Best swimming advise for a first time triathlon

1Prettypain

ok I just finished a 60 mile cycle ride this past weekend for cancer and my first triathlon is coming up on august 7th... I have the 14 mile biking down, the 5K run down, my fear is, the swim is in a lake and I hate swimming in lakes!! Pools and oceans I'm great, but hate lakes.. So your best advise on my 750m swim would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thank you!!

voluptas63

Find a lake. Swim. Repeat as necessary:)

Keefypoos

don't drown!

good luck with it all

1Prettypain

Serious advise please....

TankGirl71

Are you wearing a wetsuit? If you are, just roll over on your back if you get a mouthful and cough it up. You can't sink in a wetsuit. Just remember, water is water. It's the same as the pool, but has cool fish and plants to look at. If you are unsure of yourself, don't get in the front of the pack. You will get clobbered by the Type A Tiger Moms and CPAs. Start towards the back and do a modified crawl so you can pop your head up every few strokes to sight your buoys. In any tri, expect to catch a stray foot or elbow in the face from time to time. It happens even amongst the most courteous of athletes. Good luck on your first tri! You'll love it!

voluptas63

lol that is serious advice. You'll never get adjusted to swimming in a lake if you don't swim in one first. And trust me, I've done 3 tris... you'll NEVER get the experience of swimming in a tri by swimming in a pool. I coach a Tri group (I coach the swimming) and we go out to the tri swimming spots and swim out there. I have them swim as if they are in a tri.

People are going to try to swim over you, you're going to get hit. You need to learn how to sight swim. Meaning puling your head out of the water, while swimming and seeing where you're going.

And LIES AND BLASPHEMY you can't drown in a wetsuit. Why do you think there are lifeguards on site at a triathlon? You can absolutely drown in a wetsuit.

TankGirl71

If by chance you are doing the Iron Girl at Oneida Lake, be assured that you can stand up almost the whole way. There are zebra mussels that may cut you feet - some people wear neoprene socks or put duct tape on the soles of their feet. Other just go Rambo and proudly bleed through their cycling cleats.

skittybang

Really extend your reach with ever stroke. It beats taking super fast choppy ones. You'll save energy and if your pulling long and deep (oh, how dirty that sounds!) it'll propel you forward faster. :bigsmile:

ninerbuff

ok I just finished a 60 mile cycle ride this past weekend for cancer and my first triathlon is coming up on august 7th... I have the 14 mile biking down, the 5K run down, my fear is, the swim is in a lake and I hate swimming in lakes!! Pools and oceans I'm great, but hate lakes.. So your best advise on my 750m swim would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thank you!!

Lol my friend just completed a triathlon and told me that the biggest thing he was surprised at was how overwhelming it was when all those competitors hit the water at the same time and are fighting to get to the finish. He said he couldn't see ahead of him, people were thrashing against him, he was kicked, slapped, scratched, etc. And it caused him to frantically swim too fast and he "gassed" out too fast.
So from this I would say learn to take your time, don't panic. You're going to have to swim in that lake which is already freaking you out, so don't let this also be another dilema.

BerryH

DO practice open water swimming as much as you can. I nearly passed out in London docklands with a combination of cold, panic, wetsuit chest compression and being kicked in the face, and had to be fished out by a kayaking lifeguard! :embarassed:

Also, if you're wearing a wet suit, practice, practice, practice taking it off wet and getting your cycling shoes on!

Don't assume you will be able to see, even with goggles, get a proper heads up every few strokes.

Learn to breathe on alternate sides. I do one, two breathe. It helps you go straight!

trigrrl

go to the lake and take 4 or so friends ideally
have them stand in a line about three feet apart from each other or two on each side and swim inbetween them
have them push and bump you..so you get use to the feelinh
I've done about a dozen or so and only had one experience where i was a lil' WTF
someone wanted away from the group and decided to turn left ( we were all goingt straight )
and he kinda swam over me..its not near as bad as i hear people say it is ( excluding the pros and iron distance events )

most of the stress from even doing it is focused on the swim cause thats the first event...
ask runners how long it takes them to settle in at a race...for me its the first km..

breathe deep, start near the back of your wave ( or even ask to start in the last wave )..stay to the outside left of the group

its a great experience full of wonderful people all with the same worries
nobody is there to "take you out " so try to have fun

dothompson

If you are on a chip timing system, hang back at the beginning for 20 seconds or so, it will keep you out of the fray at the beginning and you'll not get kicked in the face. When you start the course will be much clearer and you'll be able to run in and get swimming with out the competition of the pack. Then swim like heck and try to catch up with the group. The delay in start time won't matter as you'll be timed from when you actually cross the line. You'll ultimiately get in the water easier and faster.

bstamps12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_6tOzt-nfM

Watch that. Seriously. You think it's a joke but it's exactly how you will feel. I was a competitive swimmer for 14 yrs and could easily swim 4 hrs straight (over 11 miles), but put me in the open water with people thrashing about and kicking me, and I'm dead by 500 yards. It's so intense. My best advice is to not underestimate how brutal open water swimming is compared to the pool. Open water without anyone there will exhaust you enough, but throw people of all swimming levels into a lake with a starting line 20 yards wide and they all think they are Michael Phelps.

Get to the outside at the start as much as you can. I won't even think about being front and center even though I was the first woman to finish the swim and only behind 3 men at my last tri. No sense in wasting energy getting killed when I can let everyone else hit each other until it thins out and a good pace is established.

It's a little late now, but you can practice sighting in the pool. Take off your goggles, start right in the middle of the lane over the black line, close your eyes when your face is in the water, and try to only look when you lift your head up. Also, don't breathe while sighting. Always breathe to the side. You should only lift your head up enough to allow your eyes to see the bouy/end of the lane in the pool, never to breathe. It makes your entire body go down and drag, wasting energy and forcing you to get back into your rhythm instead of continuing smoothly.

Put your cap on over your goggles. It will help keep them from getting knocked off in previously mentioned thrashings.

Get close to someone's feet and follow the bubbles. Hardly need to sight then plus you get a little energy saved through dragging. Just double check yourself and sight a few times...you don't want to end up following the person going into the middle of the lake instead of towards the bouy! This can be tricky because even the best pool swimmers who aren't used to open water swims and don't sight well make this mistake!

I agree with dothompson IF you are starting from outside the lake, about waiting to start. It's great advice except that several tri's will actually begin in the water, in which case the start time is the start time, it doesn't matter when you start swimming. So the 20 second delay would be added to your time if you start in the water.

Finally, don't be scared to roll over and do backstroke or take a few strokes of breastroke if you need a breather or can't see the bouy well. Your time will be much better and you will save some energy by giving into backstroke/breastroke if needed rather than fighting through freestyle.

Have fun & feel free to ask any other questions! I'm a failure of a cyclist and only a decent runner but swimming is my thing!

JodiS75

BUMP