Return to Squad

By ANGUS MACGOWAN

I recently returned to training with a Masters squad. I’d “retired” from squad training 18 months ago to re-engineer my front crawl and develop the other strokes. I started with the first drill and spent countless hours working on the many attributes of technique that TI draws attention to. I’d enjoyed this process, but was hankering to return to squad training for various reasons.

Squad training provides many benefits. The lanes are set aside for your use, the workout is structured by the coach, there are fellow athletes to swim with and against, and above all, I enjoy the friendly banter between sets. I wanted to improve my competitive swimming, and felt I needed the discipline and routine that squad training provides.

Conversely, the rigid structure and often-competitive ethos of a squad environment can be problematic for swimmers who have only recently gained proficiency or taken time to polish their form. My greatest fear was having my stroke regress under the volume and intensity of a squad environment.

The squad I swim with has a wide range of age and ability. Many lanes away are youth swimmers, doing as many as 10 sessions a week, aiming for national competitions. The standard eases as you cross the pool toward the “slow” lane occupied by fitness-oriented Masters swimming on very moderate intervals. That said, the coach seems interested in his swimmers’ technique and conscientiously adjusts the program for all the lanes.

Five weeks have passed since I turned up poolside to introduce myself to the coach, clutching my goggles and cap (and happily not in possession of pull buoy, kickboard or paddles). It’s been a pleasing experience, with a steep learning curve and plenty of challenges as well. For those considering joining a squad, here are some thoughts to smooth the way.

Embrace the slow lane. After two sessions, the coach suggested I move up a lane. My ego was flattered but my stroke got battered. It became a survival test to make the intervals, an exercise in pride preservation. I slunk back to the slow lane, tail between my legs. Later I remembered Terry writing about how he spent two years, in his early 50s, in slower lanes deepening the habits of efficiency and ease, traits that now serve him as he swims considerably faster repeats in the “fast” lane.

Give yourself time. It’s a long game in more ways than one. I’m not the oldest swimmer by a long way, but neither am I as spritely as the teenagers three or four lanes across, young guys and girls with the ability to canter through 5,000m in the morning and return for more that evening. I have a good fitness base, but even so it’s taking me longer to adjust to the increased yardage than it would have 10 years ago. I’ve learned it’s okay to get out of the water if my stroke feels ragged. It’s likely I’ve already done enough to improve my fitness; pushing on from there will only degrade my technique.

Be creative with intervals. Early on I was struggling with the interval for some 100m repeats. My coach offered a creative option – “Just swim 75m repeats and rejoin the back of the group next time they come around”. This gave me more rest, didn’t interrupt the lane, and allowed me to swim well at a faster pace. Swimming 10x50m on a tight turnaround time? Sit out the 4th and the 8th interval so that you can complete the rest with perfect form. Sure, I’m swimming with a squad, but it’s up to me to make sure I do the workout that gives me the greatest benefit.

Swim solo. I still like to swim one day a week on my own doing a completely technique-oriented workout. It’s a day of “polish” for my freestyle stroke, or a chance to work on other strokes that we don’t swim often at squad.

Sneaky TI. This is an old tip from Terry, but no matter what the set, choose a focus point. I often focus on one particular thing for the whole session. This gives me the chance to really ingrain the new habit into my stroke.

Swim Easy. In the future I will certainly undertake some demanding sets, but for I have nothing to prove to anyone but myself, so swimming at 65% to 70% of maximum is fine if it means I continue to develop my stroke. After five weeks, without even “trying” I am swimming faster, with less effort, at a consistent SPL. In months to come, there will be plenty of chances to push harder and test whether my stroke holds together at the faster pace. Do what works for you, but if you find yourself just trying to survive the next repeat, it’s time to back off the pace or call it a day.

Relax for your max. I am just beginning to explore my ability to relax more as I swim faster or begin to tire. This is counterintuitive to me but it works, particularly in an environment where intensity of effort is the dominant value. Trying to maintain or pick up pace by relaxing rather than grimacing and thrashing harder is one of the richest sources of improvement you can tap into. But take note; whilst this means swimming faster for less effort physically, it requires far more concentration and discipline mentally than crashing on down the lane.

Working on these points won’t mean there’s no hard work to be done at squad training. Nor does it mean that you won’t cover more distance than you might on your own. I’ve returned to squad to do both of these things. The key is to do it in a way that doesn’t compromise the overriding goal of swimming efficiently, with precision, grace and pace. I’m still in the slow lane, but I’ve been keeping an eye on how fast they are moving in the next fastest lane. When the time is right, I’ll be flipping on over.


Angus MacGowan returned to swimming in 2006 after a 10-year hiatus. After completing a 3-man relay swim across the English Channel, he’s spent the last 18 months rebuilding the basics of his stroke using TI methodologies and dabbling in competitive Masters swimming. Now living in London, his next open water swim will be the 3.2km Big Bay Swim in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia.