Swimming Again? Don't Forget These!

With many countries easing their lockdown, several triathletes and swimmers are once again training at their local and favorite swimming pools. That is still not the case in the UK, where we can only swim in open waters. The thing isn't bad per sé, but you know, when we don't have something, we miss it more than when we have it at our disposal.

Yet, to swim after a few months of break (even in the eventuality that you have trained with swim cords) will hurt. And it should hurt!

The first day would likely feel like you have never swum in your entire life. The first 100-200 meters will go down well, but then it will feel like you're swimming uphills, or in a pool of mud.

There are few things to make sure you keep in mind when resuming swimming after a long time of inactivity.

1. Bear in mind, if you haven’t, that swimming again will hurt. It will feel not good, but then it will feel better. Then it will feel worse than better again, and then you got it. It's a restless pendulum, the swimming fitness one. Even when we swim regularly in a pool all year round, so remind swimming should hurt a bit to have long-term effects and to have substantial improvements.

2. Begin with small steps (or dives in this case). Do not go out and try to swim the same distance you were used to unless you want to feel miserable after the first splash. Build the length (and the intensity gradually). Start with a maximum of two swims per week, before setting in at your standard number of sessions. Don't rush: it's crucial to protect the shoulder muscles, ligaments, and tendons when you move them again. If you overdo in the first week, they would get super tight, and you're likely to get injured.

3. If you're swimming in open waters with a wetsuit, don't forget to soften its mesh before using it (if needed). The wetsuit might have got stiffer and lost stretch if you haven't used it since last year. Even a small 'bath' of 10-15 minutes in warm water (not hot!) would be enough to give some elasticity back to your wetsuit. That is also important because if you try to wear it when it's stiffer, it is more likely you can damage by pulling it too much.

4. Remember that you're swimming with a wetsuit and haven't done in a while (and you haven't softened it before going out), you would tire your shoulders more. Not only because you haven't swum in a while and your muscles need to rebuild strength, but also because with a wetsuit, you have less range of motions available overall, and the stretch effect of it could cause more tightness. So, bear it in mind when you feel the tightness after your swims. Do not think you're only tired because you're bad at swimming and don't freak out. It's normal to feel that way. And it will get better.

5. Vaseline! The best friend of your skin when you need to wear a wetsuit. No need to get super fancy here, even the one you find at the supermarket or the pharmacy would save your skin from abrasions and terrible chafing.

6. If you're swimming in open waters and want to use your wetsuit, I would always suggest wearing a tri-suit underneath. It will give you a 'race feeling,' but it's an excellent opportunity to check how it will feel to wear one under the wetsuit. Moreover, a tri-suit will also protect you from chafing in the least expected areas. 

7. Also, make sure your goggles are not too old. Now it's time for a fresh start, and to begin with the right foot is just more helpful. You don't want to remember your first swim as a bad experience because you couldn't see anything or get water in your goggles all the time. That is a challenge you don't really want to face the first time you hit the water after a while. So check your kit and make sure everything is in place.

8. Eat well before and after. Swimming is a full-body activity and could tire you more than running and cycling--though it may not feel like it. Make sure you have enough carbohydrates before and after the session. There is nothing worse than hitting the wall in the water, and without a proper re-fuelling, you'd be more likely to bring tiredness and fatigue into your other sessions.

9. Be dedicated and consistent, the results will show. But do not rush, and take it one session at the time. Even trying to fit in two swims per week can be a challenge these days (we need to rent a car and drive to the lake), so that's why it's also important to start slowly. But once again, dedication and consistency are king and queen.

10. Enjoy it. Swimming is such a challenging yet rewarding discipline. Do not focus too much on how your splits compare to before the lockdown (particularly in open waters!). Just enjoy it and have fun! Your split times will get better again ;)

Why I 'Tri' It

I initially 'tri-ed' it randomly. I wanted to improve my swimming technique and get fit after a few years of university/punk-rock lifestyle. I was still skiing and climbing, but it was all mixed up with lots of drinking and partying. 

So, after a holiday to Corsica, I looked up swimming classes in Torino, where I was studying at the time. I ended up, randomly, on a nearby triathlon team page. The description of what they were doing sounded terrific.

The internet black hole lead to "Lance Armstrong winning Ironman 70.3 Hawaii." I was obsessed with LA (it was 2012, and he hadn't confessed taking PED yet), so those images worked as the final push towards triathlon.

And in that moment I decided I wanted to do a half Ironman, and I gave myself two years to train for it. I got in touch with the triathlon team and went for a trial. 

Cervia 70.3. September 2019.

I remember I couldn't swim more than 50 meters without stopping. The team's coach prescribed a 400-m warm-up for my first session with them. I thought I was fucked.

But in some way, I survived that session and enjoyed it. I knew nothing about that sport, and I threw myself in the the hands of the new coach, a former Olympian from Ukraine. The training wasn't exactly a walk in the park under his guidance, but I was stubborn and had a passion for sports.

The first thing I loved about triathlon was the routine. We're all are animals of habits to a certain extent, and I loved the amount of dedication and consistency that I needed to put into this challenge. Plus, I didn't have to travel anywhere else, so my schedule was very standardized, yet enjoyable: I was spending the week in Turin, and the weekends in the mountains where I had grown up.

