Are you a balanced triathlete where your swim is as strong or as fast as your run?

I noticed several years ago that what I could swim per 100’s short course yards (SCY), is the same that I could run for 400m on the track. What I could swim for 200 was the same as running an 800m and a 400swim would equal my mile time.

This is typically both tied to an all out effort as well as what I could do on an interval basis although with different recovery due to the nature of each discipline. Swimming can have a much shorter swim recovery and send off due to waters cooling effect and buoyancy.

I can tell if one discipline is not as fit as the other when 100 swim repeats are not correlating to my 400 run repeats. I decided to take a deeper look. I asked some of the athletes I coach, they thought about it and most of them tended to agree with the correlation.

I looked at World Record times

Now I know this is not an exact science, and technically women probably can swim slightly faster than they can run. My recommendation if you want to get a bit more accurate would be for women to give a 7% difference between swim and run correlations.

However, It might be a good correlation as to your relative strength as a triathlete. This will also have a factor as to your ability to swim SCY vs a meter pool.

Overall, I think personally this is a fun game to play. You can often do track workouts as swim workouts and vise versa accommodating for different recovery and send offs. So, the question is, as a triathlete, are you a better runner or swimmer. Which one do you need to work on?

Just an idea, something fun. Always consult with your D3 coach and train safe!

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