Dan Bullock set up Swim for Tri with his sister Keeley in 2003. Since then he’s been helping triathletes to swim faster, and he’s been in the vanguard of new thinking about open water swimming. We caught up with him to ask him to tell us how to move more quickly through the water.

There are no magic solutions in swimming. If you watch an open water race you’ll see almost as many different ways of swimming freestyle as there are competitors. Some are clearly more effective than others, but which one will work for you?

“With people coming to triathlon from so many different backgrounds and with such a range of physical abilities and limitations, it’s impossible to say one style suits all,” says Dan.  “We’ve seen great results from people adopting a long, ¾ catch-up style stroke, especially where they have the flexibility and power to support this. At the same time, a kayaking style of swimming where you rotate the arms faster and use a shorter stroke can work well if you have good strength and fitness levels.”

The kayaking style has certainly become popular among elite triathletes, but Dan says age group athletes shouldn’t necessarily try to copy it, especially if they’re competing in Ironman distance events.

“One problem with the kayaking style of swimming, if it is not implemented properly, is the momentum of the stroke can continue downwards missing the all important ‘catch’,” says Dan.

Through his years of teaching adults how to swim, Dan has developed a number of drills and techniques that he thinks can accelerate the learning process. He thinks triathletes with non-swimming backgrounds do better if they initially slow down their stroke.

“It’s vital swimmers develop a feel for the water and an understanding of what their body is doing as they try to swim. This is best done slowly. You can always speed up again once you’ve mastered the skills.”

Dan also believes adult learners benefit from physical clues and regular feedback, which is why he makes extensive use of the endless pool and video analysis. In one drill he asks his swimmers to kick without a board, instead they should then rest their hands on their buttocks and feel whether or not the glutes are doing the work as they should be in an efficient kick. He’ll also get swimmers to go through the motions of correct stroke mechanics on dry land (perhaps by lying along the edge of the pool) to improve their sense of what they’re doing.

Dan Bullock coaching at Speedo's HQ

Talking again about the ‘catch’, Dan believes many novice swimmers worry about it prematurely. “The catch is obviously important but there’s no point getting too excited about it until you’ve sorted out the mess behind. If your hips and legs are sinking and you can hardly breathe the best catch in the world won’t do you much good.”

Dan prefers to see swimmers learn to relax in the water first and improve their basic body position so they can bring the breathing under control. Only then is it worth introducing the finer details. He does stress however that the process is highly individual.

The big question for non-swimmers coming into triathlon is whether they can ever catch up with those who have swum all their lives.

“Unfortunately, achieving that indolent, relaxed style of skilled swimmers if you miss the window of opportunity that seems to exist between the ages of 11 and 13,” says Dan.

On the other hand, Dan believes adults can make great progress. “I know one guy who’s put in five years of dedicated training. He’s been totally focused on all the drills and training sets and he’s made fantastic progress cutting his 100m repeat times from around 1 minute 50 to 1 minute 20.”

How much you improve will depend on many unique factors including physical strength, flexibility, proprioception skills and previous sport experience. “We usually see the biggest gains in the first year,” says Dan. “I’ve seen people cut Ironman swim times from 1.5 hours to 1 hour and 10 minutes over 12 months, but after that it’s unfortunately a case of diminishing returns.”

So, hope for everyone wherever they start from.

Dan Bullock talked to Simon Griffiths

For more details see www.swimfortri.co.uk

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