Please support the Crushing Iron podcast on Patreon and help us grow! As an age grouper I went from not being able to swim more than a lap to swimming a mass start at Ironman Wisconsin in 1:20.  That process took less than a year following these principles.  I followed that with a 1:06.   Coach Robbie has a strong swim background and focuses on open water.  He's swam 53 minutes in Ironman and has a deep passion for helping his athletes be stronger, faster, and more efficient swimmers. Today he covers the following in detail:      1.  Why drills are a waste of time.  2.  Why building swim fitness should be powerful and purposeful.  3.  The bigger your mesh bag, the slower you are committed to being.  4.  The correct and most effective way to use paddles.  5.  Why pool swimming and open water swimming are two different sports. 6.  What an expensive wetsuit really does for your swim.    7.  The power of the Pull Buoy.  8.  The tools you need and the tools you don't need. Plus, why Coach Robbie thinks IRONMAN should change the swim cut off from 2:20 to 1:40. He also gives two excellent (and customizable) workouts you can start using now to be a better swimmer next season.   Please leave a review on iTunes.  Follow Crushing Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.   www.crushingiron.com