Swimming! Tips?

emilysusana · February 2019

I’m training for a half marathon (week 1 of 12 on my program). One day a week, Sunday, I’m supposed to do an hour of cross training. I’ve decided to swim, because a friend of mine is trying to convince me to do future triathlons with her.

Although I’m comfortable in a pool (grew up with one), I’ve only ever swam for exercise when pregnant (and just with my first pregnancy 12 years ago—after that I was too busy with little ones).

My question is: any tips on how to begin? Should I just start swimming freestyle and see how long I can go (nowhere near an hour I’m sure). Should I do 100 yards and take a break, then go again? Should I mix up the strokes? Or does it not matter?

My three daughters are on the swim team, but they’re too advanced for me. So I’m asking my MFP peeps.
Thank you!

emilysusana · February 2019

I should add—I’ve been doing cardio and strength training for about 2 months. So I’m not going into this completely cold!

BrianSharpe · February 2019

If you're thinking about a future triathlon the stroke you want to focus on is freestyle (I've seen people breaststroke in triathlons too....there's not hard and fast rule). Do you have a local triathlon club or masters swim group in your area?

Swimming is probably the one thing most triathletes struggle with and a little bit of coaching or mentoring can go a long way to developing an efficient stroke.

If you're on your own there are a number of youtube channels (effortless swimming, global triathlon network to name a couple) that have great videos .

Don't buy the cheapest goggles you can find, get ones that fit well and are comfortable in the water. I started with some cheap ones and they were fine in the pool but when I got into open water with other swimmers they felt claustrophobic and I ended up getting aqua sphere mask style ones but it's purely personal preference (if you wear classes you can buy presciption googles too)

A couple of the skills that will make your swimming so much easier are bilateral breathing (ie both sides every third stroke) and getting really horizontal in the water (get your face in the water looking down at the bottom of the pool). Triathlon swimming is also a little different than regular freestyle as you want most of your propulsion to be upper body (gotta save those legs for the bike and run) so your kick is more a matter of keeping you horizontal. A pull buoy is useful for this.

Start slow with short sets as your focus is on technique. There are some books on amazon that have great training plans.

Have fun!

emilysusana · February 2019

Thanks for all the tips! I’d say right now the tri is a secondary goal for me (if I do one this year it will be late summer), and right now my main focus is getting 60 minutes of cross training exercise each week. This seemed like a fun way to do that. We’ll see how long I can make it today...

Djproulx · February 2019

OP, you received solid advice from @BrianSharpe. To add my two cents: As you begin, focus on swimming with PERFECT FORM as opposed to any worry about endurance. Since you have daughters who swim, you probably have an idea of what good freestyle form looks like. Your daughters may even be able to provide "eyes on deck" to observe your stroke.

When you feel your form start to break down: STOP swimming for the day and come back again when you are fresh. You'll be doing yourself a disservice if you try to keep swimming after your form breaks down. As you get comfortable with your stroke, you can build endurance, but short sets (50 yds, 100 yds, etc,) with ample recovery time would be great for starters. Endurance will come along soon enough as your time in the pool increases. Good Luck!

Bruceapple · February 2019

We have. a group her called Swimmers!
Come by and check it out.

lorrpb · February 2019

Swim 100 yds + break sounds like the best idea.. Use whichever strokes you enjoy. The thing is to get moving and get reacquainted with your strokes & form. Your daughter's can surely give you some drills. Look into adult swim classes and/or masters swim to fine tune technique and vpbuild endurance.

At 63 I swam the swim leg of a tri sprint last summer & planning to do Indivudual tri this summer.

DancingMoosie · February 2019

I alternate strokes. I'm stronger and last longer with breaststroke, but am faster with freestyle. It's good to have a recovery stroke, so practice to see what feels comfortable. I agree that good goggles are a must; aquaspheres work well for me. I use diluted baby shampoo in a mini spray bottle as anti-fog. It works great and doesn't sting.

agegananderson · February 2019

check this out! http://www.100swimmingworkouts.com/

girlwithcurls2 · February 2019

agegananderson wrote: »

check this out! http://www.100swimmingworkouts.com/

^
This only works if you can swim all 4 strokes. If not, nevermind...

tess453 · April 2019

@emilysusana I've done 2 sprint triathlons and about to do my third at the end of this month. I would not call myself a triathlete in the slightest, just someone who occasionally signs up to do something stupid for motivation!

As a total novice I completely get your hesitance about signing up. The things I learnt from my first:

Ease yourself into swimming and just get used to it again. Don't worry about speed or stroke at first, nothing worse than feeling like you're drowning! I'd second the suggestion to have adult swim lessons to top up your ability. I signed up for a 10 week course which forced me to swim regularly, improved my ability and confidence.

Secondly, I'd opt for a pool triathlon first. You swim in lanes at staggered intervals, alot easier to concentrate without worrying about people around you. I only do pool (but that's due to a weird fear of fish.. )

Final bit of advice, if you want to do breast stroke then do breast stroke. Lots of people do, just do what makes you feel most comfortable. If you're stressed from the outset you won't enjoy it.

deannalfisher · April 2019

tess453 wrote: »

@emilysusana I've done 2 sprint triathlons and about to do my third at the end of this month. I would not call myself a triathlete in the slightest, just someone who occasionally signs up to do something stupid for motivation!

As a total novice I completely get your hesitance about signing up. The things I learnt from my first:

Ease yourself into swimming and just get used to it again. Don't worry about speed or stroke at first, nothing worse than feeling like you're drowning! I'd second the suggestion to have adult swim lessons to top up your ability. I signed up for a 10 week course which forced me to swim regularly, improved my ability and confidence.

Secondly, I'd opt for a pool triathlon first. You swim in lanes at staggered intervals, alot easier to concentrate without worrying about people around you. I only do pool (but that's due to a weird fear of fish.. )

Final bit of advice, if you want to do breast stroke then do breast stroke. Lots of people do, just do what makes you feel most comfortable. If you're stressed from the outset you won't enjoy it.

If you’ve finished a tri - you ARE a triathlete

fishgutzy · April 2019

I probably shouldn't reply because I'm not exactly a moderate swimmer.
I'd say use swimming to help build overall endurance and breathing capacity.
Swim as far as you can. Rest not more than a minute, start again.
I can not run due to arthritis.
But I can swim the equivalent of 2 Olympic marathon swims with just a few minutes total rest.

Swimming! Tips?

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