#426 : Once You Ignore Your Watch, You'll Get Faster
5/7/20264 min
What if the key to swimming faster is actually ignoring your watch? In this episode, we explore how constantly checking pace, splits, and stats can take swimmers out of the moment and disconnect them from the feel of the water. Learn why being present during training can improve technique, effort control, and overall performance — and why taking a break from your swim watch might be the reset you need.
From Strava habits to flow state training, this episode challenges swimmers to focus less on data and more on awareness in the pool.
Accurate Timestamps
00:14 – The cliff road analogy and being present
01:06 – Why swimming is all about feel for the water
01:56 – Watches vs using the pace clock at the pool
02:38 – Manually tracking swims instead
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsBrenton Ford· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Welcome to the Effortless Swimming Podcast, the show that helps swimmers and triathletes love the water, become a better swimmer, and live a better life. Here's your host, Brenton Ford.
Speaker 10:10
[upbeat music] Imagine driving along a cliff top road, [whooshing sound] amazing scenery, and you're watching the ocean pass by, and you're thinking, "This is amazing," and you're in the moment, and you're really just truly appreciating the view that you've got. And then from the back seat, your five-year-old asks you, "Are we there yet?" And it takes you out of the moment. That's kind of like what a watch will do to your swimming. A watch will take you out of the moment and not allow you to be as present as you could when you're swimming. And the problem with that is swimming is so much about the feel for the water and the ability to be present and hear the water moving over you, feel it rushing over your hands and your body, and you just having that internal gauge of the intensity and the effort that you're putting on and how you're moving through the water, that if you get taken out of that because you're looking at your watch and you're trying to hit a certain time, that is one of the things that is gonna stop you from improving as quick as you could. And some people like to track their swims with their watch so that they can post it on Strava. But I would argue that you will actually get way more improvement and become a better swimmer by not worrying about what your Strava says