Swimming Workouts for Triathlon Preparation | FORM Swim

Swimming Workouts for Triathlon Preparation

June 17, 2021 | 6 min read

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Whether you're planning to do your first triathlon as a beginner or your 20th, preparation is key to achieve peak performance. Getting into the routine of regular swimming workouts to prepare for your next triathlon is a must to get your mind and body ready for your event.

The swimming portion of your triathlon may be as short as 500 yards (for a Super Sprint triathlon) or 2.4 miles if you are competing in an Ironman distance triathlon. When training, focus on improving your form and increasing your endurance.

In this post, we're reviewing how to incorporate some key swimming workouts into your triathlon training schedule and share some easy-to-follow sessions.

Let's start with the basics, swimming workouts for triathlon training:

How long do you need to swim to get a good workout?

If you include swimming as part of your workout routine (whether you are planning for a triathlon or not), a 20-30 min session will give you a good workout. For most swimmers, this is at least 20-30 laps of a 25m pool.

Swimming puts less of a strain on your body than other forms of exercise training you may be doing to train for your triathlon. However, it still gives you an excellent full-body workout! It's a great cardiovascular exercise because it activates all muscle groups at the same time. Also, because it's low impact, it's good to do when your body is sore from higher impact training like running and cycling.

How often should you swim to train for a triathlon?

To get the most cardio benefit from swimming workouts for triathlon training, try to swim as consistently as possible. First, we recommend swimming for a minimum of 20 minutes per session, 3-5 times a week when training for a triathlon. This means 20 minutes of actual swimming time. If you take longer breaks between laps, increase that to about 30 minutes, so you hit that 20-minute goal.

Your aim should be to increase your swim sessions to 45-60 minutes each. These sessions will become a mix of swim and drills.

Swimming workouts for triathlon training

Working with a coach when you're preparing for a triathlon is excellent. A coach can recommend specific routines based on the skills and practice you need. But for those of us who are forging our training path without a dedicated expert, there are some tried-and-true workouts to help give you an edge.

Whether you prefer to be in the pool or [training in the open water](/content/blogs/all/8-open-water-swimming-tips-for-every-triathlete "8 Open Water Swimming Tips for Every Triathlete"/index.html), practice and build your triathlon endurance with these triathlon swim training plans:

Beginner triathlon swim workout

Here is a basic 1,000-yard swim workout to help you get used to being in the pool. Make sure you push yourself, but take breaks as needed.

Warm Up: 300
3x100 Moderate
Pre Mainset: 200
2x50 Drill
2x50 Kick
Mainset: 400
4x100 as (75 Hard, 25 Easy)
Cool Down: 100
100 Easy

Olympic triathlon swim workout

From beginner to pro, surges tend to happen at every level of Olympic distance racing. This Olympic triathlon training plan will help you understand what your ideal pace should feel like and help you get used to changing pace comfortably.

When training for an Olympic distance triathlon, try this 1,900-yard swim workout to help practice pace variation:

Warm Up: 400
200 Choice
100 Pull with Paddles & Buoy
100 Kick
Pre Mainset: 400
8x50 as (50 Drill, 50 Kick)
Mainset: 900
6x150 as (100 Strong, 50 Fast)
Cool Down: 200
200 Easy

Half Ironman swim workout

Your half Ironman may only be 400m longer than a standard Olympic triathlon. Still, this endurance workout will help you manage your pace over that longer duration. Throughout this 2,100-yard workout, focus on keeping your pace consistent, resting only 5-10 seconds between intervals in your mainset.

Warm Up: 400
2x100 Smooth
4x50 Choice Build
Pre Mainset: 200
8x25 Sighting Drill
Mainset: 1200
6x200 as (150 Moderate, 50 Strong)
Cool Down: 300
2x50 Kick
200 Choice

Ironman swim workout

Have you ever broken the 1-hour Ironman swim?

