No pool? 5 dryland and other training tips to maintain your swim fitness

As much of Canada deals with a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and endures another series of lockdowns, pools have been closed across much of the country. So how can you maintain your swim fitness during these challenging times? Here’s a series of stories we posted over the last year with some tips on how to maintain some swim fitness when you can’t get to a pool.

Kieran Lindars’ detailed indoor training sessions

This extensive indoor swim training program from one of the sport’s fastest swimmers, focuses on swim technique, conditioning and flexibility. The plan is divided into different levels, making it appropriate for all levels – from beginner to elite.

Power up your freestyle pull with resistance bands

While these sets are designed for pre-swim warm ups, the exercises themselves can serve as an excellent way to work on your technique while you can’t get to the pool. These excellent sets from swim coach Olivier Leroy will help you dial in your technique to get the most out of your swim stroke once you are able to get back to the water.

Ironman champion shares her at home upper-body strength workout

Ironman champ Belinda Granger shows you a do-anywhere 20-minute strength session that isn’t specifically geared for swimming, but will certainly help your upper-body fitness.

Cold-water training choice: Deboer introduces the Ocean 1.0

This new high-performance suit is designed to keep athletes warm in temperatures as low as 6 C – that might not help in the worst of the winter months, but it could be a much-needed addition to your training arsenal in the spring if we’re still struggling for pool time.

5 Tips for triathletes navigating a global pandemic

Canadian pro Tamara Jewett managed to not only maintain her fitness through the pandemic – she got noticeably faster in the water and on the bike, taking the Canadian Professional Triathlon Championship in September. In March she wrote this excellent piece outlining some of the ways she modified her training during the lockdown.