Can anyone give me some advice on swimming as cross training for paddling. Specifically what drills are recommended.

Swimming and paddling are complementary to each other. I swam for years and competed nationally in Masters swimming before I took up paddling. I find I go as quick now in the pool as I did a few years ago with less time and effort. The best example of this is Steve Ferguson, son of the legendary Ferg, 4x Olympian gold medal paddler. Steve was the NZ national breaststroke champion and then decided to take up paddling like his old man. His progress in kayak racing was that much quicker because of his aerobic capacity and strength gained from swimming. He then made a quick foray back into swimming at the Nationals a couple of years ago, using largely his additional strength gained from paddling, with little pool time to speak of. Recently, Steve made two kayak finals in the Beijing Olympics.

So what does swimming give you that paddling doesn't, and what should you do in the pool? Apart from strength and fitness, speed in both swimming and paddling is also dependant of technique and flexibility. Probably more so in swimming. So your initial focus in swimming should be to get coached so that you move efficiently through the water. You should also do regular Yoga/stretching so that you breath better and have a better catch of the water (so that you go faster). The added flexibility will help your paddling and if you haven't already had technique lessons in paddling, then you certainly should. Probably the best thing that swimming does for a paddler is that it trains your body to go into the hurtbox of exercising with restricted oxygen. This has a positive impact over time on your VO2 max and lactate tolerance and your ability to race a ski for miles at a higher steady state than before. I'm a big fan of doing lengths underwater with fins on which certainly helps build this capacity.

Given you don't use your legs very much in paddling (compared to rowing) you should also look at pounding out the lenghts using a pull buoy and paddles [in addition to normal swimming]. The paddles require extra effort and directly help you strength-wise for paddling (and vice versa). I'd also recommend you join a swim squad with a structured programme to work to, and/or hook up with some Surf Lifesavers and do some training with them, given your common interest. Hope this helps. DaveC

Thanks, I needed validation to go back to the pool. Off the topic, do we really need to use swim caps? What's the advantage of using one?

If you are follicly challenged [bald], then probably not. A cap certainly helps reduce drag if you have a normal head of hair. Personally,I reckon everyone should use a cap in a public pool, especially people with long hair. There is nothing worse when you are doing some sort of timed effort in a pool than collecting someones floating hair across your face/goggles. It's as bad as catching weed on your rudder. Yuk!

Hahaha! ok then, off to speedo later.

Thanks Dave. Any thoughts on swimming with one arm as a drill? Suggestions as to a good interval session?