Viewing 22 posts - 1 through 22 (of 22 total)
  • Swimming for Triathlon
  • Duggan
    Full Member

    I know it’s a dirty word but I’m pretty keen on trying some triathlon.

    I’m a reasonable runner and cyclist but haven’t done any swimming since school, other than maybe flouncing around in a pool in Majorca once.

    Has anybody here learned to swim “properly” as an adult? Just in general, or specifically for triathlon? Was it easy to do, any fun? Did you have one to one sessions with a coach or something else?

    I only really want to be able to do a competent front crawl I suppose.

    As well as competing in triathlon it seems like a useful exercise for the whole body and maybe a good back-up if I’m injured from cycling or running.

    I’m going on holiday in September so would love to be able to be a reasonably able swimmer by then.

    MrPottatoHead
    Full Member

    I was a Tri virgin last year. Started training in Feb for a June half Ironman (1.9km). I didn’t have any lessons as I found that it only took 3-4 weeks to get comfortable swimming again after 20 years away from a pool. I started very slow – think I only managed about 10 lengths on my first swim, but soon built up. I found the key was getting the breathing correct.

    My only aim was to get through the swim in a fairly average time. I think if I wanted to improve further I’d need a coach to help improve my stroke, but to be honest I think I’d make far bigger time gains right now by improving my running.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    Find a proper racing swimming club (ie one that competes in the recognised leagues) and get some lessons. My kids swam competitvely at a reasonably high level and the amount of technique focus was significant, then when you have a grounding you can build up the distances.

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    mccraque
    Full Member

    Similarly I was a tri virgin just two years ago. Swimming is still my weakest event but took. A couple
    Of lessons just to get the breathing right and to stop me floundering around like a drowning drunk.

    The key for me was to keep practicing what I’d been taught and then check back in after a few weeks to make sure I was on track.

    richmars
    Full Member

    Or look for a local tri club, they may have sessions at a pool with some coaching. Definitely get some coaching, I didn’t and while I can do front crawl I’m not very fast.

    durhambiker
    Free Member

    Local tri club. Coached sessions geared specifically towards tri swimming.

    thestabiliser
    Free Member

    Did exactly this about 6 years ago, takes practice 2-3 swims a week and I was still shit. I didn’t get coaching so……get Coaching

    mogrim
    Full Member

    I started going to the local pool for group swimming classes a few years ago, nothing to do with triathlon, just for fun and as exercise. It made a huge difference to my swimming, technique really is everything when it comes to swimming. I then left it for a year or so, before joining a tri club. Again, regular swimming with a bit of coaching has massively improved my technique. (And I broke my triathlon cherry with an ironman last year 🙂 )

    But if swimming is your goal the swimming classes were loads better. I enjoy the tri club sessions, and the rest of the guys and girls from the club are great, but if you want to get better at swimming IME a proper swimming-only group is better.

    tuboflard
    Full Member

    As others have said, technique with a local club makes all the difference, fitness is second to good technique in my view. Look for local masters clubs, or open water clubs too if your tri is outdoors

    blitz
    Full Member

    I did my first tri last year and have another one coming up next month. Swimming is definitely my weakest discipline. A friend recommended a coach who does an open group session once a month at a local pool. Basically we did a warm up, then he filmed each of us in the group with a Go pro on a selfie stick type thing doing a few lengths. He got footage from a variety of angles and then afterwards we went through the videos and got feedback on improvements to make. It was fascinating, not only seeing my footage but also that of the others. I learned a lot and came away with some specifics to focus on rather than just doing lengths. I’d recommend something similar if you can find anything local to you.

    Stainypants
    Full Member

    Local masters club, swim smooth or total immersion videos on you tube are what is usually recommended on the tri forums.

    I couldn’t swim last April managed to swim 4k in open water last week ready for an ironman next month.

    I wish I got more coaching but I did get a few lessons at the start which got me going. I did a total immersion workshop which didn’t work that well for me as I don’t learn the way they were teaching but I think the theory will allow you to swim very efficiently.

    My local masters in Macc is very good but the timings don’t work for me. You get coaching for the price of a standard swim.

    Im not sure I’d start a proper racing club. I’m just back from the pool having got a PB for 50m that’s still 15 seconds slower than the under 9s qualifying time at county level.

    eulach
    Full Member

    If you haven’t got a chance of winning then don’t bother competing.
    (Sorry, but my opinion of triathletes may have become a little jaded).

    funkybaj
    Free Member

    I’d always fancied the idea of doing a tristhlon, but I’m an horrific swimmer, I can just about avoid drowning.

