Your Complete Knowledge Center
D3 University is our library of articles and videos from the D3 coaches and other experts to help you train and race your best.

Swimming Through the Winter
For most triathletes, the winter is a time to back off on structured training and let the body and mind recover from the rigors of racing and training throughout the Tri season. But why not take the opportunity to make some…

Swim Taper for Race Week
Here is a race week swim – (1 week out or the Monday before a Sunday race): This would be your last real hard swim 1 week out from an A race on Sunday. This workout hits all the key…

Benefits of Triathlon Training Partners
“Don’t be fooled into thinking that you have the capacity to achieve your best on your own. A training partner in the gym is a great asset because when you think you have reached your limit, there is someone who…

Get Ready for Open Water
We’re already a month into spring and it’s time to start thinking about getting ready for open water swimming (and racing). Following is a quick triathlon swim checklist with notes for you to be considering before your first race. 1.…

On the Last Day – One Final Workout
As we wind down 2021, take stock of the year, and look forward to reaching new goals in 2022, there is still time for one final workout! What should it be? You can start your new year with a benchmark and…

Returning to the Water
Take a moment to be grateful for the opportunity to swim again! Likely there are new restrictions that will alter your swim as you knew it, but try to embrace what you can do versus lamenting what you cannot do.…

Swim Band Demo
This quick video will demo how to use swim bands as a dryland substitute for swimming. Mike demonstrates, the catch phase with a half-pull, a full pull, and the tricep extension. He also shows how to use the bands for…

Strategic Race Planning: The Swim
I have been accused often of being a bit overly obsessive about race planning, but my obsession is your gain. This article addresses the swim portion of a race, as the swim is something I always plan out carefully for…

The Triathlon Minute, Episode 5, “Why you Should do Flip Turns”
D3 Multisport is proud to release the video series, “The Triathlon Minute”. Flip turns for triathletes are a controversial topic. But D3 Head Coach Mike Ricci has several reasons why you should get in the pool and act like a swimmer and…

Advice From Your Swim Coach that You Should Ignore
As a coach who works with a lot of triathletes remotely, I am generally pretty happy when my athletes join coached masters groups or otherwise engage with a local swim coach who can keep an eye on technique. While remote…

Swim Workouts – Updated Weekly
Swim Workouts to use in case you need one or want to try something different!Death by 100s (2800 total)WU: 400, every 4th length backstrokeWU set – with paddles: 5x 25 fast, 10” RI 25 fast, 10” RI 50 easy, 5”…

SIMULATING OPEN WATER IN THE POOL
According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), 123 million American live in counties that have a coastline. Yet while Hawaii, Florida, and California might have waters you can jump into on a semi regular basis, Oregon and Alaska tend…

Triathlon Minute, Episode 111 – 2 Tips to Control Your Breathing on Race Day
Learning to control your breath during a race is critical to your performance as well as your overall enjoyment. Coach Alison has a tip for each the swim and run to help you bring your breath under control which will…

3 Workouts For Motivation in the “Off Season”
Most triathletes have a long season of training and racing and after the last big race, you hopefully took a nice break. I like my athletes to take 2-3 weeks of unstructured movement. No scheduled swim bike run in Training…

Triathlon Minute, Episode 102 – Swim Start Strategy
Want the honest truth about where to seed yourself for the swim start? Coach AJ Johnson lay’s it out in this Triathlon Minute.