Mel McQuaid’s Race Start Swim Workout

Swim start speed into race pace

The most challenging part of the swim in triathlon racing is getting off to a good start while still leaving enough in the tank to swim strong to T1. Good training can help you gauge the speed from which you sprint off the line before setting into a sustainable race pace. Training for a strong start versus a maximum sprint will help you govern your initial effort. This type of training, working on settling into your race pace rhythm after a hard start, is hard work, but the training effects are felt within a couple of weeks. The following set is a good way to work on this race specific effort.

Warmup (800-1000m):

200-600 mixed strokes

200 alternating kick-swim

4×50 band only

4×50 build

Main Set

2-3 x through the following set (800m per round)

2×50 max effort (start speed) on :10s rest

6×50 hard (slightly faster than race pace) on :5s rest

400 race pace evenly split (get your times)

200-400 easy then repeat

Cooldown (500m):

10×50 on :60 to flush as one easy/one moderate.