noob swimmer: breathing & dizzyness

Fixed

You have it covered, other than swim more/lots, and relax.  "Freaking out" needs to be tuned out.

Thanks for the replies, encouragement (and humor) everyone! (this website is great for that)

I'm back at it today.. hoping for no dizzyness.. ill let you know how it goes..  cheers! 

My favorite technique for relaxing/catching by breath on a swim is to roll onto my back and propel myself wil a slight kick.  It is a bit slower, but much more relaxing than a side or breast stroke.

Initially, I found that a lot of my problems with dizzyness were due to insufficient breathing.  I used to breath one stroke for every two non-breathing strokes.  Now I go two and two.

 Also, here is a great thread on swimming technique.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=117554&start=1

I have personally learned a tremendous amount from the Total Imersion swimming books.  My favorite drill is to swim with my fists.  It forced me to optimize my entire body movement to help propel me.

wow, glad to know i wasn't the only one having this issue.

newbie swimmer here myself who's learning to swim Total Immersion.   i just started the 0 to 1650 program and i'm really dizzy after i get out of the pool after doing just 700 meters.   

it usually clears after a couple minutes, but i thought it was something i was doing really wrong.

I'm a new swimmer so I went and got me a coach. Here is what I have learned about breathing:

Breathe every other stroke. IE every time your right arm comes out of the water, breathe. (Or left whatever, just not every third stroke. According to my coach, that comes later, when I become stronger.) This is because you are using tons of oxygen, like a sprinter you need to breathe more often.

Do not blow bubbles the whole time your face is under water. Breathe, hold it, and just before you are about to get the next breath, blow out fast, and then breathe in as usual. "If you breathe in, and then immediately blow bubbles out, you aren't getting the full benefit of the breath. You are immediately in oxygen deprivation." This from a guy who is in his 40s and was .2 seconds from Olympic qualifying time. I figure he must know something. It takes a bit of practice to get this right, but as soon as I did, I could put two laps together without having to rest.

Swimming is very hard work. It uses your whole body more than either cycling or running. Your muscles need to learn to get rid of the lactic acid efficiently and use oxygen better since breathing is regimented for obvious reasons. That's why all of a sudden you'll find the "magic" and can swim continuously where you couldn't before. Your body learned. It clicked.

Ear plugs are good too. I hate water in my ears.

You can do this. Last year, in May, I signed up for my first tri (July 30th I think was the date). I started swimming in June. I had 7 weeks and had never swum laps before in my life. Horsing around in pools and lakes, yes. Actual swimming-to-get-somewhere, never. When we started the swim I thought the bouys were in the wrong place - omg were they ever far. I focused on just getting to one bouy at a time, and remember that I'd swam that far in practice lots of times. The thing that helped the most was that the week before, I had done the full 800 meters in the pool without touching sides/bottom/ropes or pushing off for the entire distance. Swim, stop, turn around, start going again. I knew if I could do that, I could swim in the lake going all one way. Weird, I know, but there's no "sides" to hang on in the lake so mentally it really helped me. At the beginning of the swim, they gave us our instructions, and it turned out that we were allowed to hang on the side of a boat or bouy if we needed to, and then continue without DQ. That was good to know. I ended up swimming backstroke for half of it, but I finish ahead of 1/3 of the field. When you're that new, you take what you can! This year I'm trying to break into the top 1/2.

Happy training and good luck with your tri!

thanks for those suggestion ell-in-or

i'm actually using the 2 breath cycle and it's working good for me.    i think the water in the ears might be my dizziness issue.....as well as just learning to swim.

Thanks for the great tips and encouragement ell-in-or!

i got myself some ear plugs and motivation - going to give swimming another shot this weekend! ...really hoping for no dizzyness...  i'm going to try some of the things mentioned in your and other posts..    cheers!

-mike 

just a quick update:

- dizzyness gone (ear plugs and practicing breathing)
- working on endurance (at this AM's swim I was able to go for about 25 mins! ..not all freestyle, a combo of back/side/breast/freestyle - but the way i see it, at least i'm moving forward )

thanks to everyone's encouragement and tips! ...now, I'm a little concerned about the wetsuit constricting my breathing.. so ill have to start training in it...

-peace