I had this strange thought while doing a breath control set at LMU today

I have been out of the water for a week due to an extreme ringing in my ears accompanied with a dizzy sensation which was no fun whatsoever. Hence, It felt good to finally be back in the water today at Loyola Marymount College. LMU is my favorite pool.

Anyway, this bizarre thought crossed my mind while doing a breath control set of 10 x 25s on the :50 this morning. It was certainly Halloween related and I was thinking that since LMU is a Catholic college, and if a priest ever happen to bless the pool water, you would have roughly 250,000 gallons of holy water thereby making one completely immune to a vampire attack if one chose to swim at night.

See what anoxia can do to one's thinking?

SCAQ email about Clay's "SUPER IRONMAN WORKOUT"

If you thought 10 x 400 was tough, it is about to get much harder at Clay's Saturday morning workout. Right at the beginning of the set (after a good warm up), you will do a SPRINT 100 much faster than your regular pace, then return to 3x400s at the pace you have been going. This will mimic an ocean swim. At the finish of the 3x400, then another 100 sprint- and then again, 3x400s. Finally, one last round of sprint 100 and 3x400s and ending (finally) in one LAST sprint 100.. This is much more difficult than going straight through the even-paced 400s. This will only be for those in swimming shape and who have already experienced our 400s workouts over the last few weekends. If you are new to this workout, Clay suggests that you sit out and rest the 100s instead of swimming them hard.

Why these hard 100s screwing up these otherwise nice paced 400s? Because that is the way it is out in the real world. Ocean swims or triathlons never mimic normal, even-paced swims, and no two races will ever be the same. You therefore should prepare for abrupt changes. So, when you have achieved the ability and the endurance to pace yourself for a 200, a 2,000 or a 2 miler you then practice adversity and increase your ability to regain your composure and return to an effective pace. Tactically most ocean races for serious swimmers should start and end with speed (come to one of Clay's ocean clinics in Santa Monica, Venice, Manhattan Beach to find out WHY). And always it will be inevitable that during a race you will need to apply some speed, like get around some slower swimmers, beat people to a buoy, catch the waves, et cetera. And once again, you will have to return to an effective pace. So for the next couple of weeks at Santa Monica College (SMC), Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Westchester, and the San Fernando Valley pool (VNSO), you can expect this workout.

For those of you swimmers stuck at this workout you can change it. Just stay with the interval of your lane. If you want to do middle distance go instead of rounds of three 400s, one 400, one 200 and one 100. If you are an IMers try doing three 300s IM. And for some of you guys that want an all out sprint workout go three 100s.

[Check this page often for both swim clinics and ocean clinics: Link]

"April Pools" Day and it's FREE!

My club is having a swim promotion for "new" or "pre-owned" swimmers who want to start swimming. Here is what Clay sent me:

It starts Sunday with two great clinics/101 Workouts and tons of our regular workouts. So, if you are not swimming regularly by now then replace March Madness with April Pool's!!!! With a month of swimming with us then May can be "May" in the "BAY"!!!! You hear that triathletes?

We have so many workouts to offer you, check out our schedule link at SWIM.net/scaq. Check out my recent articles on technique as well on the articles page. So call us or go on line and start swimming.

For all you potential new swimmers scared of starting a coached workout come to one of my workouts 101 for beginners. That is where I will lead you through a beginner's workout with tons of technique. I will also will show you what are the most effective ways to workout such that you maximize your times in the water away from your busy schedule.

Here are two FREE Swim 101 Workouts, this Sunday, April 1st:

LMU 8:00 AM - Directions: [Link] (Park in the first parking lot on the right)
Van Nuys Sherman Oaks pool: 11:00am - Directions: [Link]

RSVP before you show by calling (310) 390-5700

Swim homework assignment for the next few weeks

1) Go to Erik Hochstein's sprint workout on Sundays at LMU. (Erik is a former Olympian from Germany who won the bronze medal in the 4x200m Freestyle Relay at the 1988 Summer Olympics. I was once swimming with him at a workout at Santa Monica where we did a 200 as part of the main set; Erik was swimming in the fastest lane and I was like 4 lanes down from him, he swam a 1:46 and I did a 2:24. He lapped everybody in the whole pool.)

2) Swim at Santa Monica on Wednesdays with fins to loosen up and improve my ankle flexibility.

3) Push-ups and crunches on workout-free days and stretching every day to gain more shoulder and hamstring flexibility.

4) Do a freestyle technique clinic with Bonnie or Jamie to check out my stroke. (When I sprint I have a tendency to be choppy.)

5) Swim more 100s for time and focus on pacing.

6) Start swimming 5 days a week rather than 3-5

SCAQ VNSO Swim Workout: I tried Lauren Matthewson's flip-turn tonight

Well, it appears Lauren Matthewson will still be the only swimmer in the United States doing that innovative and amazingly fast turn.

Let it be known that I have an anemic kick. It has gotten a lot better but it is still far below the average. The only reason that I am a moderately good swimmer is due to my enthusiasm for the art of swimming and my love for water itself rather than any sort of intrinsic talent. In my age group I finish in the middle-third when the final placings of a race are posted. In Open water I place in the upper third so basically that is where I am as a swimmer.

Tonight, I tried LMU swimmer, Lauren Matthewson's, innovative turn as noted below in the 'You Tube' video while swimming at VNSO tonight; (Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Pool). Though I was a little bit faster off the wall, it took up a massive amount of my oxygen store to accomplish. Since my kick was weak the advantage obtained is negated by my body going lactic much more quickly. Maybe I could integrate it into a 50 Free but I need a solid kick first.

If you have a strong backstroke kick, I recommend hooking up with Bonnie Adair and doing a turn-clinic with her. (Be sure you donate to LMU after learning the dark arts of a superior turn.)

IM workout at VNSO:

3 X 200's Free warm up

This set done 2 times through:

1 x 100's Fly/Free by 25s @ 1:40
1 x 100's Back/Free by 25's @ 1:40
1 x 100's Breast/Free by 25's @ 1:40

This set done 2 times through:

1 x 150's Fly/Free by 50's @ 2-something (Mark like he was a seeing eye dog tonight)
1 x 150's Back/Free by 50's @ 2-something
1 x 150's Breast/Free by 50's @ 2-something

150 warm down.

I sprinted a 50 under 30 to make sure I was ok.

Here is a video of LMU swimmer, Lauren Mathewson, beating Nan Liu; a nationally ranked swimmer from the Liao Ning Province in China, in the 100 backstroke at the PCSC Championship Meet at the Belmont Plaza.

Note how Lauren uses her turns and underwater work as a lethal weapon. She only broke surface after her competitors were taking their second or third stroke. Just amazing and she never suffered any degradation to her momentum.

To illustrate the gravity of this win, take a look at this snippet from Nan liu's bio: "...represented her province in the National Game and Chinese Championships, where she was a top three finisher in the 50 and 100 butterfly events... Earned the Outstanding Junior Swimmer award by the Chinese Swimming Association and the Most Outstanding Athlete by the Liao Ning Province... ."

Note that at the PCSC Championship Nan Liu also won the two butterfly events setting new meet records and was named along with, Lauren Mathewson, PCSC Swimmer of the Year. I can personally tell you that Head Coach Bonnie Adair and the coaching staff of LMU were euphoric about this meet and Lauren's PCSC Conference record-setting swim.

Chuck Tansuwan shot this video and I thank him for letting me post it.