{"id":143933,"date":"2016-11-15T13:48:10","date_gmt":"2016-11-15T13:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=143933"},"modified":"2016-11-24T14:45:52","modified_gmt":"2016-11-24T14:45:52","slug":"get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get Ready for Triathlon as a Cyclist: Swimming"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that you\u2019ve made the decision to challenge yourself with triathlon, it\u2019s time to set up a training plan. Swimming is the first part of every triathlon, and the most technically demanding one. It requires coordination, mental toughness and overall fitness. Even though it is usually the shortest leg of the race, it can set you up for success or leave you gasping for air. Don\u2019t underestimate it!<\/strong>
\n<\/p>\n

Get a swim coach<\/strong><\/h2>\n

You will gain much more from improving your technique than from increasing raw strength or endurance when it comes to swimming. Learning proper technique should be your number one priority, and there\u2019s no faster way of doing that than hiring a swim coach. A great coach that has experience with swimming in open water can be hard to get, so let\u2019s look at some other tips in case you have to go solo.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Learning to swim is like figuring out the best aero position on the bike<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cyclists are used to powering through workouts, but in swimming you’re much better off starting with form drills and laying a solid foundation for your technique. Don\u2019t fight the water! Think of swimming as figuring out the most \u201caero\u201d dynamic position on a bike, just in water and without a bike.<\/p>\n

\"Triathlete<\/p>\n

Focus on a streamlined body position in the water<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Freestyle (front crawl) is the preferred triathlon swimming style because it allows for the least drag in the water, and a streamlined body position in the water is the best way to achieve that, just ask the fat guy going three times your speed at the pool.<\/p>\n

Cyclists often have very muscly, large legs which can have a tendency of sinking, thus making it difficult to keep a good body position. Your core muscles and glutes will allow you to balance and prevent your legs from dropping. It is essential to first focus on drills that help develop an elevated and horizontal body position and teach you to activate these muscle groups.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BHp0sWHgAAz\/<\/a><\/p>\n

What does a good triathlon swim technique look like?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Triathlon open water swimming is quite a bit different from pool swimming. There are many subtle differences, but the biggest one is that you have to learn to navigate. You can practice that in the pool by going a few strokes with your eyes closed, then trying to lift your head out of the water slightly just so you can see where you are, correcting your trajectory, and repeating again. Look at this video of a triathlete doing this drill in the pool.<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that you\u2019ve made the decision to challenge yourself with triathlon, it\u2019s time to set up a training plan. Swimming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":143942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[332],"tags":[617,355,564],"global-categories":[],"class_list":["post-143933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-training","tag-swimming","tag-training","tag-triathlon"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Get Ready for Triathlon as a Cyclist: Swimming - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Now that you\u2019ve made the decision to challenge yourself with triathlon, it\u2019s time to set up a training plan. Swimming is the first part of every\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Get Ready for Triathlon as a Cyclist: Swimming\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Now that you\u2019ve made the decision to challenge yourself with triathlon, it\u2019s time to set up a training plan. Swimming is the first part of every\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-15T13:48:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-11-24T14:45:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/11\/profimedia-0194851486-1.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ji\u0159\u00ed Kalo\u010d\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/\",\"name\":\"How to Get Ready for Triathlon as a Cyclist: Swimming - \u0160koda We Love Cycling\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/11\/profimedia-0194851486-1.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-15T13:48:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-24T14:45:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"description\":\"Now that you\u2019ve made the decision to challenge yourself with triathlon, it\u2019s time to set up a training plan. Swimming is the first part of every\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/11\/profimedia-0194851486-1.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/11\/profimedia-0194851486-1.webp\",\"width\":900,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Get Ready for Triathlon as a Cyclist: Swimming\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/\",\"name\":\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\",\"description\":\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling magazine\",\"alternateName\":\"\u0160koda WLC\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/author\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Get Ready for Triathlon as a Cyclist: Swimming - \u0160koda We Love Cycling","description":"Now that you\u2019ve made the decision to challenge yourself with triathlon, it\u2019s time to set up a training plan. Swimming is the first part of every","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Get Ready for Triathlon as a Cyclist: Swimming","og_description":"Now that you\u2019ve made the decision to challenge yourself with triathlon, it\u2019s time to set up a training plan. Swimming is the first part of every","og_url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/","og_site_name":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling","article_published_time":"2016-11-15T13:48:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-11-24T14:45:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/11\/profimedia-0194851486-1.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ji\u0159\u00ed Kalo\u010d","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/","url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/","name":"How to Get Ready for Triathlon as a Cyclist: Swimming - \u0160koda We Love Cycling","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/11\/profimedia-0194851486-1.webp","datePublished":"2016-11-15T13:48:10+00:00","dateModified":"2016-11-24T14:45:52+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"description":"Now that you\u2019ve made the decision to challenge yourself with triathlon, it\u2019s time to set up a training plan. Swimming is the first part of every","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/11\/profimedia-0194851486-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/11\/profimedia-0194851486-1.webp","width":900,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/15\/get-ready-triathlon-cyclist-swimming\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Get Ready for Triathlon as a Cyclist: Swimming"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/","name":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling","description":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling magazine","alternateName":"\u0160koda WLC","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143933"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145175,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143933\/revisions\/145175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143933"},{"taxonomy":"global-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/global-categories?post=143933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}