"I Spend More Time Slowing Swimmers Down Than Speeding Them Up!"
What training at the wrong intensity day-in/day-out means for your long-term goals
Hey Swimmers,
One of the things I probably say more than anything else on pool deck is:
“Slow down.”
People are often surprised by that. Surely every coach wants their swimmers to go faster?
Of course we do. But paradoxically, one of the best ways to become a faster swimmer is learning when not to swim fast.
Why Swim Smooth uses objective pacing
One of the defining characteristics of the Swim Smooth system has always been structured pacing.
Rather than writing something like:
“10 × 100 hard”
or
“6 × 300 easy”
we prefer to prescribe your pace objectively.
For example:
CSS
CSS +2
CSS +4
CSS +6
Those numbers aren’t random. They’re linked to very specific physiological adaptations we’re trying to develop.
Every pace has a purpose.
The mistake swimmers still make
This is where many swimmers still go wrong.
They’ll set their Tempo Trainer to CSS +6...
...and then swim CSS.
Because in their mind they’re thinking:
“Well, faster has to be better. Doesn’t it?”
Actually, in that session, faster is often worse.
If today’s objective is to build aerobic endurance, then swimming threshold pace instead means you’ve completely changed the session.
You haven’t improved it.
You’ve simply turned it into something different.
Why this matters
One of the biggest mistakes endurance athletes make is spending too much time training in what people often call the “grey zone.”
Not quite easy enough to build endurance.
Not quite hard enough to improve threshold.
You’re working hard...
...but not always getting the adaptation you were aiming for.
Over weeks and months this catches up with you.
You might believe your threshold pace is, say, 1:40 per 100 m.
But when race day arrives, you can’t actually sustain it because you’ve never properly developed the aerobic foundation underneath it.
That’s exactly why sessions at CSS +3 or CSS +5 exist.
They’re building the engine that allows everything above it to improve.
The Tempo Trainer isn’t there to make you faster
Sometimes people see me pulling out the Tempo Trainers and think:
“Here we go again…”
But the Tempo Trainer isn’t just a device that pushes you to swim faster.
Quite often it’s doing exactly the opposite.
It’s holding you back.
It’s keeping you honest.
It’s making sure you’re swimming at exactly the intensity your coach intended.
Because if every session becomes harder than planned...
...eventually every session becomes less effective.
A lesson from Sunday morning
That idea actually came home to me this Sunday and prompted me to write this blog this week.
I went along to a public session at 7 a.m.
The pool was busy, with swimmers spread randomly across every lane.
There wasn’t really a slow lane, medium lane or fast lane.
People were swimming individually, in pairs, overtaking constantly and everyone was effectively trying to find their own rhythm.
You could almost feel the frustration building.
People couldn’t hold the pace they wanted because someone else was in front of them.
Others were swimming much faster than the lane really suited.
There was plenty of lane rage.
Why Swim Smooth Squads are different
It reminded me why we’re so particular about organising our own sessions.
When you join a Swim Smooth Squad, we know you, we know your pace, your physiology and we’ve hired dedicated lanes accordingly.
We deliberately group swimmers by pace:
We organise the order people leave.
We adjust throughout the session if needed.
It might look a little regimented from the outside.
But it allows everyone to swim at the pace they’ve actually come to train. And training well is what makes for happy, confident, time-efficient swimmers.
If today’s objective is CSS +6...
...you can swim CSS +6.
If today’s objective is threshold...
...you can swim threshold.
You’re no longer fighting a busy public lane with zero order.
You’re simply focusing on the session.
And over months and years, that’s where consistent improvement really comes from.
Slowing down to get faster!
Swimming faster isn’t about trying harder every single day.
It’s about matching the right effort to the right session.
Sometimes the smartest thing you can do...
...is slow down.
Because that’s often what allows you to become faster when it really counts.
Thanks for reading,
Your coach, Paul.