By Olivier Poirier-Leroy on SwimSwam
What happens when you try swimming all-out… with a slower stroke rate? This counterintuitive drill can sharpen technique and unlock more speed.
Fast swimming is all about getting your chlorinated rumpus to the other side of the pool pronto.
Which means that swimmers will view anything short of “max speed” or “max effort” as a bit useless.
Race pace or nothing, baby!
This makes sense on a lot of levels. You don’t get faster on race day by swimming slow all the time.
But there is a way to perform the skill of swimming slower in a way that can boost swimming speed.
And one of my favorites is applying the constraint of max effort with a “slower” stroke rate.
Why slow tempo + fast swimming?
The concept sounds counter-intuitive—why would we want to use a lower stroke rate to try and swim fast? Especially sprinters, for who a maxed-out stroke rate is one of the defining features of the race.
But fast swimming with a slightly lower tempo offers a couple of big benefits:
First, it forces you to really get efficient with your technique.
Going all-out with a lower stroke rate means that every part of the stroke is maximized for force application.
Body position, downkick thrust, high elbow position, roll of the shoulders/thoracic spine—all of it is maximized when we constrain the stroke in the way.
With a slightly reduced tempo, your body instinctively and relentlessly hunts for ways to find ways to apply more force.
Of course, the goal is to eventually take that newfound sensitivity to propulsion and apply it to higher stroke rates, but this is where you start.
Mastering the movement, displacing water in the right direction, getting more mechanical leverage with every part of your stroke.
And second, skill acquisition shoots through the roof.
When swimming all-out, technique can get buried under momentum and pure white-water effort, making it harder to improve mechanics.
Fast swimming + slower tempo means swimmers have to truly mentally process each part of the stroke, opening the door for better learning and adaptations.
Sprinting can often mask these opportunities, because there is too much going on too quickly for the brain to make sensory connections between hand placement, body alignment, shoulder roll—and connect it to better propulsion.
Think of it in the same way as a paced squat:
Three seconds on the way down Two seconds “in the hole” And then three seconds on the way up.Compare that to a speed squat where you go down and up as fast as possible.
Which allows more opportunities to learn? Which shows you the most mechanically advantageous places to apply leverage? Which gives you the greatest control of the overall movement? Which one shows you where you can be stronger and faster?You often hear about the importance of being able to swim slow to swim fast.
This is a high-performance example of that.
Because once you can control your body, displace more water, and position yourself for more force, you will unleash more speed at the higher tempos.
So this week at the pool, try:
Swimming at top speed with a slightly lower tempo than your usual race tempo. Or swim fast 25s or 50s with 1-2 less strokes than you normally would.The goal isn’t getting good at swimming slow.
But swimming exceptionally well at constrained tempos and then transferring that increased force production and cleaner technique to the higher RPM stuff.
ABOUT OLIVIER POIRIER-LEROY
Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer, 2x Olympic Trials qualifier, and author of several books for swimmers, including YourSwimBook, Conquer the Pool, The Dolphin Kick Manual, and most recently, The 50 Freestyle Blueprint.
The book is a beastly 220+ pages of evidence-based insights and practical tips for improving freestyle sprint speed.
It details everything from how to master stroke rate, technique, build a thundering freestyle kick, improve your start and underwaters, and much more.
The 50 Freestyle Blueprint also includes 20 sprint sets to get you started and a bonus guide on how to master the 100 freestyle to complete your sprint preparation.
Learn more about The 50 Freestyle Guide today.
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