaid out to touch the own body side over the whole movement forward, as a physical feedback, where her hand is). I would not have her increase stroke rate, until her basic movements are actually really nice and efficient. In that footage, also her leg movement does not seem to contribute much to the forward movement. This could be done intentionally, as the has cycling and running afther that, both being "leg sports". But it also slows her swimming down a little bit.

[@shahinmiah5561]

Any tips on healing shoulder infringement otherwise it's impossible to freestyle

[@DanielMooreDJ]

I cant break 1:40/100m

[@sisal6365]

swim more

[@DanielMooreDJ]

@@sisal6365 your clever 👏

[@rustyheyman214]

Seriously, my first tri I was around 2 minutes now I hold low 1:30’s over the half. Working on technique and putting the time in does pay off.

[@gbone7581]

Nicole seems quite short (I may be wrong) but she is trying to swim like a tall person, she should see how a good shorter person swims (Janet Evans?) and try and copy that. She should do more of a shoulder driven freestyle go out hard and then catch the slip in her races.

[@dafyddjones3552]

Don’t you think her hands are entering the water too far in front of her ?

[@christinefournier685]

How do you calculate the pace ?

[@andreizelchenko934]

🤫 Her pace looks very slow, more than 2 minutes / 100m 🤫. I do not know why they can not just tell real numbers 🤷‍♂️

[@florianschmidt2756]

I cant break 2:00/100m

[@BGS22202]

What does 1:28 pace mean? Is this a time she maintained in an open water triathlon or in a pool? If in a pool, LCM or SCM (looks like SCM here)? Over what distance - the 750m sprint distance or an all-out 100m or some other distance?

[@MooseOnEarth]

As you cannot measure 100m distances in open water properly: it must be in the pool. On LCM or SCM does not matter too much. Many of those triathlon sprints will be around indoor swimming pools (instead of open water), and most of the pools are short course for cost reasons. I *guess*, the 1:28 / 100 m pace is an average value for 100m when she does 500m (sprint triathlon distance) "smulated" races in a pool on a short course lane. So, she would do the 500m in about 7:20 min or 750m in about 11:00 min.

[@BGS22202]

True: SCM is only 1-2 seconds faster than LCM depending on how good the turns are. 1:28 in open water without a wetsuit over 800m is close to elite in age group triathlons and she looks “good to very good” rather than elite, which is what this time in a pool is.

[@thekeenester]

I swear the LCB footage looks sped up...she's so damn fast.

[@fireblade1986]

she should probably also check in with a physio or chiropractic about her SI joint ... mine is instable aswell... as is common with so many people because of sitting. ... if the sacrum tilts forward/hips back, like slouching on the couch/chair and gets stuck there (high muscle tension in lower back) it will lead to that pronouced hollow back curve in the lower back that she is displaying. ... the sacrum will then force the lower spine forward when you straighten the hips and you have to really work your abs to get that belly in. ... if i feel that mine is crucked, i get out of the pool and do about 1-2min of physio training (laying on my back, legs 90deg like sitting on a chair, then cirular movements with the knees/legs ... really rolling that hip around and pushing it down/out on both sides). ... gains me 10sec pace when i get back into the pool... granted I'm a very on of swimmer due to my Job on Windturbines, only managing around 1:40/1:50 and working on 1:10 in a sprint. ... but holding my straigt/high position in the pool afterwards feels effordlessly! ... also when i do it on the hotel floor after work, i don't need/can't use a pillow for sleeping... thats how straight my spine wants to lay naturally then.

[@Mungobean73]

Her head is in the wrong position. High look forward for exhale leads to poor head turn and bad body position. Also her recovery is too wide and her pull is like stroking a cat rather than finger tips down from a high elbow recovery. Stroke rate is a poor thing to focus on without getting the basics right.

[@bobdillen5641]

The number 1 thing is, that she doesnt breath. Breathing every 4 is like holding your breath while running. Beside that, she is obviously a very good solid swimmer!

[@gbone7581]

I bet she breathes every 2 strokes when she is doing a race.

[@katemacdonald9602]

I’ll bet she’s breathing every four strokes to enhance her fundamental technique and make analysis easier. Agree that normally, more frequent breathing is best.

[@minte0407]

I got faster only when I started breathing every fourth, the breath really messes my catch on the opposite side and slows my stroke rate a lot. Any tips how to fix that?

[@gbone7581]

@@minte0407 Try bilateral breathing, breathing every 3 strokes on the opposite side.

[@tatankuzumoto]

Her left kick...

[@thedeegan]

She is banging her head every time she takes a breath… if she holds the head down instead of immediately getting it back up she would improve at least 2-4 seconds.

[@mcr9059]

Poor gliding phase due to kicking and hips motion. The head position is way too high, so the chest is low in the water, which causes significant drag. Look at 1:15. Her stroke is somewhat "electric". She could swim more "relaxed", so her arms, legs and hips would be much better correlated. Let's try a 2 or 4 kick FR.

[@willyengland]

5:58 In my view she is not rotating well. She is breathing only to the left side, there the rotation is ok, but on the other side there is almost no rotation. Her right arm swings stretched out of the water. Looks funny with this hand-waving.

[@romanble4425]

1+2) she only breaths every 4 instead of 2 strokes. For my eyes, nicole is lacking the power of the rotation. 3) head

[@OakleytheRottie]

Her head is too high. She is not kicking into each extension so the timing is actually way off. She needs to kick into each extension. Interval train with the focus on low stroke counts. Efficiency. The legs are the big issue here. She’s dragging her legs and her hips are sinking a few inches as a result.

[@BobbyWombat1234]

How do I permanently BLOCK this CRAP site?