Learning Swim Language

From an October 2012 article in Triathlon Plus magazine.

Swimming definitely has it’s own language.  More than once I sought the help of forums to translate some words.  Triathlon Plus does a good job listing all the words and what they mean.

Body Rotation
This refers to the way a swimmer rotates around the axis of their spin as they swim.  The rotation, also referred to as roll, helps you generate power, reduce drag and facilitates your arm recovery (see below)

Body Position
This is the term for how high you float in the water, in particular, your hips and legs.  A low body position creates more drag since your front profile is larger.

Bow Wave
This is the wave you form as you pass through the water.  Good front crawl technique takes advantage of the bow wave by breathing through the trough (low point), thus keeping more of your head in the water.  This skill can actually be difficult to master.  It took me awhile to identify the low point and then taking advantage of it.

Bilateral Breathing
This is breathing on both sides while you swim.  Most swimmer will naturally breath to one side.  On that side, they will have mastered the bow wave.  However, as you learn to breath on the other side, you will most likely suck water, over rotate, and drop your legs.  It takes a solid two weeks to really get good at bilateral breathing.  Most swimmers give up before that.

Feel for the Water
’Feel’ describes the sensation of the water as it glides over your hands and arms.  A swimmer with a good ‘feel’ will time their stroke movements to create good propulsion.  After an extended break from swimming, it is common for swimmers to make a comment on how they lost the feel of the water.  It does come back quickly.  Some workouts and races, the feel for the water is dialed in.  Sometimes, it’s just not there no matter how much you adjust your stroke.

Stroke Rate
This is the number of strokes you take per minute.  The higher the stroke rate, the faster you are turning your arms over.  Non-elite swimmers are in the range of 50-65 SPM.  A nice sweet spot is in the range of 70-110, however there is much debate on high stroke rate vs low stroke rate.

Stroke Count
This is how many strokes you take per length, counting both arms.  When quoting this number, you should always mention the length of the pool.  Typical stroke counts in a 25m pool are between 11 and 30.  Personally, I average 10 strokes per length.

Swimming Speed
This is the time taken to cover a given distance.  Most commonly quoted in times per 100m.  Advance swimmers fall in the range of 1:10-1:30 per 100m over longer distances.  Intermediate swimmers can expect to swim in the range of 1:30-2:10 per 100m.  My threshold swim speed is currently 1:55.  During peak race season, that dropped to 1:45.

Pace Clock
The pace clock is normally analog (See picture) but will sometimes be digital.  I much prefer analog because it’s easier to track your time.  The red hand is used as a starting point for your intervals.  If the interval takes longer than 60s, the black hand will track your minutes.

Short/Long Course
Short course refers to a 25m pool, while a long course refers to a 50m pool.  Swimmers are generally slower in a long course because they don’t have to turn around as much, thus don’t have a push-off.

Hypoxic Breathing
This refers to breathing less often while swimming.  This was a key focus for me during the 2012 season and I felt it helped increase my swim times.

Drafting
This is swimming in someone else’s wake, either behind them or off to the side.  It allows you to save some energy and is perfectly within the rules.  You never want to be in front.

Sighting
This is the act of raising your head above the water in order to navigate the race course (or course you are swimming).  Lifting your head places downward pressure on your legs, thus will slow you down.  Learning to swim straight is an extremely beneficial skill.  I practiced a lot on this and site every 8-10 full strokes.  My sighting requires minimal head movement is actually part of my breathing motion.  Took me awhile to master this without sucking water, but I have it down strong now.

Entry, Extension, Catch, Pull, Push, Recovery