nick carrol reminds me of the time when i was young…thats more than 25 years ago…WOW, time is running…
i had swimming training 5 days a week ( if i remember correctly), i took part in contests, won this and that, nothing special. but i remember how effective and helpful a good technique can be…and of course, over the years, i forgot a lot of what i’ve learned and didn’t take care of my technique when swimming (and paddling as well, of course)…so, good thing to read about that again.
Killing time waiting for my flight from HNL to SFO so…
For me it Used to be water polo practice and the countless 25s of full out butterfly until we all dry heaved in the showers twice a day.
Keone Downing once told me that were in the best waterman shape of our lives when we played polo for Kamehameha. Those full speed change direction sprints at the sound of the whistle were killer too. Anytime you have to swim fast with you head and shoulders above the water to see is good practice
Then it was doing many laps in a pool with a kick board sandwiched between your legs for drag. Boring as heck
Another boring as heck exercise is too get a kiddie board and just paddle sprint it in some calm waters. Guys at ala moana park used to do it all the time before SUP.
Another technique i’ve seen older guys like kaipo jacquiras do is to practice surfing like you are in 15 minute heat and have to catch as many waves as possible in the shortest time frame. Builds both paddling speed and stamina
For me swimming is harder work. I almost always use my arms more than my feet when I swim, and I can swim just fine without kicking, but swimming gets me winded much faster than surfing.
I’m 52 and I only surf on weekends now, but when I want a wave I will pull just as hard as I can. I also ride the waves as far as it will take me, then paddle all the way back out, doesn’t matter what size board I ride. I do that every wave, so I get a pretty good amount of paddling in. I usually surf up to about 3 hours then I’m spent, and that’s not 3 solid hours of paddling, but a good amount of sitting and talking time too.
My best conditioning trick, esp when its crowded, is to paddle for and miss the first wave of the set, then take a long hard beating back toward the beach and paddle back out without even having ridden a wave. This works best on long period, powerful swells with a lot of waves in each set.
I agree about the breast stroke. I have had some decent swims in my life , but never really felt comfortable with the breathing and the stoke, freestyle. About 5 years ago , after some serious operations, I started doing breast stroke with goggles and snorkel, so I could keep my back and neck straight. I found I got into rythm easily and built up the laps, need to start again, it gets the whole show going, H.