Shit finally got real today in morning training.
1 x 200 freestyle (warm-up)
6 x 150 as 50 free, 50 IM, 50 free
16 x 50 freestyle with paddles and pool buoy
16 x 50 freestyle full stroke (emphasis on kick)
16 x 50 freestyle with paddles and pool buoy (emphasis on stroke length)
Today my coach (in his ineffable wisdom) abruptly pulled me aside while I was struggling through the third 16 x 50 set and declared that I was breathing on both sides (I was doing one breath every three strokes.) He then deemed this an archaic practice, denouncing it’s efficacy and deriding it as a misguided stroke technique of the ‘80s. (All of this was about breathing once every three strokes for freestyle.)
He then decreed that I swim breathing on the same side the entire time. (This would mean that I’d breathe on an even number of strokes so one breath every 2, 4, or 6 strokes.) He asserted that the 8 fastest freestyle swimmers in China all did this.
He hesitated, appearing to consider what he’d say next, (The coach always knows what’s next.) then clarified that the 8 fastest freestyle swimmers in China were all highly capable of breathing on both sides but had found single-sided breathing to be far more effective.
So there a tip for you aspiring swimmers/triathletes/iron-men if you guys wanted it.
If any of you guys are confused about this quasi-philosophical discussion on breathing, that’s ok, I am too.
