Pool distance Differences in Triathlon Swimming
The distance of the pool you swim in has many different effects on how your systems are stressed and how fast you go. This report is contains a detailed comment describing the differences, and concludes with suggestions on how to consolidate knowledge of pool distance to optimize a triathlete's training plan.
Pool lengths typically come in three distances. There is the 25yard pool (common in the United States), the 25meter pool (common just about anywhere else in the world), and the 50 meter or Olympic-size pool (relatively uncommon just about anywhere as olympic size pools are costly to build and maintain). The swimming world uses abbreviations for these distances: Scy stands for "Short policy Yards", while "Scm" stands for "Short policy Meters". Likewise, "Lcm" stands for "Long policy Meters".
So, why does a pool distance matter so much? The rejoinder is flip turns and starts. The shorter the pool length, the more flip turns are needed to go the same distance. Also, the ratio of time spent diving into the pool and performing flip turns compared to time spent swimming is higher. For example, your flip turns take up a greater proportion in your race in a 25yard pool versus a 25meter pool because 25yards is shorter than 25 meters. This is very important, because flip turns and starts have the benefit of being faster. You can push off the wall with greater speed than you can swim. In addition, flip turns allow swim definite muscles a momentary pause. This pause allows for a faster saving compared to continuous swimming.
There are also physiological differences that come into play, particularly when comparing Short policy swimming to Long policy swimming. In a short policy pool, even mid-level triathletes are swimming a distance in 20 seconds. This is barely adequate time to engage the anaerobic system, which isn't needed much unless the exertion is more than about 15seconds. By the time the anaerobic theory gets engaged, you have to do a flip turn, get a momentary rest, and then get to start the next distance fresh. Thus, in short policy swimming, your raw strength is stressed much more compared to long course.
Conversely, even the best long policy swimmers cannot swim lengths at a rate of 30 seconds for very long. At a 30-second continuous hard effort, the anaerobic theory has to be your workhorse. Thus, in order to swim well in a long policy pool, your potential to hold speed over any minutes (anaerobic endurance) is much more crucial than your flat out speed (raw strength).
So, now that you know the differences between short policy and long policy swimming, how can they compare? If you have times that you have gone in a short policy pool, what can you expect to do in a long policy pool? The rejoinder varies based by individual. If you can do flip turns and starts quickly, you will tend to be a good short policy swimmer. Or, you will also be a good short policy swimmer if you tend to swim fast by the use of raw power rather than durableness or efficiency. Even the best swimmers in the world have a essential disagreement in how they swim from Short policy to Long Course. However, there is an midpoint conversion factor that I use, as shown in the table below. This may not be exact for everyone, but it will be a good approximation.
Table - midpoint time conversion factors by pool length.
From-to / Scy / Scm / Lcm
Scy / 1 / 0.895 / 0.865
Scm / 1.117 / 1 / 0.966
Lcm / 1.156 / 1.035 / 1
To give an example using the table above, let's say your best ever Scy 50 free time is 30 seconds. If you tried to sprint a 50 in an Olympic sized pool, you can expect to swim the distance in around 34.68 seconds (or 30 times 1.156).
Notice the disagreement between Short policy meters and Long policy meters is essential even though the unit of quantum (meters) is the same. The disagreement almost equates to a full second time disagreement over 50 meters. One guess for the disagreement is that flip turns and wall push-offs are always faster than raw swimming. Someone else guess is that when you do a flip turn, you skip the distance to and from the wall, as you only need to get close adequate to turn and push off (a disagreement of about 40 centimeters for most people, which increases if you are tall and decreases if you are short). This small disagreement adds up. An example will be illustrated using a swimming distance 200 meters. In an Lcm pool, you would perform 3 flip turns to go 200 meters, and would be assuredly swimming almost 197.6 meters (200 - 3 turns x 0.4meters x 2 to/from wall). In a Scm pool, you would perform 7 flip turns to go the same 200meter distance, and thus would assuredly swim 194.4 meters (200 - 7 times 0.4meters x 2 to/from wall). This is a disagreement of 3.2 meters, or 1.6% of the total swimming distance.
So, why does all this matter to you? It is leading because open-water triathlon swimming has no flip turns or resting periods. Thus, training usually in an Olympic sized pool will provide more open-water definite benefits for most workouts. The exception is that raw speed / sprint workouts can be more useful in a short policy pool (remember that raw speed is emphasized more in short policy compared to long course). If you can find an Olympic sized pool, by all means use it. If one isn't available and you can swim in a around lake, you can mark off a set swimming policy using a handheld Gps or measured rope distance and use empty milk jugs as ticket buoys.
If you cannot swim in a lake or Olympic pool, should you just pack it in and leave triathlons to the pros? assuredly not! There are many world class swimmers who train most of the year in a short policy pool even though their former races are in a long policy pool. To use my own triathlon feel as an example, over 90% of my swimming training was in a 25yard pool.
If a 25yard or 25meter pool is your only option, don't worry too much about faster flip turns and underwater kicking. You want to be proficient in turns so you don't hit your head on the wall. Instead, focus more on enhancing your swimming potential to turn in faster pool times. And, it is okay to skip flip turns altogether and use open turns. Someone else strategy in a short policy pool is to skip the turns altogether by swimming lengths and turning around without your feet ever touching the wall. This is a tremendously provocative workout as it involves constant stopping and beginning production it almost impossible to develop a rhythm. If you focus on the swim and not the walls, you can go a long way to eliminate problems with training in a short policy pool.
So as you plan your next triathlon season, be aware of the conditions of the pools in which you will be training. You will want to swim in a long policy pool whenever possible. However, swimming short policy is okay provided you focus on the swimming and not the walls. Also, be aware of the time differences you can expect between the discrete pool lengths and why they exist. Long policy swimming is so much tougher because it stresses the anaerobic theory much more than short policy swimming does. In addition, long policy has less flip turns which equates to less speed. Now you know all things there is to know about the pool distance of your favorite facility. Until next time, happy training!
