Welcome to the Effortless Swimming Podcast to show that help swimmers and triathletes love the water, become a better swimmer and live a better life. Here’s your host, Brenton Ford.

Welcome to the Effortless Swimming Podcast. My guest today is Dave Holantis. He’s based in Melbourne here. And Dave recently you came to a clinic in 2019. And I’ve gone through the CAT challenge and you emailed me the other day saying you had a pretty good Ironman swim time taking seven and a half minutes off your previous PV. So from a 114 high to down to a 107. So I wanted to get you on the podcast to talk about what you’ve changed over the last 12 months to see such a big improvement in your in your swim times in that Ironman swim distance. So welcome to the podcast, Dave. Thanks, Brenton. Thanks for having me. I want to say pretty good that I think there’s a lot lot to work on me, but it’s getting there. Yeah, look, there’s so many people in a similar at a similar speed. I think, you know, especially when you first started 114, so many people typically start off around that pace and many of them would be pretty stoked to get down to

that that 107. So no matter where you’re at, I think you can, you know, people can relate. So let’s just jump sort of straight into that. So how long had you been swimming when you first came to our clinic in 2019? Yeah, look, I probably went swimming. I joined a tricecord

towards the kind of middle or tail end of 2018. And we’re not much of a swimming background. No, I had the basic swim background as any growing up in Australia, and send you the basic kind of swimming lessons and things like that. But by no means, I’m not a swimmer. And so I kind of joined the tricecord and I was in the development squad and we’re swimming twice a week. And yeah, and that was kind of it. It was just swimming twice a week. And I felt like, yeah, I felt like I had a lot to work on it or someone actually within that in the squad had mentioned the freestyle correction clinic. And I thought, I’ve got to try anything here. I’ll give that a go. So that’s kind of that was my first experience with that. And yeah, that actually the video that was taken during that time has been a staple for me in terms of something I’ve gone back to. And I know that was 2019. But still, I think I last watched it

again only a few weeks ago. There’s still things that I look at then. Like, oh, just to go back to my mind and just to keep working on it. Yeah, but that’s kind of that was more swimming background leading into that. It sounded like you, you were able to sort of pick up quite a few things from that clinic, because I was just looking back through my emails and I saw one that you’re right, maybe a few weeks after the clinic and you said, like my swim coach or yeah, my swim coach said, where have you been learning to swim or something like, what were some of those things that you’d done that you’d changed afterwards? Yeah, that’s right. I think one of the big takeaways, you know, that you got me to to work on was kind of my my shoulder rotation. And I was I was clearly over rotating. And as a result, my breath was, you know, I was turning right around with that. And it felt really funny at first, because you said, I think you told me he said it was going to feel like

he was swimming really, really flat. And I and I did for a long time felt like I was swimming really flat. So that was something that was picked up by my coach in the pool. And that’s why that question was asked. And that was something that I really tried to work on until it became it felt normal. So that was the key thing kind of that that I took away really from that clinic was was around my shoulder rotation. And something yet that then I worked on. So yeah, it’s funny. I remember now you said that that that comment was made. But yeah, it’s funny. Does it like did that come from the over rotation of the shoulders? Did that come from something that you had been told previously like, or you like and maybe seen a video or something where it’s like, you’ve got to rotate from side to side or was it just what was naturally happening on what you thought you should do? Yeah, it was, it was what I’d heard the importance of

rotation and and try to rotate through the water. So it was something I was thinking about doing. And look, the reality was I was getting so much information from so many different sources, leading into this, this, the clinic I did. And, and, you know, I’d always given swimming ago with mates from school. And I often get it while I was from people that were better swimmers than I was. With not much of a swimming background that they had or a coaching background by any means. And so I was always getting fed different pieces of stimulus. And one of them was definitely around, you know, the need to rotate. So yeah, it’s something that I was doing, but really doing too much and overdoing. So yeah, so I think having the, the, the video to look at and some clear and concise kind of basic things just to really focus on just gave me one piece of stimulus to, to work on as opposed to all these different messages. And that was part of me coming to, to see your

brain cells. It was frustrating me, the fact that people will tell me all these different things. And I was, I was told, I remember, I remember one of the things I was getting told before coming to the clinic was I need to keep my head still. You know, I need to keep my head still, I need to keep my head still, you know, because it’s kind of bouncing around everywhere. But I never knew how I would often get told I need to do this, need to do this, but I never knew how as well. And through, you know, some of the drills and stuff that you, you spoke about in New Gave, was able to make that, that connection with, with the drills. And that’s how I actually change my, my motor patterns or, you know, my ideas.

