Training | Mediterra Swim & Run

Intro to Pace Combinations

by Coach Mat | 25 Mar, 2015

A question from a friend about Pace Combinations made me realize that I have referred to Pace or SPL x Tempo Combinations several times without really laying out a direct introduction to it. So this essay is meant to give a brief explanation for Pace Combinations and...

Stroke Length Loyalty

by Coach Mat | 21 Mar, 2015

When you start feeling fatigue in your race (or while ‘just swimming’) you are urged to slow down. At some point you finally must give in. But when you do what is changing in your stroke to slow you down? SPL x Tempo = Pace (the inverse of the Speed...

Improve Swimming Speed Part 3

by Coach Mat | 8 Feb, 2015

So, in the previous essay we have seen how swimming speed and ease can be broken down into a pyramid of interdependent skill sets. In your stroke mastery and performance improvement process you need to work through this cycle several times, gradually deepening your...

Improve Swimming Speed Part 2

by Coach Mat | 31 Jan, 2015

Let’s say you want to go a bit faster than you can now, to improve swimming speed, but your current methods are not working. When looking at the math of physics this is the equation we use in swimming to build speed: Speed = Stroke Length x Stroke Rate The...

Improve Swimming Speed Part 1

by Coach Mat | 24 Jan, 2015

A good portion of our typical swim students, maybe half, are primarily concerned about swimming faster. The other half may not be directly interested in getting faster – they just want swimming to be easier and more enjoyable regardless of speed (so it is said)....

Swimming Past Exhaustion Point

by Coach Mat | 21 Dec, 2014

Have you swam past your exhaustion point? Why, or why not? ** There is a difference between a difficult swimming situation that produces struggle and a difficult situation that presents challenge. Swimming as Struggle = swimming in a situation where I have lost...