Are you able to swim the 1.5-kilometre distance of an Olympic triathlon in the front crawl? And you want to get faster? Our tips will show you how to speed up.

An old yet still valid training rule states: if you want to become faster, then you also need to train faster from time to time. This holds true for runners and cyclists and naturally applies to swimmers too. It’s just that many athletes find it extremely difficult to move faster in water. The reason for this lies in the wet element itself. Because water has a higher density than air, when you increase your speed the resistance is far stronger than on land. The faster we swim, the more energy we need to expend to move forward. And at the same time, a clean, efficient crawl stroke requires excellent coordination skills. What does this actually mean for a crawl swimmer who (still) needs more than 20 minutes for one kilometre and would like to get a little bit faster? 

Train at different swimming speeds

Instead of swimming 1500 m in continuous mode (which is what many triathletes practice) at a comfortable, steady pace in one go (the training theory refers to this as basic endurance 1 (GA1)), it makes sense to divide the distance into sections (intervals) with short breaks (for example, 15 x 100 m, 10 x 150 m, 8 x 200 m, etc.) and slightly increase your basic tempo in deliberately chosen sections. This next tempo level is really only slightly higher and should in no way lead to breathing difficulties or a red face (basic endurance 1+). The training only gets stricter at the GA2 level. Then the heart may beat a little harder, although beginners should only do this for a short period without pushing themselves to the limit. 

Technique swimming exercises at speed

Because swimming is very much all about technique, your fine motor skills also need to be geared towards speed. If you only ever do the classic exercises such as windscreen wiper sculling, zipper crawl, doggy or duck paddle slowly, the complex motion sequences cannot be automatically performed cleanly and quickly. You therefore need to practice technique exercises at a higher tempo during training and always make sure they are as controlled as possible. The following sample training should provide the basis for organising your swimming training so that the focus is on «speeding up in a controlled manner». 

Sample training in a 25-m pool

• Swim for 200 m in a relaxed manner to warm up in the crawl, breaststroke, or backstroke
• 4 x 150 m: do a technique exercise for 50 m at a slow tempo, 50 m of crawl at GA1, 50 m of the same technique at a higher tempo (take a 15-second break after every 150 m)
• 100 m breaststroke with crawl leg kick
• 3 x 200 m: do 50 m of crawl at GA1, 50 m of crawl at GA1+, 50 m of crawl at GA2, 50 m of crawl at GA1+ (take a 20-second break after every 200 m)
• Swim for 100 m in a relaxed manner doing the backstroke (or double-arm backstroke)
• 4 x 50 m: increase your tempo for the first 25 m from GA to GA2 then hold it to the end of the lane (take a 30-sec break after every 50 m)
• Wind down for 200 m by switching from the front crawl to the backstroke and doing diving jumps

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