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More Swimming Options
People often email me asking about swimming skills and
techniques to get better in the water. Here are many tips that you can use
to improve your swim times and confidence in the water.
Buy some swim trunks: Some of the simplest ways to get better
in the water is by wearing proper swim gear. Recently, I was coaching some
college students in the
combat swimmer stroke and kept advising them to buy a pair of swim
trunks and stop wearing the long baggy board shorts to try to learn how to
swim. I tested them one day in baggy shorts and they swam in the 10:30-11
minute zone for the 500 yd swim. With no extra instruction, two days later,
I tested them again in the 500 yd swim and they both had biker style swim
shorts on. The difference in one was a 9:45 – formerly a 10:30 and the
other dropped from 10:50 to 9:30. So just by wearing a real pair of swim
trunks they dropped 45-80 seconds off their 500 yd CSS swims. I know
to swimmers, this information is elementary but you would be surprised at
how many people do not realize this:
Not Swim trunks Fast Swim trunks
Prepare with fins – 99% of your swims in any spec ops related course will be with fins. At BUD/S, you will swim all your timed ocean swims in fins even though to get INTO BUD/S you have to swim without fins. Learn how to do both on your pre-BUD/S fitness journey. I recommend SCUBA fins with dive booties. They will issue you UDT Duck Feet or US Diver Rocket Fins at BUD/S so if you are looking for a pair of fins, buy those. If you have a sturdy pair of SCUBA fins, those are fine. Wearing a thin pair of slip on flippers will not cut it though. You need something you prepare your ankles for the long ocean swims and dives done in sturdy SCUBA fins. Here is a common email:
UDT Duck Feet Rocket Fins
Recently
I bought a pair of Rocket fins and booties. Up until now I have been using
soft fins for your workouts and I have been able to fin 1 mile under 30
minutes with soft fins. With rocket fins, however, it feels much more
awkward and painful. It seems as if my arm-pulls get me more propulsion
than the flutter kicks with rocket fins.
1. Is there a specific technique to swimming with rocket fins? Does the
kick have to be a certain width? It seems that bigger kicks give me a
stop/start movement and interrupt my momentum but while smaller kicks give
me constant movement they still don't seem to propel me that fast.
There is a technique to swimming with fins, but no one best way as we all have different kick strengths. I have found that athletes in sports like football and soccer may not be the best swimmers without fins, but when they place a pair of SCUBA fins on their legs, they are faster than most people in the class. This is because they have well developed leg and hip strength and can use bigger kicks to build speed. Some athletes with less strong legs / hips tend to still swim fast, but are required to kick using smaller strides at a faster pace. You have to find out what works best for you personally. You will want to learn how to swim on both sides as well because you can alter your kick as long as your top leg always extends forward on both the left and right side. Learning to swim on both sides offers a form of “rest” by changing the pull – push stride of your left / right leg.
As far as arm pulls and breathing as pictured in the video, the arm pull can be used as another method of propulsion, especially if you need to rest your legs by skipping a few kicks throughout a long distance swim. Many people like to do a slight pause of kicking when breathing and recovering the arms forward again to remain streamlined. As with any swimming, recovering your arms should remain stream-lined and not an obstacle to forward motion.
2. The
fins seem to cause pain in my feet after a couple hundred yards and
stiffness up the front and side muscles of my shins. Is this just a matter
of conditioning and getting my feet used to wearing these fins?
It is a matter of
conditioning. When first wearing fins while swimming, you should only swim
a few hundreds yards and push slightly past discomfort in the ankle and shin
area. Do not push too hard and for too long at first as over use injuries
like tendonitis in the feet and knees can flare up causing you to only be
able to swim or run with severe discomfort or injury. This process usually
takes about 10-15 swims or two to three weeks of swimming with fins. It is
recommended to swim 500m with fins and if they start to bother you, take off
the fins and swim 500m without, then try fins one more time until discomfort
returns. Do this for a few weeks and you will be able to add greater
distances each time you swim.
Mask or Goggles? - In any Spec Ops
training program you will wear a mask, so it is smart to start training with
a mask versus a pair of goggles. However, prior to BUD/S, you are not
allowed to swim the 500 yd swim (at boot camp) wearing goggles so get used
to it without goggles as well. I like any soft nose mask made by Dacor or
US Divers.
Soft Nose Mask
Some fun swim workouts: For any level - give these swim workouts a try:
|
Quick workouts: 300m timed swim 200m warmup Repeat 5 times
|
Medium workout 20 x 25m sprints 100m Pyramid repeat in reverse order but rest with 50m slow swim / breastroke / back stroke etc… |
Longer workout 500m warmup 5 x 100m sprints 5 x 50m kickboard 5 x 50m arm pull only Swim 500-2000m with fins or without fins non-stop
Prep for BUDS 1 mile swim with fins or 2 mile swim with fins
|
Getting Harder hypoxic Swim 100m 4
strokes / breath Do PT for 5 minutes (pushups / abs) Standard
Hypoxic pyramid (rest optional - 20-30 secs in between) you should strive for around 1000m (all hypoxics are done using freestyle stroke) |
Hypoxic workout Swim 300-500m - 6 stroke per breath - 8 strokes per breath total distance 900-1500m |
Other questions / ideas on swimming:
Underwater swimming skills - GLIDE - see video on how to do it efficiently.
The Combat Swimmer Stroke see CSS Link
Swimming Without Water? - Work the same muscle group as you do with swimming but for best results - SWIM to get better at swimming!
Swim PT / Hypoxic Swimming - Great workouts to do in the heat of the summer and cold of the winter (indoor pool).
Triathlon Training - Want to mix it up and try a triathlon? Here is a fun starter plan.
Underwater Swim w/o Water - Learn to hold breath and move efficiently to maximize swim distance without maxing out breath and passing out.
Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author
certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National
Strength and Conditioning Association. If you are interested in starting a
workout program to create a healthy lifestyle - check out the StewSmith.com
Fitness eBook store and the
Stew Smith article archive at StewSmith.com. To contact
Stew with your comments and questions, e-mail him at
stew@stewsmith.com.
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