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Beginner Triathlon
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Swimming is definitely my toughest discipline too. What I found is that you just have to be consistently pushing yourself, even if it's small distances. Last summer I started off doing 100-300 yards a day for a couple of weeks. Then suddenly I felt like I was jumping up to 500 then 1000. Before I took my recent hiaitus, I was easily doing 2000-3000 yds. You just kind of get in a groove. Some triathletes have pretty complex workout plans for training, using all kinds of floats and intervals. I'm not that good yet. Just get the laps in!
Have you gotten any technique coaching on your swim style? There are a bunch of videos on YouTube showing swimming technique which are worth watching but I'd take them with a grain of salt if you can get even just an hour or two with a real coach who can tell you exactly what you're doing wrong (or right).
answered over 3 years ago |Report
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Technique is everything. There are several drills that you can do to improve your stroke. By swimming efficiently, you can save time and energy, and also train less in the pool. Before trying to swim far, or fast, nail down your stroke.
http://www.trifuel.com/training/swim
This link has several great articles, and also lists some of the more common stroke drills.
Good luck!
answered over 3 years ago |Report
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I'm probably the worst swimmer ever to attempt a triathlon (got my first coming up in just over two weeks). As everyone says, swimming is more about technique and comfort in the water than about aerobic conditioning. My best advice is to find a good coach and set up some individual meetings (once or twice a week). I did that about a month ago. At that point, my workout consisted of struggling through about 300 meters of thrashing. I'm now doing 900 meter workouts with the coach. My technique is still highly flawed and I'm extremely slow, but I did make some huge leaps. I couldn't do the group thing because I didn't feel like my swimming was up to par for that. Besides, you can't beat the 1 on 1 help of a coach.
answered over 3 years ago |Report
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Technique is number one, try and focus on your body position in the water. When you're in the correct position it becomes much easier to efficiently move your arms and legs. That position, however is difficult to explain in writing, check out youtube or watch someone who's really good at swimming. How comfortable are you with being in the water? The comfort is very important, humans can't breath in water so for most it doesn't feel natural at first, but with time comes comfort and endurance. You can could run a marathon, but not have the endurance to swim 1000yards. Be persistent and your work will pay off!! Keep it up!
answered about 3 years ago |Report
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Lots of good advice so far. Kelly K's advice is short, sweet and right on the money.
I would challenge Robbie's claim of being the worst swimmer to ever attempt a triathlon. I was already a decent cyclist when I decided to give triathlons a go. I signed up at the Y and spent 6 months thrashing around in the pool preparing for my first tri...a half IM. I finished 5th from *last* in the water (1 hr 17 min !!!) and was exhausted. Something was obviously wrong with my swimming. I hired a coach and took one lesson every other week for a couple months. Then I continued working the drills the coach had given me. 8 or 9 months later i participated in a full IM (twice the distance of the previous race) and swam 1 hr 30 min. This time I came out of the water feeling good. Had I not wasted the first 6 months trying to train myself, I might have been another 10 or 15 minutes faster.
Spend most of your time in the water working on technique.
answered about 3 years ago |Report
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I am glad to hear that I am not the only one struggling with swimming. I have taken lessons and it is getting better, but I am still uncomfortable in the water and as a result feel like I am going to drown every time I get in the pool for the first several laps. Breathing has been the hardest thing for me to get a handle on but it is slowly coming along.
Thanks for all the great info. posted here.
answered about 3 years ago |Report
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This site is WONDERFUL for the basics, good workouts, and other information!
http://ruthkazez.com/swimming.html
I've been a competitive swimmer for over nine years & I use this site workouts sometimes! Hope it helps!answered about 3 years ago |Report
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Considering the high resistance that water provides and provided that you are generally fit, technique is the most important factor in your swimming speed and comfort. Specifically, you should start by working on your body balance, that is, staying quite horizontal, inline, and high in the water. While wetsuits help in this regard, they are not silver bullets.
As a coach and swimmer, I highly recommend the book "Total Immersion" by Terry Laughlin:
http://www.amazon.com/Total-Immersion-Revolutionary-Better-Faster/dp/0743253434/ref=pd_sim_b_8
answered almost 3 years ago |Report
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I second Peter's recommendation of Total Immersion. It is designed to retrain those of us who have been life long struggling swimmers. I am in the middle of the training video now and just working on technique, but I have identified and corrected all kinds of things I've done wrong my entire life.
answered almost 3 years ago |Report
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I started swimming at Glenmore aquatic centre. they offer conditioning swimming - so they give you a schedule for the hour and every class is different and they incorporate fins, floaties and lifeboard to help work different muscles. the classes have begginers and advanced attending and it keeps it fun. $4.65 a class. I know lots of pools offer similar classes and there is a coach to always help. i ahve been going for 2 months and when i started i could barley do 2 laps - 50m. now i swim 18 laps- 400 m no problem!
answered almost 3 years ago |Report
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I am in your boat also. I completed a sprint tri last year, and did most of the swim on my back, which is REAL EASY in a wetsuit. I'm doing an Olympic in July, so trying to learn to swim now. My advice is to first simply focus on breathing, which is the part that is really hard for me. Also, take it very slow. Swimming is extremely rhythmic, and you need to find the right rhythm. But, for us beginners, that rhythm needs to be really, really, slow.
