Swimming against the current

[Anonymous]

Hello all,

My name is Alexander Carnes. I’ve been part of this tri club for a while and I wanted to reach out for some help.

I have an Ironman coming up in October at Louisville. One of the things I’ve been thinking about is getting more time in a river with a current. I was wondering if anyone has any advice or suggestions on where I should go to practice swimming against a current?

If you’re not able to tell I’m not from STL so please forgive my ignorance.

[Bill Sanders]

Hi, Alexander,

I saw your post a few days ago and the only thing I can come up with is – good question!

When I was in Chattanooga a month ago for IM 70.3 Chattanooga, we found that local triathletes and swimmers regularly swim in the Tennessee River, where the race was held. But here we have two huge rivers that cannot be swam in safely, and to be honest I’ve never heard of anyone swimming in the smaller rivers (Meramec, Illinois, etc).

So, basically, I’m no help…

[Scott]

I have a boat at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi River. Sometimes the current is super strong. Ask David Scalley. It was like swimming in an infinity pool. Usually by later fall you could swim the Illinois River. But I wouldn’t do it alone or without support and a boat and a swim-it. Usually the current does die down. While I have no idea how strong the current is in Louisville. I stressed over it in Chattanooga for 6 months. What I found is that it was not all that bad. You felt it and swam slower but you still keep moving and once past swimming against the current it was great. But it was much better than I imagined.

[Irwin]

You could try finding a municipal pool with a lazy river and swim the opposite direction. There are also practice swims from time to time down at the race site including the day before the race. Check with the various Facebook groups for details. Honestly, I don’t really think you need to practice swimming against a current. Most years the current is negligible or far more advantageous when swimming downstream than an actual detriment when swimming upstream. You won’t be swimming any differently from normal, just going a little slower against a current and a little faster with the current. If anything, you could practice increasing your arm turnover in a pool during a few sprint sets.

[Author]

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