Let’s face it.  There are a lot of sights to be seen while running outdoors.  And with cycling, you get to see miles and miles in training.  There’s just not an equivalent in swimming.  For the most part, you are training in an indoor pool going back and forth in the same place.  The purpose of this article is to show ways to make your pool workouts more fun and exciting.  It may never be as exciting as watching the great outdoors whiz by.  But these workout ideas may make you a little more interested in hitting the pool more often. 

These ideas rely on the one thing that all triathletes have in common:  we all love to compete!  The great thing about a swimming pool is that people of many different skill levels can all swim in the same place.  I will first provide an example of a fun workout design for large groups (more than 5 people), another design for smaller groups (2-5 people) and a third design that works well for 2 people.  This article covers group workouts only.  I will leave the topic of single person workouts to another article.

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Q: I have a hard time keeping my goggles on without water seeping through. Any tips?

A: Most people like to wear goggles with foam padding.  It feels like your eye sockets are more protected and you are less likely to get a black eye.  However, the problem with foam is that it can let water seep through.  This is especially true when goggles are exposed to chlorine or sun.  This exposure will eat away at that foam rather quickly, leaving leaks as a result.

Another common leaking issue with some goggles is when they have set nose-piece lengths (the distance between the eyes).  This is problematic for some people whose eye distance falls somewhere between the notches or if your eyes are exceptionally far apart or close together.  I suggest trying out any pair of goggles with set nose-piece lengths before you buy.  It is the only way to be sure they will fit you well enough to avoid leaking.

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Coach Dobko will pick one of your questions each week and give you some insight into swimming. E-mail your questions to duanesworlddobko@worldnet.att.net.

One aspect of technique that is easy to work on and improve is your freestyle finish. It is all too instinctive and easy to bring your hand out of the water at or above the waistline. This short finish makes you feel like you are going faster because it allows you to turn over at a faster rate. However, it has the opposite effect as a long finish doesn’t take a lot more energy to do than a short finish.

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