Yeah, that’s it’s interesting that because there’s, you could get, because you could get the same piece of advice like someone could say to you, like, don’t rotate so much. And, you know, without maybe explaining why and without the visuals, some, I feel like some people won’t buy into it as much because they can’t see it for themselves necessarily. And then they don’t know, they haven’t had to explain to them that, okay, if you rotate less, well, then you’ll be able to get a better catch and you’ll be able to do this and we’ll have these flow and effects. So I think that’s why it’s, yeah, it’s good just to be able to sit down for a period of time and go through it and then take the time to, to work on those corrections and actually know what it’s going to require for you to make that change and how it’s going to feel. So that’s why I think the benefit of the, of the clinics and, or just having some, you know, personal coaching where you

can actually get the, get the full story, I think, because like I’ve, for me, like, if I’m, if I’m out in the surf and I’m an okay surf, I’m not, not great, but like, I sort of pick up some tips from, again, watching YouTube videos and that sort of thing. And I feel like I’d be, I feel like I’d be qualified to give some advice out there to some people who are not as good as me, but like, yeah, like, I might be able to copy something that I’ve said before, that I’ve heard before and tell them that, but it’s not going to, I’ve realized that it’s not going to make a difference to, to them because they don’t have the full story on, like, on, on why or like, you know, how to, how to do it properly. So yeah, I think that’s why you’re better when you, you get to take some time to actually sort of sit down and, and go through it. Yeah, that’s right. And I think something, I mean, the advice I was getting wasn’t wrong. It was all relevant and it was all things

that I was doing and it’s something like, you know, my, my arm was, my arm was dropping, you know, and I need to try to keep that high. There’s, you know, there’s all these things that I was doing, but you were able to identify a one core thing that I can work on and it helped fix all those other, all those other things, like my arm dropping. I stopped, you know, over-rotating my arm, you know, the arm out in front would stay, stay out for a bit longer, things like that. So I was able to address all these other things that people had told me, through that, that one area that you told me to work on. So I think your ability to identify that one thing was really helpful. That’s really cool and I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s hard to kind of give that advice in a, in a squad setting too, because there’s, there’s a lot of swimmers in there and you’ve only got so much time. So I think that’s, yeah, that’s when you can get that full story by having the

time to do it, is makes a big difference. And I want to jump ahead to, to last year’s Can’s Ironman swim and this year’s Can’s Ironman swim. So to take that almost eight minutes off your, off your time, what were some lessons that you learned in the first one? And then what was it that you changed over the 12 months to have such a better result? This podcast is brought to you by Form Goggles. Form empowers swimmers at every level to reach their goals, whether they want to get stronger, faster, swim further, or be more efficient. Get lap by lap motivation with real-time metrics and workout instructions right in your goggles. And Form’s recently released Form Plans, which included progressive series of workouts to help you achieve your fitness, skills or triathlon goals. You can follow along with the plan and your weekly swims will be automatically synced to your goggles. So you’ll swim through your workouts with real-time

metrics and workout instructions all in your goggles. So it’s like having a coach right there with you. And I’ve had a look through these training plans and I think they are excellent for people who want to train for certain triathlons or reach certain fitness goals. It will build on each week and a really good way to progress, progressively build up your fitness. So if you’d like to follow along with some plans to help you reach your specific swimming goals, then check out Form Goggles at formswim.com forward slash effortless and this will give you $15 off your purchase of Form Goggles. So formswim.com forward slash effortless to get your pair of Form Goggles. Yeah, I think there’s probably there’s probably a fair few factors to this result that goes into it. I love to say it was all just from doing all these drills and things like that. And I think that that’s all part of it. But there was a confidence factor as well within

myself. And I developed

anxiety with open water swimming and that kind of developed about two months prior to doing my first time in, which wasn’t ideal timing because up until that point I was feeling okay in the open water. And yeah, and it led into some panic attacks and things like that. So that was something I was working on leading into last year’s Army and something that yeah, I’ve continued to work on it and I feel like it’s I’m able to manage that that quite well now. And I think having so yeah there’s a confidence factor where I my decision in terms of where I seeded myself with with the Iron Man in cans of self-seeding and different zones and where you can put yourself. My coach gave me some really good advice in terms of this one and as opposed to the last one and that was put myself in zone one. Last time I put myself in zone four and that I felt was great advice because I was able to swim with faster swimmers faster swimmers than me and that also helped me

with with my siding and things like that because I was able to follow some feet that you know generally because there are a lot better swimmers than I am they can swim in a straight line a lot clearer. So things like that where we’re all part of this don’t get me wrong I’m swimming a lot a lot better than I was last year but I think that that’s that’s also part of it as well. So I was yeah a lot more relaxed and confident with with my swimming and yeah. Was that because you’d done the race before and you kind of knew what to expect was that part of that confidence as well? Yeah there was there was that the fact you know I had done it before I’d worked through some of that panic attack kind of stuff and that’s something that hadn’t had hasn’t happened for yeah probably since before that race last year so over a year now and you know that that had given me confidence as well knowing that that you know I’ve got that out to control.

