Do you ever feel like you’re working twice as hard in the pool as everyone else, only to move half as fast? Don’t worry; you aren't alone. For many triathletes, the "swim leg" feels less like a sport and more like a survival exercise. You spend hours watching YouTube videos of Olympic swimmers, trying to mimic their "perfect" high-elbow catch or their effortless six-beat kick, only to find yourself gasping for air at the end of a single 25-metre length.
What if I told you that most of the "traditional" swimming advice you’ve been following is actually holding you back?
A lot of triathletes get stuck because they’re trying to swim like pool specialists, not like athletes who still have a bike and run to come. That’s a completely different job, and it changes everything.
As a Trisutto-certified coaching provider, we see the same patterns again and again: athletes working hard, getting nowhere, and wondering why swimming still feels like a boss level they can’t unlock. Let’s break down the seven biggest myths, give you a hint at what actually works, and show you why the right feel in the water is worth more than a thousand random lengths.
We’ve all seen the pros on TV: their legs are a blur of constant motion, driving them through the water like an outboard motor. This is a six-beat kick (six kicks for every full stroke cycle). It’s great if you’re trying to win a 100m gold medal in a speedo. It’s a disaster if you’re a triathlete.
The Reality: Triathlon is a two-beat kick sport.
Think about it: your legs are your most oxygen-hungry muscles. If you spend your entire swim thrashing them about, you’ll arrive at T1 with your heart rate in the "Mad" zone of the MMM Intensity System and nothing left for the bike. In triathlon, the kick isn't there to show off. It’s there for balance and buoyancy. Get this bit right and the whole stroke starts to feel smoother, calmer, and weirdly faster for less effort.
Is your coach telling you that you must breathe every three strokes to "stay balanced"? Does trying to breathe to your "bad" side make you feel like you’re drowning?
The Reality: Oxygen is your best friend.
While bilateral breathing is a nice skill for pool swimmers to prevent muscle imbalances over decades, triathletes need air, and lots of it. If breathing to one side feels more natural and lets you stay relaxed, that’s usually the smarter play. There’s no prize for looking symmetrical if you’re swallowing half the pool.
The "High Elbow Catch" (or Early Vertical Forearm) is the holy grail of swim coaching. It looks beautiful. It’s also incredibly demanding on shoulder mobility and strength, two things most adult-onset swimmers (and desk-bound business owners) lack.
The Reality: Triathlon swimming is different.
Trying to force a high elbow often leads to "dropped" elbows and "slipping" through the water. Instead of obsessing over a "pretty" catch, we focus on total body force. If you can learn how to hold the water properly and send it backwards, everything changes. That’s one of those things that sounds simple on paper and feels totally different when you finally nail it.
The "classic" triathlete workout: jump in, swim 2,000 metres non-stop at a steady pace, get out. Sounds productive, right? Wrong.
The Reality: Quality over quantity.
Swimming is all about the stimulus. If you swim long and slow, you just get really good at… swimming slow. Your technique falls apart as you tire, and you end up "practising" bad habits. In the Trisutto principle of "Speed through Endurance," the magic is in shorter, sharper work with purpose. It’s not glamorous, but it’s a much better bang for buck if you actually want to swim faster.
"I don't have time to be a pro swimmer!" We hear you. If you’re a busy business owner or parent, getting to the pool five mornings a week is a recipe for burnout.
The Reality: 2-3 smart sessions beat 5 mediocre ones.
Because Trisutto uses Reverse Periodisation, the focus is not on "junk miles." The idea is to build strength and technique first. Two focused sessions where you’re actually learning how to apply force in the water will usually beat a week of mindless splashing. It’s about Discipline and Detail from the 5 D’s, not just clocking pool time like it’s a badge of honour.
"I’m not fast enough for paddles," or "I’m scared I’ll hurt my shoulders."
The Reality: Paddles are the best technique coaches on the planet.
For a beginner or intermediate swimmer, paddles provide instant feedback. If you enter the water wrong or pull at a weird angle, the paddle will wobble or slip. They reveal the truth very quickly. Used sensibly alongside a pull buoy, they can help you discover what a more connected, more powerful stroke is supposed to feel like.
Most people are taught to "S-curve" or "bend the arm" under the body.
The Reality: There’s more to this than “bend your elbow and hope for the best.”
In the Trisutto philosophy, we use a three-step method that changes everything — but you’ll have to feel it to believe it.
There’s a three-step method we teach that makes the stroke click for triathletes in a way most traditional cues never do.
I’m not going to give the whole thing away here, because this is one of those skills that sounds almost too simple until you actually feel it in the water. Done right, it changes how you connect with the water, how you hold form, and how much speed you get without turning yourself inside out.
What matters for now is this: the stroke is not about flapping harder. It’s about setting up the water properly, applying force in the right direction, and finishing the job. Miss one of those pieces and you leak speed everywhere.
When you get this right, swimming stops feeling like a series of random movements and starts feeling like a proper engine.
Here’s the short version: most triathletes don’t need more effort. They need better feel, better rhythm, and better direction in the water.
That means:
And then there’s the bigger piece. The three-step method. The one that makes swimmers suddenly go, “Ohhh… that’s what it’s supposed to feel like.”
I could write a book on this, but it’s the kind of thing that only clicks when you’ve got a coach watching you and giving you the right cue at the right moment.
Want to feel what a proper stroke actually feels like? Come and see us at the pool.
We're Coaches Jacqui and Oliver Saxon, the Animis Coaching Team.
We are a mom and son coaching team who have changed our lives through the sport of triathlon. We aim to break down the mysteries of triathlon training and show you, the avid traithlete, how simple and flexible it can be so triathlon training really does become part of your lifestyle and not just a hobby.
