On the 8th August 2013, Romain Louedec swam a 3000m fly. With the help of his coach, Erwan Jacob, we asked him the question on everyone’s lips….. why?
Erwann Jacob (coach): ‘The main interest and reason for this challenge is for swimmers to go beyond their psychological limitations. The athletes who take up the challenge increase their self confidence, which enables them to address their goals with less doubt in their potential.
In my 15 years of coaching, I have only ever challenged three swimmers to swim the 3000 metre fly, all of which had trained hard, had good technique and fully developed muscles.’
Romain Louedec (swimmer): ‘Every week I swim 5/6 times (2/3 hours), as well as 4/5 bike and 2 run sessions. The 3000m butterfly is more of an “all the way challenge” rather than a search for performance, so there wasn’t any specific physic preparation needed, only a few moments before the start to focus myself mentally, mainly on anticipated arm ache and the length of time I would be swimming for.
By the first 200 metres, my arms were already burning and my swim had become shorter, and I remember thinking that this swim would be much longer and harder that I had once thought! But between 200 and 500 metres, my endorphins…
