New to triathlon...not a good swimmer

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2012-04-03 2:12 PM


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Subject: New to triathlon...not a good swimmer

Good day.  I'm quite new to the running a cycling world.  My name is Alex, I'm 36 years old, started running and cycling about a year ago.  I've recently joined a runners club near my house (the Running Room, currently aiming to complete a half marathon by the end of June) and cycle with a group of friends every Sunday for approximately 40 km.

My problem is swimming.... anyone in the same "boat" (pardon the pun)?  Should I be taking lessons?  How long does it take a "floater" not a "swimmer" to get the hang of it?  Should I just be doing duathlons?

Confused....but working on it.

Alex

2012-04-03 3:11 PM
in reply to: #4127743

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Melon Presser
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Subject: RE: New to triathlon...not a good swimmer

Hi Alex! Welcome to BT and multisport!

Swimming's a little unlike running/biking since at first it's primarily technique-based. Definitely get some swim lessons--tri-specific swim coaching is the best if you can find/afford it, but plain old swim lessons with someone who teaches swimming for a living will be fine! We can definitely help you with further refinements here once you get the basics down.

Also, I highly recommend BT's Mentor Program--check it out via the link at the top of the Introduce Yourself forum.

Good luck!

2012-04-03 5:56 PM
in reply to: #4127743

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Veteran
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Subject: RE: New to triathlon...not a good swimmer

Yup, what Yanti said.  

I started swimming about 5 years ago and could barely make it 100m.  After struggling on my own for awhile, I sought out some coaching and joined a masters swim club.  They fixed my self taught horrible technique (for the most part) and after some time, swimming actually became something I enjoyed and looked forward to.

Good luck and welcome to BT.

2012-04-06 10:20 PM
in reply to: #4127743

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Expert
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Subject: RE: New to triathlon...not a good swimmer
Hey Alex, welcome to BT and yeah I am pretty much like you just getting started with swimming. I have been swimming about 3 months now and am starting to make some good progress. I signed up for lessons and would highly recommend doing that. There is nothing like having someone there to instruct you in how to swim properly and then critique you while you are doing it. I don't think that I could have made the progress that I have made had I tried to do it on my own. Good luck with the swimming it'll get better the more you do it.
2012-04-11 3:05 AM
in reply to: #4127743

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Subject: RE: New to triathlon...not a good swimmer

Hi Alex

I'm new to the world of Triathlons too and only just started swimming front-crawl around 5 weeks ago.  I had to stop every 25m to catch my breath at first!  Just 5 weeks into it and I'm now managing 1.2km sessions pausing every 150m.  Not an amazing distance I know but a huge improvement in just 5 weeks.  I'm asthmatic so getting a really good breathing rhythm going is key for me and I think that's probably the same for everyone.   Like the other guys here I too had swimming lessons at the beginning and it made an enormous difference for me.  I find that with swimming you just have to be very patient and wait for the improvements to come along - and they will!  Good luck.....

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