There comes a time in a race when you know that if you grit your teeth, breathe hard and really go for it, there's a good chance you'll run and ride faster, though not for very long, perhaps. The same cannot be said of swimming: trying harder

forward in the water.Superman kickSwimming with one arm ahead of you and one arm to your side, propel yourself for a length with only your kick. Focus on being horizontal in the water, keeping a soft leg and kicking from the hips.FistsAs it sounds, swim a

way to monitor your training effort. On a scale of one to 10, a three would be a very easy session, perhaps a very easy distance swim, run or ride with concentration on technique; a seven would be a medium-intensity session; while a nine would be a

- and sometimes even in the pool when you're training. However, he's right: making friends with water could be the difference between loving every minute of a triathlon and metaphorically holding your breath until you exit the water.Triathletes from a non-swimming

Swimming is perhaps the perfect athletic complement to running because the two sports are so different. "Just about everything about swimming is exactly the opposite from running in terms of stresses on the body," says Joe Friel, a runner

It's no use just ploughing up and down the pool in a bid to become a more efficient swimmer. And you're probably going to need more than just a swimsuit, hat and goggles, too.Smart swimming certainly involves the element of raw determination, but a

Who better to give advice on such matters than a swimming legend, Michael Phelps, winner of six gold medals and three world records at the 2004 Athens Olympics; Terry Laughlin, a swimming guru and founder of Total Immersion (www

It's no use just ploughing up and down the pool in a bid to become a more efficient swimmer. And you're probably going to need more than just a swimsuit, hat and goggles, too.Smart swimming certainly involves the element of raw determination, but a

as they try to get faster," Furniss states. "But that's actually very inefficient. Effort goes up but control goes down, leading to lots of extra resistance as they take more and more strokes." The most efficient way to swim is by slowing down. Think about

While it's perfectly normal to feel a little nervous when you first do an open-water session, you'll be surprised how quickly you'll come to enjoy swimming in the outdoors. Many centres offer coached  and supervised open-water swim sessions. It