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Every Stroke Counts...

Thursday, 21 March 2013 01:10

By Trismarter (for trifuel.com)

Swimmers like to count, and as triathletes, we too are swimmers. We count yards and meters. We count seconds (and even tenths of seconds!). We count laps. And we also count strokes.

Counting strokes is a bit mysterious to those new to and/or outside of swimming. Non-swimmers seem to be able to wrap their heads around distances and durations, probably because that is what we see when we watch a competition: a swimmer racing for 400 meters in 4 minutes. It's a pretty basic concept. However, counting strokes is not as black and white as that. When we count strokes, what we are doing is judging how efficiently we travel a distance in acertain duration. Stroke count is, then, a measurement of efficiency.

When we count strokes, we can make a few assumptions:

1. Most of us have a stroke count per 25 yards or meters at which we are most efficient, but also which can become more efficient.

2. In any given distance, swimmers with longer bodies (a taller swimmer) generally takes fewer strokes, while swimmers with shorter bodies take more strokes.

3. The fastest swimmers take between 12 and 15 strokes per 25 yards or meters.

4. More strokes should translate into more speed.

5. On average, adding a single stroke per 25 yard/meter pool length should make the swimmer about 1 second faster for that distance.

Now, if we use these assumptions, it's fairly easy to construct some exercises that, when practiced regularly, will begin to make us more efficient, and eventually, faster. Below are three swim workouts that incorporate counting strokes. The goals of these workouts are to first make you aware of what your average stroke count is. The second goal is to force you in, out, and around your stroke count comfort zone, which I refer to as "base." And thirdly, once you have awareness, you can begin to manipulate the number of strokes you take and execute a predictable outcome.

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