Todd Bryan is part fish. Mostly fish, really. The 55-year-old Boulder swimmer has been in the water competing since he was 11 and has steadily improved since. He held the masters world record in the 1,500-meter freestyle for nine years and is a veteran of marathon swimming. Most recently he finished second overall – behind 20-year-old phenom Brooks Felton – in the 2006 10K Open Water Championship Race at Horsetooth Reservoir this month.
What is your best training technique?
Because I am a distance swimmer, I like longer workouts where I can focus on endurance mixed with higher-intensity interval work. Rather than swim every day, I do four workouts a week on a schedule that allows for a day of recovery after the harder workouts. In the summer I swim 7,000 meters on Mondays and Wednesdays, 3,500 meters on Friday and 5,000 on Saturday. I also lift weights twice a week, usually on recovery days, and try to get in some endurance cross-training – cycling in summer and cross country skiing in winter.
Which is best for training: pool or open-water swimming?
I find that pool training is best for competition whether I’m competing in open-water or pool races. I do 80 percent of my workouts in the pool because of the benefits of interval training. Pool swimming is also good for kicking drills, which is important for open-water swimming because of the role your legs play in balancing your body.
What is your worst injury?
I’ve been lucky to avoid most injuries. But I think weight training and stretching are critical for avoiding the kinds of shoulder and back injuries that swimmers usually encounter.
Most frightening moment?
My most frightening open-water swimming moment would have to be the ship and barge traffic on the Hudson River around Manhattan Island. I was in the first 27-mile around-the-island swim in 1982. Each swimmer is accompanied by an escort boat, but you still feel quite vulnerable. My second-most frightening moment occurred in a Gloucester Harbor race in Massachusetts where I swam over the top of a submerged buoy marking a lobster trap. The buoy appeared as a human head from my vantage point and totally freaked me out.
How do you push through mental fatigue?
A technique I often use to ward off mental fatigue during a long open-water race is a bit strange but involves visualizing a spirit or creature of some sort that visits me during the race. When I feel it glide underneath me and lift me up, it gives me a rush of adrenaline. It’s often helpful in a long race to let your imagination take you on a journey that takes your mind off the pain.
What is the sickest thing you have ever seen?
What locals call Coney Island whitefish. In the Manhattan Island swim in 1982, before New York City’s storm drains were separated from its sewage system, some of the city’s raw sewage, and everything else that went down the toilet, would overflow and find its way into the waters around the island. Coney Island whitefish, on the other hand, were a constant and rather vivid reminder of the direct connection between the water and people’s lives.
Who do you admire most?
I most admire John and Robert Kennedy for using their privileged lives to help others. I grew up in the ’60s and took all of that stuff pretty seriously.
What do you know now that you didn’t know then?
I know how fast I can swim over long distances without blowing up. Less-experienced swimmers often don’t have a good sense of pace in a long race so they tend to set a pace that is either too slow or too fast.
