Swimming is the Achilles heel of 9 out of 10 amateur triathletes. Not for lack of volume — they swim 2 to 3 times a week. From poor investment of that volume. Having spent part of my life in the pool before swimrun, I can guarantee the solution isn't to swim more. It's to swim differently.
In the SAFE PACE episode with Maxime Grousset, Olympic silver medalist, I found all the principles I apply with my triathletes. He insists on one thing: swimming is 70% technique, 30% physical. The opposite of running. If you swim like you run, you'll plateau for life.
Why you're not improving
Typical amateur triathlete: 3 sessions a week, 2 km continuous at moderate pace. That's aerobic volume. It improves cardiovascular condition — but corrects no technical flaw. Worse: it anchors them.
Grousset puts it bluntly: 1500m of bad swimming repeated builds a defective automatism that takes 6 months to undo. That's exactly what I see in new athletes I take on: a "functional" but expensive crawl, capped at 1'40/100m, impossible to unlock without restarting from fundamentals.
Where does your pool time go?
The 4 fundamentals to master first
The non-negotiable technical pillars
- Body position. Hips high, eyes down. If your legs sink, you pay 30% more energy dragging two anchors.
- Catch. High elbow, vertical forearm. This is where propulsion is created. Bad catch = you're brushing water.
- Hip rotation. The body must pivot, not just the arms. Power comes from the core, not the shoulders.
- Bilateral breathing. One-side only = muscular imbalance and drift. Bilateral = symmetry and body awareness.
The "drills first" protocol that changes everything
Of the 90 minutes I spend in the pool, 30 are drills and technical work. Always. Even at my level. That's what's allowed me to keep progressing for 10 years.
— Maxime Grousset, SAFE PACE episode
If an Olympic medalist dedicates 33% of his volume to pure technique, an amateur should dedicate at least 50%. The opposite of what 95% of triathletes I see actually do.
The base protocol I give my triathletes:
- Warm-up (10 min). 200m easy + 4x50m drills (catch-up, closed fists, 3-3-3).
- Technical block (20 min). Short sets (25 or 50m) on one identified flaw. Long rest. Quality > quantity.
- Aerobic block (20 min). 100 to 200m sets in endurance, without degrading technique. If technique breaks, we stop.
- Cool-down (10 min). Easy, glide-focused.
The blind-volume mistake
The typical amateur triathlete tells me: "I swim 8 km a week." Question: how many of those 8 km are swum with correct technique? Often fewer than 2. The other 6 are voluntary fatigue imprinting flaws into the nervous system.
My rule: 3 perfect km beats 8 approximate km. Over 12 weeks, the first gains you 8 to 12 seconds per 100m. The second gains 1 to 2 seconds — and burns you out.
The open-water click
Everything you work on in the pool must survive real conditions: cold water, current, other swimmers, mild panic at the start. My protocol for triathletes in pre-season: one open-water session every two weeks minimum, as soon as temperature allows. That's where real technical and mental gaps appear — and it's a non-negotiable step in my triathlon coaching.