Swimming Equipment: What do triathletes need?
Triathletes seem to love their toys and gadgets!
Whether it’s the latest gauge for the bike, the highest-tech running show on the market, or a SwiMP3 player for swimming, part of the fun of this sport seems to be collecting the latest and greatest in equipment.
But what do you really need for swimming? Not a lot! It is generally the cheapest of the 3 disciplines. Here’s a quick list of what you need:
1. Swim suit. Not to say that we all don’t look fantastic in the buff, but some people can get uptight.
2. Goggles. You CAN build up a tolerance to chlorine in your eyes, but you still won’t be able to see much underwater. And in the ocean the stinging may kill you!
3. Towel. Okay, you can do without this and use the drip-dry method or borrow your training partner’s towel every time, but the former is inefficient and the latter can be rude if it happens too much!
4. Swim Cap. Only if you have long hair.
“Should haves”:
1. Fins. Great for drills. I recommend Zoomers Z2′s. For 20% off just go to www.finisinc.com and use discount code ‘aggies20′.
2. Anti-chlorine shampoo/body wash. Chlorine is a chemical and can do bad things to your hair and skin. I recommend Tri-Swim products.
Stay away from:
1. Kickboards: Force you on your stomach, give you artificial buoyancy. Cheating!
2. Pull Bouys: Give you artificial buoyancy. Cheating!
Extras:
1. Snorkels. Definitely beneficial with training your lungs and working on your stroke without breathing.
2. SwimMP3 player. Music while you swim! It can be nice on your long swim days. 20% off here with discount code ‘aggies20′.
Overall, keep equipment to a minimum for a better swim!
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I have a Swimp3. It’s the kind of thing I never would have bought for myself (it was a very thoughtful Christmas gift), but I love love love it.
I disagree on the subject of pull buoys. I use them as a last resort when teaching beginning swimmers (artificial buoyancy, it’s true), but they can be helpful to teach beginning adult swimmers how they should feel when they’re swimming unassisted. And once they’ve got their balance down, giving a student a pull buoy and telling him/her to cross his/her ankles will help develop greater core strength and force them to notice imbalances in their pull. And I suppose that if the student has really good balance, they should be able to pull without kicking at all. But I like the pull buoy.
Kickboard, I absolutely agree. No need to use a kickboard unless you’re hanging out with a buddy and chatting (which I’ve also done) :-).
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Glad to hear that someone else wants to add a pull buoy to essentials, since tiathlete mag listed the pull buoy as the tool preferred by more triathletes. If used correctly, the buoy can assist in body balanced, body position and increase good rotation. I also have to question the Zoomer II. Emphasizing the recover or up kick is just not correct. You don’t pedal backwards or run backwards, so why make the powerful downward kick movement less effective in order to work the upkick and the hamstring? Keep the fins to emphasize the mechanics of the power phase of the kick and work the quad. This fin is too stiff and uncomfortable and will cause sores on your feet if you don’t wear fins socks. Fins also allow you to train at a race pace to determine if you stroke will hold together as you increase your speed.
I am ok with the use of a snorkel if you want to swim drills to increase your hypoxic training or work on a balanced stroke, but breathing is critical to the flow of your stroke and you have to learn to integrate proper timing and rotation during breathing to swim efficiently.
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any tips on kinds of suits (mens) goggles and towels?
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triswimcoach Reply:
January 2nd, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Jason,
Googles are really an individual call. Lots of my friends use the “swedes”, but they don’t work for me. Many triathletes opt for the Aquashere brand goggles. I typically like what Speedo & Arena put out. You’ll have to just try some out and find something that works! Towels, hmm, I tend to just have a couple of beach towels and alternate.
Good luck!
Kevin
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