Swimming (more like drowning) - SprintTri Training

jennahaines108

I'm training for a Sprint Triathlon on April 26. I essentially have 8 weeks and 6 days before the race. I've been training since mid-January and everything has vastly improved except my swimming. I need to be able to swim 400 meters (.25 mile) by that date and I can hardly do one lap to the end and back of the pool (50 meters) without choking on water to the point that I have to stop. HELP. I need advice! Swimming is unfortunately the first leg of the race so I need advice on training. 8 weeks = 400 meters.

3dogsrunning

Is the tri open water or pool?

willrunforfood35

Are you working with a coach? My gym has tri specific swimming lessons. You might need someone to watch and critique your form.

Chenoachem

I would suggest looking up Total Immersion Swimming. It can be a combination of bad technique and cardio endurance, but most likely technique efficiency. Total Immersion has a program for helping you become more efficient in the water, which is what you need when you are swimming with a group in a tri and there is a lot of punching and kicking going on.

Good Luck.

47Jacqueline

I know this is being a wuss, but I swim with nose clips. I've never gotten the knack of being able to breathe correctly for any consistent period of time and end up inhaling when I should exhale, which is dangerous.

I don't want to hear how I should learn the correct way. I can swim a mile with no trouble this way.

tootsieroll7624

I recently started incorporating swimming into my workout routine and was shocked at how bad I was at it and how exhausted it made me feel. I found some swimming techniques and breathing videos on YouTube by an organization called US Masters Swimming which I found very helpful. https://www.youtube.com/user/USMastersSwimming Hope this helps, it helped me a lot. Good luck!

Kida_Adeylne

If your choking on water you need to work on breathing, most likely. You can work on breathing technique with a flutter board - hold it out in front of you and put your face in the water as you kick. Focus on blowing out, making lots of bubbles. Before you run out of breath, release one hand and draw it back, rolling onto the side that still holds the board, Breath in. Recover your arm and take hold of the board again. Repeat on other side.

In terms of building up stamina, you want to do lots of 50s. Going and trying to do 400 right off won't work, and won't build you up enough anyway. I can swim 1500m without stopping, but mostly I swim in groups of 50-200m. If doing one 50 sounds hard, do 25 kick, drop board at other end, do 25 free (without stopping). Next 50, do 25 free, 25 kick. Focus on technique and not speed - you won't be winning any times with only 8 weeks to go. In the same vein, don't try and do a 50 or 100 if you can't without your technique falling to pieces. Swimming practice is about repeating the same motion, correctly, until your body can do it without thinking. If you keep pushing when you're too tired to do it correctly, then you will teach yourself to do it incorrectly.

You want to look up lots of videos on technique as well - flutter kick, catch and pull, recovery, breathing. The more you practice these, the less energy you'll use to propel yourself, and the more energy you'll have for the run and bike.

And when race day comes, you can take 'breaks' if you need to by switching to breast-stroke, or even back.

cheshirecatastrophe

Do you have to do freestyle? What about breaststroke? It's slower, but I mean, if it means you're not drinking the pool or lake, who cares?

I would probably not advise backstroke in a group swimming situation like a tri.

jennahaines108

It's open water.

cheshirecatastrophe

I would definitely not advise backstroke in an open water situation. Breaststroke, though! Can you do breast or some approximation thereof without nearly drowning yourself?

jennahaines108

I have yet to try the breast stroke, but I'll give it a go next time in the pool. I'm also thinking about trying the nose clips. If I can bike 18 miles, you'd think I could swim a .25 mile.

cheshirecatastrophe

Don't be down on yourself! Swimming is MUCH more technical than either biking or running.

Seriously--if you can swing a private swim lesson, even just one, a good coach should be able to give you some pointers about breathing technique. I'd hazard a WAGuess that you are lifting your head too much and dropping your hips when you try to breathe, which results in pushing yourself under water and thus swallowing water instead of air when you try to breathe, but obviously I don't really know anything without seeing you in person.