Yeah so all those things gave me a bit more confidence leading into into this this one. And so starting in zone one so that’s like there so there’s different zones so it’s not a rolling start at Kansas like certain like zones you’ll go off with is it? Yeah so it is a rolling start but they kind of roll you through based off your zones so zone one is I forget what it was I think it was maybe swimming under it could have been under a minute seven or by a minute seven and now a seven was zone one so anyone that’s playing you know swimming there and then you know 10 could have been zone two and so forth up to eight four. So yeah I found that being really good advice that my coach had given me and something I was really it’s funny because I know he told me to do that and when I went to check in I all signed up for zone one and I panicked and I was like oh can I actually go to zone two and then I told my coach that I’d done that and he said go back

and change your cap you go to zone one so yeah so definitely confidence is a big thing there and yeah that helped me but look my swimming you know outside of that stuff my swimming has you know like improved dramatically and and something that I I guess leading into this this particular Ironman I did was the five day catch challenge and again it was something that just a friend that just a friend in squad had recommended that I do and I thought I’ll give it a go forward I know just see what happens and give it a go and I felt like that was again it just gave me something to to you know little things to focus on within wash stroke and my swimming and I love the the raw simplistic breakdown of that and there’s things within that that still resonate with me and things that I think about each and every day or I shouldn’t say each and every day but when I’m in the water and I’m thinking about squad there’s a lot of things that I’ve still taken away

from that I’m thinking about especially warm up and a lot of those drills I still take away their drills that I do you know as part of my warm up in squad sessions that I currently do so yeah I think it’s I guess multifaceted in terms of why the improvements there I it’s and I think we’re spoken about a lot I know you have you know my coach speaks about the the idea around consistency and and I know you always mention frequency and it’s something that was was different as well in terms of the lead into this I was more frequently in the water and more frequently doing drills and it wasn’t for it was at the start of every squad session I’ll you know my kind of my routine is I’ll do a two 300 meter swim and then I’ll go into a 25 meter the kick on the side drill and then I’ll do that kind of then 25 meter swim and then I’ll do that four times through and then into a doggie scoop same same thing 25 meter doggie scoop 25 meter swim

then I’ll do the YMCA drill and that was my slate that that’s still my my staple kind of three that I do I think they’re the ones that you’re recommended with my fins on and it was that doing that four times a week for three months straight and that that the product of that was enormous in terms of how I felt you know in the water and and I vividly remember in this swim once I got to the 3k mark I felt stronger than ever and I felt like my stroke hadn’t got sloppy that’s something that had happened last year whenever I got to that 3k mark and I was just geez I wish you got video footage of that because I was all over this shot surprised the rescuers didn’t jump jump in to save me so yeah I think I could see the poor product I guess of all those you know those drills and swim sessions that frequency and consistency because I felt strong the whole way through yeah that’s that’s awesome so the uh with the zone one thing it’s um

great advice from your from your coach and uh like you know I’ve said this to um to someone else before it’s like the fastest swimmers are the better swimmers so they’re gonna as you said follow a better line but they’re also not going to they’re not going to want to like run into you they’re going to uh typically you know try and uh you know they’ll be sort of better drafting going on they’ll be better siding better line taken and they’re less likely to sort of swim over the top of you because they’ve got better awareness out there so yeah kind of doing yourself a favor and making a little bit easier when you do go with those the better group so um yeah I think that’s probably partly white it helps as well and um and and then just that consistency in sounds as though you’ve got uh like you’ve got a very patient and I was um talking to another athlete on our podcast a few weeks ago Bronwyn and I think her first clinic with us was

maybe 2018 or 2019 and similar thing like it’s it’s three four years on from there but if you have done this stuff consistently for a couple years you’re going to get better and um and having that mindset of not wanting it today but knowing that just putting in the work and you the results will eventually come it just makes such a such a big difference so it’s uh it’s great to see you having um taken that approach and and down to 107 for your Ironman swim and um yeah I don’t think it’s not finished yet like I’d I’d be thinking right somewhere down towards that 60 minute or hour mark could be the next um the next target and is that something you feel like is in in range do you feel like you could get down to to that in the next next 12 months I’d love to that’s I mean that that’s that’s kind of I mean this swim gave me that confidence of going I can I can actually improve I can get better um and and yeah I mean those

times are I’d love to I’d love to get around that hours swim mark um it is something you know that I’m definitely going to be working towards um yeah most definitely and what what is coming up for you so like what do you what’s your sort of next next target in terms of races going forwards um I I don’t have anything in mind I actually don’t have anything on I’ve signed up for um yeah can you hear that noise thank you is that a fire that is um which means that I’m probably gonna get out of here and get to that that’s all that’s all good that’s going to be the the best way to end the podcast I think so you probably heard there that the fire drill went off uh Dave’s a school teacher and the the fire drill went off so you had to go but what a better way to end the podcast on a fire drill thanks very much for for listening and if you haven’t left a review on either Spotify or the Apple iTunes store please leave us an honest

review it helps more people find out about us and hear about what others think of the show so thanks very much for listening I’ll see you next week on another podcast episode thanks for listening to the effortless swimming podcast if you’d like us to help you become a faster more efficient swimmer go to www.effortlesswimming.com