Episode Details

Welcome to Gear Talk with Annie and Brooke from Swimrun Labs.

In this episode, we do a deep dive into Swim Paddles for Swimrun. If you’re new to Swimrun you’ve probably seen photos or videos of races with folks wearing giant paddles, and other swimrun gear, as part of the race kit. We discuss why paddles are so ubiquitous in Swimrun, how to minimize your risk of injury in using paddles, and we have a discussion of what paddles we’ve used, and why. 

Gear Updates/First Impressions

The Ark Sports ORNÖ 02 sagas continue with Chipper developing a hole in the sleeve area of his suit. He applied a patch kit. He got some advice from Annie on how to fix it and reached out to Ark Sports for more advice on how to patch the hole. We shall see how that holds up and report back.

Main Discussion: Swim Paddles

History of Using Swim Paddles in Swimrun

As the sport of Swimrun has evolved over the last 15 years, the ability of teams to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible (while wearing a full kit) has resulted in a lot of optimization for forwarding propulsion during the swim legs. Over the years the pattern that emerged was using a big pull buoy (such as the Ark Sports Keel) coupled with a large set of swim paddles as the established method for most speed. 

As you will see below, the answer to whether swimming with giant paddles makes you faster is that “it depends.” It depends on a lot of factors that we will discuss below.

Swim Paddle Education 

We chatted with Coach John Stevens for his advice on paddles.

Legend has it that John was actually born with paddles on his hands. He is the only Swimrunner we’ve ever heard of with a stroke so powerful that he actually cracked a paddle in half while swimming. One of the strongest swimmers on the US Swimrun circuit, John and his partner have won Odyssey Casco Bay every year of its running since 2016. He has coached swimming at many levels and currently offers his coaching services to triathletes and Swimrun athletes through Purple Patch Fitness.

Should every Swimrunner use paddles?

• Every Swimrun athlete should aspire to use paddles, but it may not be the right thing off the bat. For example- my Swimrun partner Matt Hurley couldn’t translate paddles to his stroke, it slowed his cadence too much and actually slowed him down. Do it unless you have a hx of shoulder issues, and make sure you’re in shape swimming wise and your form is there.
• What guidelines and technique elements should someone keep in mind if they are interested in safely and sustainably using paddles?
  • Work on the catch. If you’re dropping the elbow on the catch you’re pulling with just your hand and putting a strain on the bicep and rotator cuff. The idea is a high elbow allows you to scoop water with your forearm too and engage your lats.
  • If you know you have a tendency to drop your elbow, build into paddles very intentionally.
  • If you push out to the side to balance your breath stroke or do the keyhole or S, you are also liable for injury with paddles.
  • Midline cross over is another liability.
  • Elements in Swimrun such as shoes, wetsuit, and pull buoy cause less rotation, more of a square swim stroke is actually better for Swimrun and better for injury prevention with paddles. don’t let your arm move out or in, keep it it’s lane and elbow high.

Injury Prevention when using Paddles for Swimrun

This is obviously super important because we don’t want anyone getting hurt trying to k