3dogsrunning

I would strongly recommend getting a coach to look at your form. As PP mentioned swimming is very technical so the fact you have other physical fitness does not necessarily transfer over. Correct technique problems may go a long way in helping but it isn't something you can easily do yourself.

Also with open water, you can stop and rest and float on your back. It is also often legal for you to hold on to the paddle board of the life guards so long as you make no forward progress.
I really, really, really suggest getting a swim in open water before the race.

italysharon

jennahaines108 wrote: »

I have yet to try the breast stroke, but I'll give it a go next time in the pool. I'm also thinking about trying the nose clips. If I can bike 18 miles, you'd think I could swim a .25 mile.

Seriously don't beat yourself up about it. I run half marathons and when I have done triathlons I am one of the last 10 people out of the water (usually more than half of the next heat beat me also!). Freestyle, breast stroke. repeat is how I survive. But I have not improved. I'm thinking about training for another triathlon for this summer. I'm glad I read this. Another reminder that I need to get some help on this.

The good thing is that if you are a biker and runner you will definitely make up time in those sections. Good luck. Interested in reading more advice on this.

genevieve_1973

Definitely try an open water swim before the race if you haven't already done so. If breaststroke is easier for you then do that, chances are you won't be the only one opting for that stroke. Don't worry about how long the swim takes you, take it at a steady easy pace and you can make up the time on your bike and run leg. I agree that if you can get some coaching then definitely do that, the right technique can make difficult feel much easier. Good luck with your tri, I'm doing my first one this year and it's a sea swim so I'm feeling excited about it but nervous too!

ps, if anyone would like another friend here please add me, I've just joined up and could do with some support

glevinso

As someone who has been frog-kicked in the face, breaking my goggles, by someone who breaststroked through the swim-leg of a triathlon, I would encourage you to NOT try to swim breast the whole way. It is dangerous to your fellow athletes.

Granted this wasn't someone I was trying to pass who was only doing breaststroke, rather I was passing someone who was swimming free, then I guess decided to take a break using breaststroke right as I was passing. Not. Cool. At. All.

In any case if this is an open water swim I HIGHLY recommend you 1) get some lessons from a qualified coach and 2) find an open-water clinic at some point ahead of the race. Swimming in open water is NOTHING like doing it in a pool. It can be much more difficult, and frightening, especially if you are inexperienced. In-water panic is common with first timers and can lead to an early DNF. This sort of thing is easily mitigated though by getting out into a lake and practicing. Usually the organizers of the race either hold their own clinics or can point you to some - they know this is a hard thing for people and especially if the race is geared towards newer triathletes, they want to make sure everyone gets what they need to be successful.

starseedxo

Both of these. YES.

glevinso wrote: »

As someone who has been frog-kicked in the face, breaking my goggles, by someone who breaststroked through the swim-leg of a triathlon, I would encourage you to NOT try to swim breast the whole way. It is dangerous to your fellow athletes.

In any case if this is an open water swim I HIGHLY recommend you 1) get some lessons from a qualified coach and 2) find an open-water clinic at some point ahead of the race. Swimming in open water is NOTHING like doing it in a pool. It can be much more difficult, and frightening, especially if you are inexperienced. In-water panic is common with first timers and can lead to an early DNF. This sort of thing is easily mitigated though by getting out into a lake and practicing.

Also, as a beginner swimmer, please line up in the back of your pack for the swim. The last tri that I did, a bunch of not so strong swimmers ran out in front of me, and it is just plain annoying trying to get around them. I actually swam OVER a couple of them because they wouldn't let me by them and I had no other option.

But definitely try to get a coach, or even ask a swimmer at your pool to look at your stroke. I would be happy to give advice while I am swimming (I was a pretty hard-core swimmer in my youth-high school, and kept doing open water swims in college) if someone asked.