I can certainly vouch for the swim in California, I clocked it a bit short as well but did take the centre line down the river, although I stayed inside any buoys. The 70.3 data is a bit crap as every other race isn’t titled. Strange that Ireland was so fast given the conditions?
Data Dive: The Fastest Ironman and 70.3 Swim Courses (2024 Update) – Triathlete
Is it worth learning to dolphin kick for turns? In my deca iron race later this year, it is in a 50m pool so I’ll be doing 70+ turns every day.
Currently I can (just about) tumble turn but these take more energy for me than an open turn and probably are slower as well. I would not be confident doing them in a group as I am somewhat wayward.
I’ve only recently regularly got back to the pool after many years out so lacking in everything currently (fitness, form, pacing etc)
no just learn to make the most of streamlines, they use a lot of energy. Watch any distance swimmer, 1500m, and they will only do 1 fly kick off the wall
Damn, was hoping to find something reasonably easy I could add in. I think I’m fairly streamlined as I’ve always been able to keep up with proper swimmers in the past who are tumbling and dolphin kicking during hard shorter sets even though I do open turns.
Quite a long way off the pace I was a decade ago but hoping to get iron distance swim down to under 65mins. I think under 60mins probably needs a lot of work but under 65 should be a lot easier and not take too much time each week.
I like swimming out, being on my own out there and looking back at the shore.
Plus you sometimes come across massive shoals of fish and stuff, fantastic. The way they swim around they literally respond like one huge creature, it’s extraordinary
I used to swim there at lunch when Larry’s was on Miller St
Yeah it feels great looking back onto the shore from a long way out. I get nervous even when there are no potential sharks. I saw around a headland in Croatia, I think the total distance was only 500m. I started swimming out and I could see everything and then all of a sudden I swam over the drop off and I could see nothing, yet my mind saw everything! I suspect I got a new max HR that day!
Sounds like a useful session 
I have this problem too, what did they recommend to do? Someone told me to do scull with arms and crawl kick, but trying to engage the core and lift the 
toward the surface.
He said they weren’t terrible. I think the usual fix is to improve the kick and flexibility in the hips, also kick from the hip.
The kick is more for balance for most of us than propulsion.
Are you saying you saw a shark in Croatia ?
The things that scare me aren’t sharks, it’s speedboats and jetskis, I hate them.
My eyes saw nothing but darkness. My mind saw giant squid, sharks, swimming rabid dogs, my old history teacher in flippers.
First decent swim for 6 weeks (besides 3x of <1km when I’ve gone to the gym) , joined in with a squad.
Bit of panic when it was a 5.5km set, but was all steady and thought I felt surprisingly alright at halfway so asked Jake Birtwhistle if I could lead instead.
Very quickly made a fool of myself when the wheels stopped turning 
Was that 2 hrs or 90mins?
El nino has started doing “real” training now, Monday they did 7k! To be fair lots of continuous FC in there, it was a sort of Hungarian, easy WU w/Kick then 800 FC then 6L of 33.3 IM strokes, then 2 * 400 FC and 6L IM, 4 * 200 FC, 6L IM, 8 * 100 FC, 6L IM, 12 * 1L FC,6L IM, then some take home sprints/relays
90 minutes, 8x500 on ~7.
Not a formal club, but a friendship group in this region of Tasmania I randomly got invited into 6 months ago when sharing a busy public lane.
Nice name drop, although we all know Jake is a rubbish swimmer**
**relative to other Olympic medal contenders.
Within 1km he was probably tutting thinking bloody age group triafleets when I asked to swap back
And think he said he had a 4 hour ride after
Got talking to someone I loosely know at the pool on Sunday, said his daughter was a keen swimmer and finished 3rd in the Olympic trials for London and I think Beijing, so missed out by one place each time.
How close 
From Newcastle?
I’d guess Teesside as I’m sure that’s where he’s from but I’ll probably ask him next time. Said she’s a physio now.
There was a local girl I think called Amy ?? Around that time so could be her. Think she did IM
Lane swimming…
I know I am probably preaching to the converted here, but what the hell is going through some of these swimmers minds when they choose to go in the fast lane and then choose to push off from the end when a faster swimmer is coming in, then get the hump when they get overtaken ?
And the other thing that really gets me is the way they insist they are going to keep swimming non stop regardless of what is going on around them. It’s like their whole raison d’etre for being in that pool is not to stop (and not how hard they might be working…). This is the equivalent of me going lane swimming and before I even get there planning out my session (“I am going to do 8 x 200s on exactly 4 min tonight”) and sticking to it rigidly regardless of how many other swimmers there are in the pool and what they are doing. I would never do that and it’s ****ing selfish of them, even more so when they get annoyed at us faster swimmers so easily.