Completing an Ironman calls for some serious training. Ladder sets are a great way to make longer workouts more engaging while still maintaining focus on endurance for a longer event. Here's a 2,500-yard endurance ladder workout to help you keep focus and keep progressing:

Warm Up: 300
100 Choice
100 Kick
100 Free
Pre Mainset: 100
4x25 Build
Mainset: 1,800
50 Moderate
100 Moderate
150 Moderate
200 Moderate
250 Moderate
300 Moderate
250 Strong
200 Strong
150 Strong
100 Strong
50 Strong
Cool Down: 300
4x50 Kick
100 Choice

Swimming drills for triathlon preparation

Building endurance is only part of swim training. By perfecting your technique and form, you can swim faster and longer. Drills are a chance to focus on improving or correcting your form.

Here are some drills and workouts you can do in the pool as part of your triathlon training:

Sighting drill

On race day, you want to swim as efficiently as possible, hugging the course markers/buoys. This means you need to practice sighting so you can swim and be mindful of what's around you. Here are three drills to practice sighting in the pool:

Swim the entire length of the pool with your head above the water. Focus on arching your back and kicking extra hard while maintaining proper swimming form.
If you have an empty pool lane, swim down the lane with your eyes closed and pay attention to which side lane line you bump into most. You can use this during your race to know which side to compensate for in an open water swim.
Practice lifting your head slightly out of the water to sight every 5-10 strokes.

Bonus open water swimming tip: [Use SwimStraight™ to shave off extra time](/content/blogs/all/introducing-swimstraight-revolutionary-new-feature "A Revolutionary New Feature for Open Water Swimming - Introducing SwimStraight™"/index.html).

Stroke rate drill

There are several drills and exercises you can use to increase or decrease your stroke rate to optimize your form and speed. To start, know your average stroke rate per lap by swimming several lengths, counting your strokes, and calculating your average strokes per lap.

Then try these exercises to hone your stroke counts:

To decrease your stroke rate, try swimming laps with fins to swim faster and with less effort.
To increase your freestyle stroke rate, raise your head out of the water for a full lap. This will shorten your stroke.
Once you have consistent stroke rates, practice maintaining that stroke rate over increasingly longer distances.

Negative Split Pacing Strategy

A negative split strategy is where you swim the latter portions of your distance faster than the earlier portion.

To practice this, try the 10x 100 with 10 seconds rest:

1. Start at about 85% effort and hold that pace for the first five sets of 100.
2. For set #6, increase your effort to 90%. The goal here is to see if you can drop your time by a second or two.
3. For sets 7-10, increase your effort slightly for every set.

If your times are not decreasing, next time, try starting at a faster first set and working to increase your endurance.

Best triathlon training tip: Track your workouts

One of the best ways to improve your swimming workouts for triathlon prep is to [track and analyze the data](/content/blogs/all/5-tips-for-learning-from-your-swimming-analytics "5 Tips for Learning From Your Swimming Analytics"/index.html) from your swim workouts. Using our [FORM](/content/pages/smart-swim-goggles "FORM Goggles Landing Page"/index.html) [Smart Swim Goggles](/content/products/form-swim-goggles "FORM Goggles Landing Page"/index.html), you can get real-time performance updates displayed in real-time that also include ( [Smart Swim 2](/content/products/smart-swim-2-goggles "Smart Swim 2"/index.html)) or integrate ( [Smart Swim 1](/content/products/smart-swim-goggles "Smart Swim 1"/index.html)) with compatible [heart rate monitors](/content/pages/swimming-heart-rate-tracking "Swimming heart rate monitor"/index.html) and smartwatches.

FORM goggles display your real-time stats, so you can monitor your distance, heart rate, time, and much more without leaving the water. This information is automatically uploaded to the cloud to access later through the FORM Swim App to see your progress and connect with other swimmers.

We're sure your FORM goggles will become an essential piece of kit for your triathlon training routine! [Get your goggles here](/content/products/smart-swim-2-goggles "FORM Smart Swim Goggles Product Page"/index.html)

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