TRAINING FOR THE SWIMATHON The Swimathon is one of Britain's largest sporting events and best kept secrets. In pools all over the country; at roughly the same time at the end of March, swimmers of all ages and abilities are pitting themselves not against each other but against their own expectations and ambitions. Not for them - and not for you if you are to be one of the participants -the adrenatine rush of the landmarks of the London marathon or the vociferous roadside support of their family in the local fun-run. The Swimathon is tougher than this as each swimmer is combating an alien (though still friendly) environment as well as tiredness and fatigue. Let us see how we can make the Swimathon an easier event to do. Before you start If the Swimathon were easy there would be no point in it, and even if it is as hard as you care to make it this event is still pretty arduous. Therefore, if you are not already involved in a training regime, have a medical examination and take advice from your doctor about what you should and should not be doing. Kit Don't let your swimsuit drag you back. Get one of the many good-looking racing suits that are on the market, one that fits well. And never swim in shorts! Explore the goggle market and get a pair that fits you. Once you are comfortable with a pair, get a spare pair and a spare strap. If you have long hair or hair that gets in your eyes a swim cap is essential, and in many pools compulsory. Equip yourself with a kick board and a pull buoy, the two basic training aids. Technique Even if you are an experienced swimmer, there is always some improvement to be made to your technique. The best swimmers in the world pay great attention to precisely what they are doing in the water, for as speed increases so does resistance, and by reducing resistance we can improve speed or make swimming at the same speed easier. Every swimmer is different, and individual advice from a coach or swimming teacher is invaluable. But there are still some general points that apply to everyone: If you do the 5000-metre Swimathon in a 25-metre pool, you will make 199 turns. In a 33-metre pool there are 149 turns. By streamlining yourself as you push off the wall you can make at least a metre on every turn - a gain of over 100 metres! Get your arms stretched out fully, squashing your ears, one hand on top of the other, and push off below the surface, not on it, and that metre will come almost automatically. And this applies whatever stroke you are doing. Front crawl swimmers should check their stroke count every few lengths. A consistent stroke count means that you are maintaining your efficiency. An increasing count means something is going wrong. In front crawl, maintain a long stroke by reaching forward and pushing right back. In back crawl, have a friend check that your hands are entering ahead of your shoulders and that you are starting to pull as far in front of your head as you can do comfortably If you are swimming breaststroke make sure you attain a completely stretched out position in each stroke - hands stretched forward and feet straight back at the end of the stroke. In all strokes eliminate turbulence: hand entries should be smooth, breathing movements comfortable. Training or practice? Most swimming pools nowadays offer swimmers the opportunity to swim uninterrupted lengths. If your pool management ropes off lanes for an hour or two every day you are enjoying better training facilities than international swimmers did only 20 or 30 years ago. There is nothing worse than trying to swim lengths while the rest of the world is swimming randomly. So you almost certainly have somewhere near you a training facility. By entering the Swimathon you have left the world of the casual swimmer and entered the world of training. Statistically you will probably take between 90 minutes and 2 hours to swim the 5000 metres, and you are making a major commitment to train towards it. Even an hour is a considerable mental and physical test. Carpe diem You are unlikeiy to have infinite time to train, maybe less than an hour. So "seize the day" and make the most of your valuable time. Avoid pool end conversations - you will get cold and clog up the lane. Perhaps the most effective way of seizing the day is to write down what you intend to do when you go training with perhaps a reserve session in case of difficult conditions - a very crowded pool, an odd day of very hot water, and so on - and then to do what you have planned to do. In fact there is very little point in going to a pool without at least an inkling of what you have in mind. Using the lane Unless you are very lucky not everyone using your lane will be as sensible as you are! Keep to the sides of the lane and avoid those swimmers using the centre of the lane as their rightful place. Overtake at the turns: if you catch someone up, a touch on the heel should be enough to indicate to them that they should give way at the end of the length. Turn in the centre of the lane and push off in the outgoing direction: do not push off down the middle, or worse still back along the incoming half of the lane. Using the clock Most pools will have training clocks running, and if they don't you can buy a wrist stopwatch very cheaply Use the clock or the watch to check your swim times and to manage your rest, but don't he a slave to it. In other words, you don't need to time everything you do, but you will find it useful and educational to time some parts of your workout. Balance of training One route to madness is to read too many books about swimming technique and training. You need to make progress to your goal as effectively as you can. Unfortunately, the road you will travel is undulating, and your form will fluctuate as work and home pressures affect you and as your body adapts to the work you are imposing on it. If you have some off days, don't despair: the next day may be better. One way to combat boredom and staleness is to vary the balance of your training day by day without losing track of the overall strategy and intention. Remember that you are training to swim consistently and hopefully well for over an hour, and maybe for nearly two hours. The basis of your training will therefore have to be longer distance swims or repeats with very short rests. This does not stop you doing other things besides. Warming up and cooling down You should include an easy warm up and an easy swim to relax at the end of every training session. In an hour's session it is tempting to quit before the final swim down, but don't give in to that temptation. Between 5 and 10 minutes easy swimming on a mixture of strokes is enough to get you ready to swim hard at the start of the session and to relax you at the end. The main set Each session should have a main set of work lasting from 20 to 30 minutes. The set could be one long swim against the clock, or a series of shorter repeats. Sectional Include in your schedule some kicking (legs only) using your kickboard. The board is not normally necessary if you are kicking back crawl. Front crawl pulling is sometimes a welcome break from full stroke swimming, especially in a set of repeats. Provided you maintain good technique there is no harm in altemating swim (full stroke) and pull (arms only) repeats using the pull buoy to support your legs. Interval The basis of modern swimming training is interval or repetition training. It is helpful if you can get some experience of interval training in a squad (club) environment, so that you can get a feel of it in a group. Next month We look at some further training ideas. W [Copyright (c) 2000 Watermarks]