Don't swim more. Swim differently!

Most triathletes don't need to swim more. They need to swim differently.

I've watched the same session play out at pools all over the world: warm-up, twenty minutes of drills, a main set that's done before it really starts, then a warm-down. It feels like training. It isn't really.

Here's the thing about traditional drills, they were designed for swimmers who grew up in water. Most of the age-groupers I coach didn't grow up swimming. They came to it as adults, and for them, traditional drills are largely a waste of time. The transfer to actual swimming is minimal.

And then there's the main set. Usually too short and not demanding enough to build the kind of swim fitness that actually matters on race day, the kind that lets you exit the water feeling composed, not cooked, and then ride and run to your real ability.

What actually works is simpler. And less comfortable.

More good strokes. Fewer bad ones. Get in the water, reduce complexity, find a way to make quality movement repeatable and enjoyable (because if you dread the pool, you won't go, and if you don't go, nothing changes).

That's the whole programme!

I give most adult swimmers a pull buoy and paddles. That's it. No complicated drills. No endless technique videos. Just two simple tools that change everything.

The buoy lifts the hips, and suddenly you're swimming on top of the water instead of dragging your legs along the bottom.

The paddles connect your hands to the water so you're actually pressing back and moving forward, not just splashing.

Add a comfortable breathing rhythm to one side only - usually your dominant side. Bilateral breathing is not required and actually hinders most age group swimmers. Keep the breathing arm straight, and something clicks.

Within a single 40-minute session, I see swimmers transformed. Better body position. Better stroke. Less anxiety. More enjoyment. And real fitness, because they're actually swimming, not surviving.

At Trisutto this is how we approach it. We want technique and fitness in the same session, not technique first and fitness "later."

Repeat good strokes enough times and they become normal. The bad ones fade out because there's simply less room for them.

More good strokes. Fewer bad ones. Less complexity, not more.

We apply the same thinking across all three disciplines.

If you're someone who dreads the swim leg, or a coach with athletes who do, this is worth trying.

Robbie

Trisutto Director of Coaching at Trisutto

Coaching enquiries

All other enquiries robbie@trisutto.com