The second thing that I loved about triathlon was getting fit. I had never done much endurance sports in my life (I had recently finished racing as an alpine skier), so I struggled at first to adapt my body to the new requirements.

But I loved my new sporting career, and I loved feeling my fitness improvements. Above all, I loved getting better at swimming. Being the discipline where I must struggled, feeling that it was coming together was a huge boost (it still hasn't come together, even after almost ten years of it).

Étape du Tour. Summer 2019.

Although I was getting into triathlon more and more, and because I knew what kind of stress and dedication high-performance require (I still had impressed in min mind those 15 years of alpine ski racing), I was always telling to myself: "this is a game." Play, enjoy, and don't get obsessed with it. 

I was aware of how much endurance sports can obsess people. I had examples from cycling, rock climbing (a discipline where weight management is even riskier and crucial than any other discipline I have ever done), and running. Only now I know that there is a physiological explanation for this 'endurance high.' Back then, though, it was only a simple "take it easy" and relax. And I was able to do precisely that for the first three years in the sport.

I raced my first sprint triathlon in Germany in 2013 and thought I would have never been able to finish a half Ironman. But that was also my first experience in open water (and the first time I was swimming with a wetsuit too), so I gave myself some time to think about it. In the end, I was thrilled and excited about having finished my first triathlon and I went on racing a few more that year. It was still a game, though.

The year after I raced more, I finished my first Olympic and my first half IM. I put in more training and at some point I questioned the sanity of what I was doing. I had never trained twice per day, so that sounded a bit too extreme also for me.

But I wanted that race so badly that I put in what I had to do to get it. It was still a game, though.

The feeling of finishing that race with a faster time than I had expected, and the overall feel of it, made me think that, maybe, I could have even tried a full IM.

First duathlon. Spring 2013.

First 70.3. Summer 2014.

When I started triathlon, I had never thought to do a full IM. That was out of the picture, and I always repeated myself that half was the longest I wanted to go. But after I completed the half, for the first time when I thought, "Mmm, maybe going the full distance would not be a game anymore.”

It took me another year to decide to go for it and two years to race one full IM.

I still wanted it to be a game, but when I start training again, in a different city and environment (with a different club and different training partners), everything changed.

I was going through a rough time and had severe depression. Triathlon became the way to feel better, but also an obsession. It stopped being a game. I was taking it so seriously, and I was taking myself more seriously and putting extra pressure on myself too. That sort of pressure that I shouldn’t have put on myself, given the life circumstances.

I had swapped my core intention without realizing 100%. The environment pushed me towards that change, but I did the rest. My situation and the psychological struggle completed the mosaic.

It took some time to realize that.

In the meantime, I became a triathlon coach and represented Great Britain twice in the long-distance triathlon World Championships. That was something I could have never imagined possible when I started with triathlons in 2012. I was proud of myself, but by coaching other people I also realized that I wanted to get back to that "this is a game" feeling and mantra.

Just now, four years after my first full IM, I feeli like I'm finally getting there again.

Cervia 70.3. September 2019.

Don't get me wrong, I have a competitive nature, and I try to improve in what I do almost consistently. Yet, now I'm more aware of how I take what I do day after day, week after week, season after season. 

I have gone through a lot in the last ten years -- both in triathlon and outside of it. I feel more mature; I feel like I've lived triathlon in many different ways (both as a game, a challenge, and even as a job), and that's OK. 

I feel like the way we tackle things should — and must — change and adapt over time. We are not fixed, but we evolve. Therefore, the way we do something follows our development. If I had to leave triathlon now to do something else, I would be ready and happy with what I have done and achieved in the sport.

But after all these years, one thing is for sure. I 'tri-ed' it, I still 'tri' it, and I will tri-it in the future because I love it. 

Cervia 70.3. September 2019.

I love swimming, I love cycling, and I love running. I love sports in general: I love skiing, hiking, and climbing (rock climbing and ice climbing, mountaineering, and trail running). I used to play tennis and golf, soccer, basketball, skateboarding, and volleyball. I always loved being outdoors.

Since I was a child, I have tried as many sports as I could and I have been outdoors in any condition: when it was sunny, rainy, snowy, foggy, cold, warm, hot, and humid. The toughest day of my sports life has been a day when I was climbing above 4,000 meters with a couple of friends on a sharp ridge with.

A sudden storm hit us, and I lost my ice ax in the process, which made the ascension harder and trickier. That day I thought I would have died. And I promised myself I would have stopped doing that crazy shit if I was proved wrong. I was given a second chance ,and shortly after I bought a road bike; my first one.

Triathlon is what I love now because it puts together different sports. I know I love it, because at the start line of my last race, in Italy, I started to cry. I was crying tears of joy. I felt that what I was doing was right. And, for the time being, I was doing it in the right way: a mixture of improvement and game.

I cried because I felt at peace. 

I thought I was in the right place and at the right time. 

That's why I keep 'tri-ing' it. 

Colombia. Alto de Letras. Spring 2018.