Originally Posted by
agarose2000
Have you looked at the book SWIMMING FASTEST by Maglischo? It's a big fat textbook on all aspects of swimming, and I didn't see anything about breathing every stroke being only for very good swimmers. In fact, he recommends it for anyone swimming over sprint distances, as it is gives the most oxygenation, and that is generally the limiting factor in non-sprint races.
I have read/browsed Maglischo's books (Swimming Fast, Swimming Faster, Swimming Fastest). They have a lot of good stuff in it, but in swimming circles we take that with a grain of salt. Things in swimming change ALL of the time. Maybe thats why he has three books on the exact same subject! He has to keep updating it with the times..... I would say that getting oxygen is very important and is the main reason that most top racers (in events other than sprints) do breathe on every stroke. I know a lot of swimmers that train using different patterns. Ian Thorpe (famous Austrailian swimmer that most people have heard of) races breathing to the right going one way down the pool and to the left the other way down the pool. I believe he does this so that he can keep his stroke honest over the longer distances that he competes in AND to get more oxygen.
I would not recommend that book for triathletes by the way. Its OK if you are REALLY interested in the subject, but most of the info isnt really useful for triathletes. The Terry Laughlin book "Total Immersion" is a good one for beginners. While I do not think his methods work in the Olympic swimming level, they are great for beginners. It will certainly make you swim longer without using as much energy (which is VERY important for Triathletes!!!)
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As for how to judge improvement - in swimming circles we would judge improvement 2 ways. One would be speed over a certain distance (races in competition or in practice). Another would be performance on a "set". The set could be anything. Ex: 10 One hundred yard repeats leaving every 2 minutes. Surviving would be the first step. After you can do that, how fast can you go on each one? Can you do each one faster than one minute thirty seconds? Can you do 9 faster than 1:30 and then do the last one faster than 1:20? something like that. I do not think that triathletes should be afraid of stopping during swim training. It isnt the same as training for distance running or cycling. You will maintain better technique and thus go faster. (of course you dont want to sit on the wall forever either!) As someone else said doing distances with less strokes (less work!) is also a cool thing to play around with.
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And the "they" in my signature is basically everyone that you come in contact with. If you are not having fun isnt it tough to expect others around you to enjoy life as well? (And I do not coach little league.....I have never even played baseball!)