    So this year I’ve done two duathlons instead, which kind of gets around the problem 🙂

    iainc
    Full Member

    Not from a triathlon aspect, but I swim a fair amount, having got into it about 10 yrs ago in my early 40’s. I swam a lot as a kid and decided it would be good for my upper body strength, aerobic ability and general achy bones.

    When I started, 10 lengths front crawl were a challenge, but I got up to around 1k after a month or so. I then went for some coaching, based on Shaw Method, which is similar to Total Immersion. 4 sessions later and it was a transformation – less strokes per length and faster and smoother, so a great investment from my point of view.

    I will never win (or enter) a race, but do 1.5k in just under 25 mins a couple of lunchtimes a week, and the odd 3k on a wet Saturday, which is a great stress reliever and keeps the old bones moving 🙂

    I love swimming now !

    fifeandy
    Free Member

    Been said already, but most good Tri clubs will have coached swim sessions.
    No brainer really.

    Tallpaul
    Full Member

    I’d agree with all the recommendations of coaching. Get taught the basics in a pool and build up your swim fitness there.

    However, you’re going to need to practice open water swimming using a wetsuit – it’s a discipline in itself and rather different from swimming in a nice warm pool where you get to touch the sides/bottom whenever you want…

    TheSouthernYeti
    Free Member

    I started a similar thread on here maybe 5 years ago…

    Some lessons, a tri-club swim squad, and a CSS based Swim Smooth squad later and I qualified and raced at the 70.3 Ironman World Champs in 2015.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I took the easier option and watched a load of videos on youtube. Made a big difference to me, and according to my mate who is good at tri, I’m now ‘not bad’ in technique terms, but it still took a second viewpoint to tell me my biggest problem which was/is dragging my legs.

    Other thing that helped absolutely hugely was doing running sprint intervals. They increased my “lung capacity” so much that I am now able to swim properly breathing every third stroke, whereas before I’d get to puffed out to keep to it and get all in a mess.

    Duggan
    Full Member

    Wow, plenty of replies here thanks everyone. I thought I might get lambasted for wondering about getting coaching but seems like it could be a good idea.

    I’ve sent a couple of emails to local coaches and clubs so will see what comes back.

    I’m sure I’d like open water swimming eventually, but one step at a time.

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    why wouldn’t you get coaching, to get better at something? In a sport where efficiency is a massive aspect, and most people would be right at the bottom of the steep learning curve where even a few lessons has potential to hugely improve your efficiency – I fail to see why you wouldn’t. Simply doing more of the wrong thing only makes you better at doing the wrong thing. Find out the right thing to do and then get better at doing that.

    Phelps, Thorpe, Adlington, etc., are all miles better than you and they all have (had) coaches. OK, there’s more to coaching than just technique, but everyone can get better by being observed and corrected.

    [PS, I’m not a triathlete, much less a swimmer, but I have been coached by some very good coaches in the past at both technical and ‘non-technical’ sports – and I’m a big proponent of it if you want to improve. i just googled ways to improve your swimming and found an article that technically makes almost ‘no sense’ to me because I don’t know swimming and hence don’t know the terms. But the last bit does……

    “7. 70 Percent Body Position, 30 Percent Propulsion

    Notice that we haven’t once spoken about what you probably thought was the key to faster swimming: grabbing more water with a stronger pull. For you, the adult swimmer/triathlete, swimming is 70 percent body position, 30 percent propulsion. It doesn’t make sense to talk about putting a bigger engine into a barge. Turn that barge into a long, streamlined hull first, and then work on putting a bigger engine into it.” ]

    robw1
    Free Member

    join either a tri club or a master swimming club that has coached sessions. A tri club will generally be more focused upon just swimming crawl (plus drills etc.), a masters club will be more all round / all strokes (a bit like a kids swimming club but for adults!).

    digger95
    Free Member

    I’ve taught myself as an adult from a starting point of can’t-do-the -breathing messy front crawl to ‘easy’ 17.47 for 800m at a triathlon last Sunday (was about average swim time) with minimal (2 swims) swim training this year. You need the run and brick training time the most.

    So it is possible without a coach but not easy. A couple of Tri club sessions and various tips from experienced swimmers (not proper coaches in my case) were helpful boosts in an otherwise very slow process of improvement.

    Open water swimming – don’t wait till you are ready just choose to get in and swim to the first buoy. It’s quite a different experience to a pool and is preferable in many ways…fun…18deg lake…type 3 fun?

Viewing 22 posts - 1 through 22 (of 22 total)

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