Triathlon Swimming Q&A: How can I make it to the Pros

Q: I am in my early 20s and come from a running background. My swim is decent but needs work and I have no competitive swimming experience. What do I need to do to make it to the pros?

A: In a word, time. Swimming is tough to learn if you haven’t been doing it your whole life. Achieving swimming skill to become an elite amateur is something that is attainable in a year if you are fit and already a super-talented biker or runner. Making pro is a whole other matter. I have observed athletes with college running experience hit 20-minutes for a 1500 meter swim with wetsuit, within a year. These athletes were all extremely dedicated, trained right and did the right techniques, all the time.

Unfortunately, a 20-minute wetsuit 1500 meter swim won’t cut it at the pro level. The initiation fee to play with the big boys and girls is nineteen and a half minutes, without a wetsuit. For the men, the best of the best are swimming under 18 minutes without a wetsuit, and the women aren’t too far behind (if they are behind at all). Swimming without a wetsuit is much more challenging, and so the difference between a 20-minute wetsuit swim and 19.5 minute non-wetsuit swim is more like 2 minutes and not just 30 seconds.

A 2-minute improvement, or knocking 10% off your total swim time in an Olympic triathlon swim, is an incredible challenge when you are already performing at an elite amateur level. Even if you are doing everything possible to improve, a drop of 45 seconds per year is the maximum improvement you can expect. Thus, you are looking at a 3-year plan, after making it to elite amateur level to make a serious run at the big money.

Many of my clients do not like this response. So I hope you don’t think I’m saying you’re not good enough to be pro. I’m a big believer that we all should dream big, and I encourage you to do the same and set a realistic plan to attain your goals. Most pro triathletes have been doing all 3 sports for a decade or more. By this measure, a 3 year period is a small chunk of time. I would love you to prove me wrong about a 3-year plan and I will broadcast it on my website if you let me know!

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