Swim Workouts for Triathletes: Practical Workouts to Build Speed, Strength, and Endurance (Workouts in a Binder) Spiral-bound – May 2, 2011

I have owned this book for about 4 months and in that time I have worked through the Half Iron Distance program, as my training regime for my first half iron distance race.I cannot recommend the book highly enough.I was a confident but not particularly fast swimmer. Before this book I would do about 1000m straight swimming as my swim workout. The workouts in this book are twice to three times as long as that, and I found the first few times a bit of a challenge. The workouts are varied, and that keeps it interesting. They are not easy (even the "beginner" routines), but I very quickly became a noticeably stronger swimmer. I stuck with training plan and it was hugely beneficial. In the race, swimming 1.2miles, it was my best ever tri swim. My 100m average was faster than any tri i've done before, i felt very confident about covering the distance.There are different programs for the different tri distances.It sits nicely at the end of the pool, making it easy to check what you are doing next, and if it gets wet, a quick wipe with the towel dries it off.I have spent a fortune on things to try and get faster in triathlon and this is without doubt one of my best purchases.

I'm a regular swimmer but after I decided to start training for a triathlon I wanted something to help me improve my technique, endurance and speed. This book really delivers! The waterproof pages really hold up well at the pool and in my gym bag. There are SOOO many really great workouts, really something for everything you're looking for. The pages are really well laid out and easy to navigate. The advanced swims are a nice challenge and all of the workouts are really well paced (that's my favorite part. You get through the hardest part at the beginning and cruise through the rest of it).My only complaint about the book is the shorthand and the acronyms. There's a handy glossary at the front to help combat that though.Overall I love this book. I can definitely tell its going to help me become a better swimmer and I would buy it again in a heartbeat!

The good points of this book for me are that:- It's waterproof- I can show up at the pool without a plan and have a productive workout.- It comes with training plans that cover everything from general fitness through to Ironman.- The text is big enough to read through goggles, without my contacts (your mileage may vary here)- It has illustrated drills (and be honest, who doesn't need to do more drills?)So why just four stars? I mean, I use this thing at all of my swim sessions now.As has been pointed out by other reviewers, the workouts are extremely front crawl (freestyle) heavy. It's not a big problem, since the book is targeted at triathletes and swimming any other stroke in a tri doesn't make much sense. However, the IM sets and backstroke that featured in my old masters squad workouts really helped my swimming, and I think provided a balance for the muscles used in the sets.If you don't splash much when you turn, the drying of the book when you get home is easy... wipe down the page you're open to and forget about it. If you splash (or the guy in the next lane does) then it can take a few minutes to go through and wipe down all the damp pages - this is a necessary step. It's waterproof, not 'stay-dry'.The book is also seemingly written for a short-course pool (25m/yds). That's what I have access to mostly now, but I still prefer long-course (50m) and some of the workouts would be harder to adapt to long course.The abbreviations used in all the workouts can take some time to get used to, but that's not difficult unless your memory is worse than mine. The final issue is that many of the workouts rely on you knowing your T-pace (test pace following one of the tests in the book), and assume that you can effectively gauge your own pace as you swim. This is easy(ish) for experienced swimmers, but will be difficult for novices.All in all, I recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone who wants an easy way of getting more structure into their swim workouts. It's not perfect, but that's a lot to ask for...

So many great workouts to mix up the swim training. Focus is definitely on freestyle workouts and preparing for distance swimming. I like the suggested workout schedules for differently triathlon distances, it's almost like having a coach picking your workout for the day. Being waterproof is perfect so I can have the workout in good sized text right there at my lane. I've been using the book for two months and an still excited as to what my next workout will be!

I bought this book because I have been swimming for years but have not been making any improvements in my time. I had a swim instructor help me but there was a slight language gap. I speak English and my coach speaks Japanese. Once I received this book I spent a few days reading it and just trying to grasp all what was being taught. Then I slowly, and I reiterate slowly started changing my stroke to mimic was what recommended in the book. Just like the book says, the high elbow is an unatrual movement and it takes a long time to get used to it. After a month of swimming 3 times a week, I feel that I am getting more comfortable with the high elbow position and feel that I can swim my regular distances with less work and am able to keep up with the faster swimmers at my swim training group. Something that I could not do before without nearly having heart failure. :) I find myself having more energy at the completion of the workouts. I am really looking forward to some PRs this year. I highly recommend this book.