Duane Dobko and David Thompson

David Thompson, DKT
2006 US Elite Long Course National Champion
3 US Duathlon World Championship Teams
14 Triathlon Course Records

Duane Dobko has been racing triathlons as least as long as I, and he has always been the standard for a fast swim performance at Minnesota races. If I remember correctly, my first encounter with Duane was in 2002 while he was preparing for Ironman Wisconsin in 2002. I was up and coming young no-body and Duane was the super-stud swimmer. That year, Duane came out of the water 3rd in 49:03 and qualified for Hawaii at Ironman Wisconsin. I already knew Duane swam for the division 1 program at the University of Minnesota and at the Canadian Olympic trials. However, his triathlon performances made him a more valuable resource for swimming than just another good swimmer or swim coach. Duane has knows what transitioning feels like.

Duane and I started to work together in 2006. Like most triathletes, I did not come from a swimming background. Duane took a look at my race at the 2006 Life Time Fitness Triathlon, and came up with the same conclusion I had. I out biked the world’s best triathlete and had the running background to come up with a fast run. Now, I just need to develop the ability to sprint in the swim. If you can sprint fast enough to get into a draft, swimming fast is much easier, and almost all long distance swim programs and coaches don’t incorporate sprinting into training. Up until now, I only trusted myself as a coach. However, I was willing to bring Duane on as my swimming advisor for two reasons: His logical training philosophy and experience matched up with the demands I was experiencing in the races. Secondly, He’s an active participant in workouts, which provides him best measurement of progress because he’s suffering right along with me.

Duane and I have been training together for almost a year now, and I am extremely happy with my progress. I probably made the biggest jump in swimming over the last year compare to the previous 7 years of training for triathlons with other various swimming teams and programs. Being Dobkanized involves hard training, but you don’t beat the world’s best without working hard.

Triathlon is a maddening sport, especially the swimming aspect; at least for me. Swimming is much like golf in my opinion. There are tons of opinions on the best ‘stroke’, and various drills to improve your game. My swimming was about as good as my golf game (terrible at the start improved to pathetic by the end via beer intake), until I began working with Duane.

I first jumped into 3 triathlons in 2005. I didn’t train specifically for them at all. I ran twice a week for 30 minutes and did not swim until the night before my first tri, the Minneman. Luckily I faired quite well relying on my abilities on the bike from my many years of bike racing at the elite level. In 2005 I placed 3rd at Minneman, 1st at Tri America, and 3rd at Square Lake Half IM, which sounds great, but the competition was not as steep as I would encounter the next season.

In 2006 I raced a lot starting the season fairly strong. I paid more attention to the swim and run, but without any coaching the first part of the season. I faired well initially but left for a sailing trip the month of June. I returned the beginning of July, 6 pounds heavier and with very little training during the month that I was away. I was registered for Ironman Wisconsin and decided to get some help with my swim. I was referred to Dave Cameron who instructs in the ‘Total Immersion’ methodology. Although this greatly helped with my efficiency, I did not see great increase in speed. In no way am I downplaying Dave’s abilities, I am simply stating that in order to race with the elites a different skill set is required, one that Duane Dobko can offer.

I continued the first portion of 2007 visiting with Dave once monthly for technique work. I began to look very pretty in the water, but was not improving very much on my race times. After a terrible swim at Heart of the Lakes, I saw Duane post race and begged him for a lesson. To my delight Duane was willing to work with me and announced plans to begin a swim coaching business.

Duane met with me the very next Wednesday for our first session. He described his theories on technique and training and they made much more sense than anything I had heard of before. Duane not only worked with me on technique, but more specifically technique at and above race pace which is when any technique goes all to hell! This method of coaching has made tremendous improvements for me. My swim at Brewhouse came after just 3 weeks of working with Duane and I cut my swim loss by half to some of my more major ‘rivals’. Duane also has been diligent in tracking my paces for the various workouts he has me do with him thus giving me very objective data on a weekly basis. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of working with Duane is that he is often in the water with me working on drafting skills and ‘water ninja warrior’ skills necessary for success in open water mass start events.

If you are looking for the next leap in your swimming, I highly recommend Duane Dobko. Check out my times post Heart of the Lakes and compare them to pre Heart of the Lakes and you’ll get the idea. If Duane can take a guy like Dave Thompson and turn him into the swimming machine that he is, then there is certainly hope for all of the rest of us! If Duane demolishes everyone in the swim including all the pros at Lifetime Fitness, he must know what he is doing. I want to learn from the best. Just watch me next year…

I was a runner and x-c skier for 28 years before getting bored with marathons (2:51 PR), which led me to give triathlons a try. I entered my first triathlon in 2005 after getting in the pool for a couple of weeks after nearly 30 years of not swimming at all. My swim split was 18/31 in my AG, but thanks to my bike and run splits I managed to AG podium in my first race. However, I still had no clue what a proper swim stroke was supposed to be. In 2006 I took a few beginners lessons and managed to scrape together the rudiments of a swim stroke but my swim splits were consistently placing in the bottom 50% of the field. I finished the 2006 season with my first Ironman in Madison (11:32), but my swim split was a very slow 1:19. In my second full season of triathlons in 2007 my bike and run splits managed to get me on the AG podium several times, but I was still giving up 6-10 minutes to the top 20 finishers in every race. I knew that I needed to take drastic measures if I was ever going to crack the top 10 overall.

