The Essential Triathlon Swimmming DVD

My Triathlon abilities from best to worst would be: Run, Bike, and finally Swim.

This off-season I have spent the last few months really focusing on the run with marathon training and this focus is really paying off. When I first decided I wanted to do a Triathlon last May I could barely run 3 miles in under 30 minutes. I haven't timed myself in a while but I can now probably do a 5k in around 21 minutes and on top of that I just completed a 50K trail run last week!

I want to see these same gains in biking and swimming that I have in running. To accomplish this in biking I got a Fluid 2 Indoor Trainer which will help me log the hours needed to become stronger. And for swimming I am going to follow, "The Essential Triathlon Swimming DVD ", and get in a nice Review as well!

First off, my swimming background is limited at best. I spent last summer reading, "Total Immersion"

and practicing all the drills and finally the TI technique. TI gave me the ability to complete the swim

in my triathlons but it did very little to make me faster. I am a Back of the Pack athlete when it comes to swimming.

So, I could continue with TI or I could try something more tailored to Triathlon? Easy decision.

This morning after my trainer session I watch the entire DVD by Swim Coach Kevin Koskella. My initial reaction to the DVD was that Coach Kevin made it seem so easy. This dude cuts through the water with the greatest of ease! But then he got into the "How" section of the DVD and it began to make a lot of sense.

This training DVD is broken down into three sections: #1 - Technique. This focuses on Drills and the how to get a perfect freestyle stroke. Coach Kevin describes the drills and then gives you multiple views of how it is supposed to look in the pool. He did them at regular speed, slow motion, underwater ...etc. These different angles really gave me an idea on what I am supposed to practice when I hit the pool! #2 - Workouts. This focuses on how to actually go to the pool and train. It went over the workouts from start to finish and gave me a plan of action. This is something I have been lacking and this should help make my training session much more efficient. I'd go into more detail but I don't want to give away all the helpful nuggets on the DVD. #3 - Open Water Swimming. This is essential to us triathletes and Coach Kevin takes us on an OWS and gives us the "know how" to get it done. He also goes over preparing for your races from nutrition to the different types of starts. If you are new to Triathlon this would be a great way for you to see what the swim start is actually like. If you are a vet is gives you some suggestions on how to adapt to the chaos that is the swim start.

My initial impression to the DVD is that it is going to be an invaluable tool to help me improve my swimming. I plan on viewing the DVD periodically as I am learning each new drill! The thing I really like about it is that it is Triathlon focused. When I was doing Total Immersion it was mostly just swimming focused and talked more about Master's swim classes and swimming in the lanes of your local pool. This DVD takes all the nuances of being a Triathlete and then shows you how this swim instruction relates to your sport. This was probably the most important and relevant point of the Essential Triathlon Swimming DVD for me.

Now I can talk about how wonderful this DVD is or I can put it to the test. So, what I am going to do is take some initial lap times tomorrow at the pool. I will post these lap times on the blog. Then I will start to use the drills from Coach Kevin in correlation with my Triathlon training program over the next 20-weeks. I will update my lap times once I feel like I have mastered the drills and we will compare. And also on week 20 I have an Olympic Tri scheduled so I will put Coach Kevin's DVD to the test in a real race!

I am excited!

If you want to check out The Essential Triathlon Swimming DVD - CLICK HERE

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff