Trivia Question
 

I am currently looking at an ITU triathlon event (a race that took place in New Zealand.. I think it's the world championship).

I was looking at the race, with a tempo trainer set to a rate (mode 3, so strokes per minute). I set the rate relatively high.

The goal then was to try to find one single swimmer that would display a rate lower than this 'minimal' rate.

I couldn't find any. All athletes, males and females were at least stroking at this minimal rate or higher.

Trivia Quiz:
What is this minimal rate that everyone (elites) seemed to be stroking at?

62 strokes per minute.

Higher (significantly higher) although again, we're talking elites there...

I think in the 80 strokes per minute range.

Ok, just watched elite women and they were 40+ cycles or 80+ strokes per minute. I know the woman use a quicker stroke but I'm going with Grant, maybe even quicker for the men say 85 spm. that would be .705 on the TT per stroke, I think I'll try this tomorrow for half a lap and hope the shoulders don't blow up. I will stay relaxed!

Yeah, we got two winners.

I had my TT set to 80, and I couldn't identify a single swimmer under this rate... (.75)

For the records, conditions were choppy, pretty much the worst you can get for hitting you hard on speed, we're talking 1 and a half feet propelled by the wind, arrggrrr got to swing. Or else you move backward.

Still, food for thought for anyone wanting to compete at this level :)

I am a bit in shock to tell you the truth, I really thought that the males would stroke at lower rates. This is what I find striking.

One of my goals for next month's swim is to do some longer sets at 0.96 and monitor SPL decay. My learning from running and cycling training this year is that if you start with high cadence your body gets used to it very quick.

It's certainly interesting. I suspect though that the sample is biased in three respects.

Triathletes v Swimmers. Elite v Normal. Wetsuit v Naked.

I think all push towards higher stroke rates than you might otherwise expect.

Elite triathlon fields are elite athletes. This gives them an extraordinary engine. The same applies to ordinary triathletes too, though obviously to a lesser extent.

In the Olympics last year Alistair Brownlee's run time (29.07) was quicker than Mykola Labovskyy's in the 10,000m final. The Ukrainian finished last in 29:32.

I agree to some extent. Racing at .75 isn't for everyone. However, I believe that the 2 main components which explain this fascinating fact are "Elite" (vs enthusiastic agper) and Open water (whether it's in Tri context or not). For example, the Mile race is very popular in several parts of the world. A mile swam in the same choppy conditions could have resulted in the same sort of metrics, regardless of if you're a triathlete and regardless of the wetsuit aspect (at least, it's my opinion fwiw)

I wish from all my heart that I could agree to this, but unfortunately the ramp test often concludes otherwise. Passed a certain level, it's wrong to believe that stroking fast is something one can take for granted.

I'd propose that:
-Most can stroke between 1.0 and .87
-Only some can stroke between .86 and .76
-Very few can stroke over .75 without being specifically prepared for this