I know this goes against what a lot of people say, but I'm not a fan of lessons for getting started. Unless you have a really good teacher, and not a random lifeguard at your local pool, they won't properly understand your hardships as a real beginner, and will push too hard. As a beginner, I want to take it slow, and go at my own pace. Once I am over the initial hump, and can swim a bunch of laps on my own, then I might go for lessons.
answered almost 3 years ago |Report
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Alot of people have said some very good things so I will repeat a few to show you that they are true.
Swimming at our (amateur) level is all about technique. Find someone to train with who can watch you and give you feedback. Better yet try to find a Masters Swim group in your area. As for the books and such, it all depends on how you learn. visual, verbal, etc etc. Find what works best for you.
I came from a pure running background as well so I know what you are going through. Best of luck and happy training.
answered almost 3 years ago |Report
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Almost everyone has mentioned technique...and there is a good reason for that. As a decent swimmer, it has been very interesting training for a tri with a partner who recently completed a marathon and is much better shape than I am. He seems to run effortlessly, while I struggle with every step, but when we first got in the pool, he was hanging on the lane ropes half way thru his second lap, exhausted.
My advice...
-Take a couple lessons from someone who is TRAINED TO TEACH...not just a friend who is a good swimmer. Natural swimmers often make lousy teachers, as I proved to my training partner!
-Practice, practice, practice!!! Unlike the other disciplines, swimming is more about learning and repeating the proper form and getting comfortable in the water than it is about getting into better shape. Typically, the easier it seems, the faster your moving!
My training partner is now putting in 1000+ yd workouts and getting better every time out! I'll still leave him in my wake on race day...but I'm sure I'll see him again on the run! :)
answered almost 3 years ago |Report
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I second Mark F's recent answer. Find a Masters Swim group. Don't let the word Masters put you off. It is an EXCELLENT way to learn to swim and to swim faster and fast eventually. Masters swim are everywhere in the country-there are no requirements-they have clinics to help with technique-you make like-minded friends-and the commitment is not huge if you don't want it to be. Ours met 3X/week for a couple of hours. Technique is SO IMPORTANT. Don't waste your time without lessons first.
answered almost 3 years ago |Report
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What everyone has said is really good, but it's easy to get confused and overthink. My advice is simple: swim. A lot. Daily if you can. It's not that people who learned to swim as children were innate swimmers or even that children learn faster, it's just that they probably swam every day (or, in my case 2-3 times a day) when they were kids thus giving them way more time to learn than we have today. I would either go for coaching once or twice a week and do my extra practices on my own, or more optimally, I would join a club with different levels because I find that the motivation helps. Make sure your coach is a hard-ass though. You want someone who pushes you.
Swimming is just like any other sport. You learn the technique from doing it often. Running is my weakness and I find it so difficult.
answered almost 3 years ago |Report
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Love this by Bill T. "Typically, the easier it seems, the faster you're moving!" perfect.
answered almost 3 years ago |Report
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I am training for my first mini-tri. It's a fun triathlon, nothing serious, but a big deal to me as I have never known how to swim. I have a trainer and she has been a tremendous help. I am in the pool everyday even if its only for 20-30 minutes at a time, just to get use to the water.
The biggest help in helping me with my mechanics and relaxing has been Fins. I can make it to one end of the pool to the other without stopping and that has build my confidence big time......I have a long way to go, but I would say use any swim aide / tool out there that will help you for now maintain good mechanics.
answered over 2 years ago |Report
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In addition to lessons, there is a book called the Essential Swimmer which has good technique advice.
answered over 2 years ago |Report
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"-Take a couple lessons from someone who is TRAINED TO TEACH...not just a friend who is a good swimmer. Natural swimmers often make lousy teachers, as I proved to my training partner!" Good point, Bill and I couldn't agree more.
I did my first triathlon a couple years ago and loved it. I completely had to start from scratch with the swimming part. First place I went was a triathlon training class that was being taught by an olympic swimmer known for her form. They taught me NOTHING! She just wanted us to "swim" and get in better shape. She knew how to do it, but knew nothing about correcting us.
I next went to my boss who is an excellent teacher and another friend who had did her first triathlon the year before and took private lessons. I totally recommend if you're just starting out, definitely go ONE ON ONE! They both really took the time, swimming under me in the water, beside me, coaching me, showing me, and correcting me. Once I mastered the breathing technique, which was the hardest for ME, next they taught me stroke. (make sure you learn bilateral breathing...it'll really help you with spotting come race day) It was slow, but after a while it just clicks! And I learned the more relaxed I was, the easier is became.
One of the videos I got that I watched at home was Total Immersion swimming. Loved their techniques and really paralleled alot of what my good swimmers/teacher were showing me. Congrats on taking the first step. Its all technique, but once you get it, you'll feel GREAT! Happy swimming!
answered over 2 years ago |Report
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OH! Just saw some others suggested Total Immersion, too. Heehee...yeah, I second, urhhhh, third that! :P
answered over 2 years ago |Report
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