Have you ever started out too fast in practice or a race and had your stroke fall apart half way through? This ailment affects many swimmers and is commonly referred to as PAC (Pace Awareness Challenged). It’s not really, I just made that up!
To get better at pacing I suggest using a Finis Tempo Trainer. These little yellow discs slide under your cap and are the perfect companion to keeping you on pace. For example, let’s take a 100 yard swim in a 25 yard pool with a goal time of 1:36. To swim a 1:36 evenly you’ll need to swim each length in 24 seconds. Set your tempo trainer (TT) to 24.00. The TT is now set to beep every 24 seconds. Place the TT under your cap and begin swimming. If you arrive at the wall before the TT beeps you’ve gone out too fast; swim slower. If it beeps before you get to the wall you’ve gone out too slow; swim faster. It’s perfect pacing for people afflicted with PAC. Once you are comfortable with swimming with the TT at your current pace you can make subtle reductions each week making you a fitter, faster swimmer. (Example: Week 1: 24.00, Week 2: 23.90, Week 3: 23.80, Week 4: 23.70 etc.)
Not sure what your pace is or where to begin? Try taking a CSS Test explained here.
Check out the FINIS Tempo Trainer. Readers of the Modern Swim Blog receive 25% off their entire order with the code OGREN25 at checkout.
Happy Swimming!
