This is the latest article in my series called, "Dance with the Water", for Active.com.

Dance With the Water–Part 5: Coordination Building

In this "Dance with the Water" article series, we continue discussing the idea that an athlete must listen to the signals the water gives, like a dancer following the lead of their partner. Move to your own beat, and not in rhythm with the water, and you're bound to struggle.

In this column, I'll highlight the need to build coordination and movement efficiency in the water.

Ask a swimmer or triathlete how their swim session went, and you'll probably get an answer which tells how far they swam. If they are a more advanced swimmer, they'll probably also tell you a key set they did, on a send-off interval, or holding a certain average time.

This is good, because the athlete understands the fact that there are different aspects to training besides volume. Volume is simply how much swimming you're doing, while giving a speed and time interval helps to define the intensity.

Put another way, volume helps to show aerobic fitness, because an athlete must have some basic aerobic fitness to be able to swim a distance. Intensity will show the muscular fitness of an athlete, because the athlete must have a certain amount of muscular power and fitness to complete the intervals on a set time.

Read the rest of the article here at Active.com.

Coach Vance