I contacted Duane a few days after the Heart of Lakes triathlon and he was immediately willing to meet with me and assess my swim stroke. During our first meeting he discovered that I was only getting about 30-40% efficiency out of my pull (i.e. I had no pull !). Duane gave me a couple of simple stroke thoughts to work on. We finished my first lesson with a set of four timed 50m. A week later we met again for another lesson and finished with a set of four timed 50m to check progress. I had reduced my average 50m time by over 3 seconds (6.5%) – an eternity! I raced the Pigman long course 2 days after my second lesson. My swim split was over 10 minutes faster than my previous Pigman. Finally, I finished 2007 with my second Ironman Wisconsin and reduced my swim split to 1:12, which was 7 minutes faster than the previous year. The exciting part is that we have only just begun to fix my swim stroke. An Ironman swim split of 60-65 minutes is our goal for 2008.

Duane exhibits a true passion for getting triathletes to think about the swim leg not as something you simply survive, but as a part of the race where you can use speed to get an edge over your competitors. He is not afraid to point out that it will take a lot of hard work to improve your swim stroke and fitness to get to that level. Rather than sitting on the deck trying to instruct someone, Duane jumps right in the pool to demonstrate his points. For someone like me that needs the visual cues to understand the swim stroke Duane’s style is invaluable. I highly recommend becoming Dobkanized to anyone!

Swimming is a different sport than cycling or running. Just putting in volume biking or running you can generally see improvement. I have swam with masters groups in the past, and can do every total immersion drill with my eyes closed. Those can get you swimming. But Duane's coaching can get you swimming faster. That is the difference.

Swimming is a "feel" sport. All of us think we are swimming perfect every time we swim, because of what we are feeling in the water. This equates to junk miles. In order to improve in swimming, we need to have things to work on every time we get in the water. Just swimming yards is only going to get you so far. As most of us are athletes to begin with, just swimming is easy to come by. Without things to work on, you will only get more efficient at bad habits. Duane also emphasizes intensity, as you can only learn certain techniques at higher intensities. For beginners this may be tough, but as they progress, they will worry less about the pain or air they need, and they will be able to concentrate more on their stroke.

The kicking advice that Duane gave me has changed the way I swim. I can kick harder with less fatigue. I tended to "bulldoze" because of a shallow kick and low head position. Once Duane helped dial in my kick, it changed my body position a little and evened it out. Watching how much lower Duane's knees and kick were than I thought they should be was a big help. This is where "in the water" explanations really make a difference.

Duane offers a unique and effective way of getting athletes to swim faster. The fast swimmers are all doing exactly what Duane tries to teach us, they just don't know how to explain it, or don't want to. So great job, and I hope the coaching business grows to where you want it to be.

Techniques that makes Duane's coaching effective:

• "In the water" knowledge and explanations
• Science behind why we do things
• Different approaches to getting you swimming faster
• Proven athletes with personal success in swimming

Duane's advice on swim improvement was very specific to me, a former collegiate runner. I found that his training sessions and stroke improvement tips were much more effective than the traditional brute force approach of high volume and standard drills. I suspect that Duane's program will soon become the gold standard for triathletes looking to bring their swim level in line with their cycling and running ability. It is not an easy program, in fact, it is quite challenging. I feel this is the one of the big reasons why it worked well for me. I would highly recommend it to any triathlete looking for training advice beyond what is currently marketed to the masses.

I sure am seeing some improvements in my swim times at the last 2 Tri's i've done. The Timberman last Saturday was quite a challenge with 2 foot whitecaps the first half of the race. I think I swallowed at least 3 gallons of lake water. I was actually over a minute faster than last year and 18th overall in the swim. I had a really good race finishing 15th overall and 3rd in age!! I'm getting geared up for my first ever long course at Pike Lake on August 3rd. Thanks again for the great training session it really has improved my speed!!

I have been working with Duane Dobko for about 8-9 months, in an attempt to improve my swim. Working with him has elevated my swimming from a level of “sophisticated drowning” to something actually resembling proper technique. When I met Duane, my formal swimming instruction consisted of a few YMCA lessons in elementary school – not the stuff of which solid open water swims are made. Over a relatively short time frame, Duane has helped my swimming enough that I managed to exit the water mid-pack in my last tri of the season; formerly, I was lagging in the bottom third.

Working with Duane has revolutionized my idea of what a coach can offer. His teaching is technically excellent, and his enthusiasm is boundless. In addition to the technical instruction, he has helped me believe in myself and has shown me the benefit of setting small, stepwise goals en route to a bigger one. I would recommend being “dobkanized” to anyone looking to improve their swim skills.