Laura Siddall: Adult Beginner to Pro

Laura Siddall is a top professional long distance triathlete but she only started swimming at the age of 29. Walking on the pool deck as a corporate professional, not an athlete, Siddall only had her childhood swimming lessons and a few swim galas from junior school under her belt. Those afternoon swims with her colleagues developed into a professional triathlon career and now, at the age of 42, she is having the best swim performances of her career—but, as every adult beginner swimmer might know, it hasn’t been an easy road. 

The Brit was working in Australia when her colleagues persuaded her to join them for a swim during their lunch break. “It wasn’t swim training, it was more just to get outside—and the sandwiches after were really, really good,” Siddall laughs. “I never thought I was a bad swimmer because I knew I wouldn’t drown but then when I joined the group, especially being in Australia where everyone seems to know how to swim, I realized I didn’t really know how to swim.”

Although she was “sporty” Siddall says she was a real beginner. “I was never taught specifically about technique. I just tried to copy what I saw other people doing. I had the motion but I wasn’t really moving forward,” she says. Siddall laughs remembering seeing other swimmers flip turn and then deciding just to try a somersault and “hope for the best.” The group swam in the pool as well as the open water and, Siddall says, her world just opened up. 

Siddall progressed quickly from an age group triathlete to the professional ranks but, for years and years, her swim was her constant weak spot. “I put so much work in but the correlation wasn’t there,” she says. She tried joining a group but with no coach on deck, it didn’t seem to help. Even when she did had help from coaches or other swimmers, Siddall said the advice was always different and never seemed to translate into better race performances. She felt frustrated: “How many people can you listen to when you don’t feel you have the time to get back to basics?” 

Siddall has been transparent on social media about being frustrated and feeling “let down” by her swim for years and years. “I can train the house down and I’m strong and powerful but that doesn’t make me the best swimmer. In other sports that might make you the best but it doesn’t in swimming,” she says. Despite her struggles in the water, Siddall was an undeniable consistent performer in long distance triathlon, earning podium after podium and capturing many race titles.

But, last year, something started to happen for Siddall. It didn’t send shockwaves through the triathlon community but, for those who knew Siddall, they saw she was in an unusual place during the swim portion of her triathlon races. Among the best women in long distance triathlon, Siddall was swimming stroke for stroke in the main pack at world championship level races including Challenge Roth and Kona. In Kona, Siddall swam in the pack of favorites with Daniela Ryf, Anne Haug, and Laura Philip, clocking a 58:08 for the 2.4 mile  (3.9 km) ocean swim. 

So what finally changed?

The breakthrough came from her time at the Paralympic holding camp before the Tokyo Olympics. As a reserve guide for the British Paratriathlon team, Siddall was in Tokyo training with the team when another swim coach approached her and asked if she wanted some feedback. With encouragement from her own coach, Julie Dibbens, back in the USA, Siddall took him up on his offer. “Bless him, he spent a couple sessions with me breaking the swim down, all while he was still coaching to prepare his athlete for the Paralympics,” she says. Siddall says they worked on her timing and there were key words that resonated with her about the catch, pull, and recovery. She gained the confidence to go slow, especially during the warm up where she focused on “setting her stroke up” for the rest of the swim. “The main thing for me was getting someone to explain it in the terms that made sense to me,” she explains. “I had a few people help and previous coaches who had said stuff, but because I didn’t come from lessons or a background in swimming, it never really made sense to me.”

“I’ve done a lot of years swimming on my own, which is fine and you can maintain a level, but going back and swimming with my coach Julie Dibbens and the squad, with the work I did in Tokyo, I had one of my best swims in Daytona and then Kona,” Siddall says. 

The Ironman World Championships in Kona was the best swim of her career. “[The swim part of a triathlon] is just damage limitation normally for me,” Siddall says. “It’s always a panic for me. The women always start so fast and I feel like if I do go that fast I don't have that lung capacity.” While her new technique had propelled her to new levels, Siddall adds that mental coaching from Dibbens was another crucial piece of the puzzle. It was only after the practice swim before the Ironman World Championships that she started to really believe things were going to be different but, as Siddall explained, “You just never know what’s going to happen on race day.” 

On race day, Siddall found herself at the back of a group early in the 2.4 mile swim but, usually for her, she was on the feet of swimmers typically much faster. “I thought, ‘this is good,’” Siddall recalls. As they turned around a marker buoy to head back to shore, for the first time Siddall was able to follow pace surges and stay on the feet of fast swimmers moving towards the front of the group. Having practiced following surges with the squad, Siddall was prepared. What she wasn’t prepared for was seeing colored caps around her. Ironman identifies race favorites and previous winners with different colored swim caps. “As we started coming back, I was like ‘that’s a colored cap!’ and I could work out who they were.” Who they were was the likes of world champions including Daniela Ryf and Anne Haug. “The crazy thing is that it felt comfortable,” Siddall says, almost still surprised.

Siddall adds that her performances still aren’t consistent but now that there is a sense of progression, she is more motivated to swim than ever. Although she had over ten years of swimming, it only took a few months of intentional practice with a different approach for her to break through to a new level of performance and it will be exciting to see what Siddall can do on the race course with her new swim pedigree.

1. Get a Swim Analysis: Even if you decide to focus on technique, making changes on your own can be extremely difficult.

2. Swim A Lot: Swimming a lot is part of the tradition of swimming. The rigorous training of swim clubs and professionals has made mileage something every beginner swimmer looks to target.

3. Focus on Technique: Siddall says from experience. “I can train the house down and I’m strong and powerful but that doesn’t make me the best swimmer. In other sports that might make you the best but it doesn’t in swimming. It all about efficiency and how easily you can move through the water.

4. Surround Yourself With the Right People: For anyone who wants to get started or get faster, one of the most common suggestions is to join a swimming group. Most importantly you should focus on joining a group you can have fun and enjoy yourself at. Find more details on all of Laura's tips for beginners here.