Is your masters swim club "beginner" friendly?

There are 3 within 15 miles of where I live......none are.

I wonder if it is different in Canada? I have not heard of any really good experiences here, and most mirror the OP's experience..  I have seen a number of people from Canada describe what you say.

If "beginner" just means you're slow, then yes.  If it means you can't swim at all, then some private lessons are suggested. 

We did a 10 x 100 fast set on a 2:30 interval last Wed and the "slow" group (including me) averaged < 1:50.  In the "fast" group the top guys were around 1:04.

But we also have a few folks who don't swim the intervals and that's OK.  No pressure put on anyone.

Mark

But is there any instruction at all?

There's instruction, but it's in the fine points of stroke technique, assuming that you already have some basic ability.  As I've mentioned previously, our coach is Sheila Taormina and she pretty much follows the stuff in her books, focused on the catch & pull.  Lots of drill stuff:  one-arm, catch-up, Tarzan, etc.

Mark 

Yep, I remember you posting that now that you mention it.  That's pretty cool.

This has been my experience.  When we get a full practice group we have three lanes, and I'm in the slowest.  Our x100 (SCM) will be on 2:10/2:15 or thereabouts.  We do drill stuff, too.  One practice I recall had us progressing from catch-up drill to 3/4 catch-up to swim.  

I've received some personal instruction during the practice, plus there are 1:1 swim lesson/coaching sessions available.

I think true beginners, like the OP, might stuggle a bit and they would recommend the individual lessons to supplement the practice itself.

I wouldn't ask if you can swim on your own.  I'd ask something along the lines of if I can't keep up with a given set is it alright if  I hang to the side and catch up on the next lap or orinterval.   I'm surprised they are not friendly to newswimmers.    

Some masters groups are more accommodating to triathletes than others.  We have several triathletes in our morning group and our coach knows that we occasionally need to do more endurance sets.  Helps to explain ahead of time what you're up to if you're not going to follow the posted workout..  And make sure you stay out of the way of swimmers doing intervals.

Mark

I swim with a coached swim for triathletes and while friendly there is a steep learning curve and all seem to try to be clear it's not a 'learn to swim' or swimming lessons. There's learning the lingo and how pace times, rest intervals, circle swimming, all that work. 

Now, friendly and helpful is true. Is it intimidating to newcomers? Probably. At my session last year i could consistently swim 2:05/100m and was the slowest.  I have been at it for a few years as an adult onset swimmer and while frustrating to be the slowest i am used to it. Not sure how the newbies feel about it though. 

The primary one by me is friendly but then again the girl who runs it is a triathlete and coaches triathletes.  That could be the difference.  But I have looked at others in the past for different days and times for practice and they say open to all levels.

I haven't read through the other responses, but mine is. We have 6 lanes and 2 are for slower swimmers and they focus more on technique. It's still a hard workout though. They won't teach you how to swim though, I think you have to be able to swim 1500m in an hour or something to join the club.

Your first 3 workouts are free where the coaches watch you a little more and both you and the coaches get to decide if you are ready to join the club after the intital 3 workouts.

http://www.englishbay.org/join.shtml

That's a good post.

I agree.  Excellent post.

Also based on my experience, I think the communication is the best tip.  In general, I already did everything mentioned (check the attitude at the door, mostly).  Whenever I pay someone to help me? Golf, nutrition, swimming?  I try to go in with an open mind and do whatever they ask of me and NOT act like "I already know that".  THEY are the experts.  That's why I pay them to help me.  But tell them your desires and if they see that you care?  They can focus a bit more on what is needed.

Even with that, I still ran into a masters groups where I was basically ignored and just told to do things and really felt out of place - it was just their regular workout.  The next time around, they had a 8 week "camp" that I signed up for so I got a little more personal attention and it was with the same group of people instead of just random drop-ins.  I think that got me a little more "included" in the group and got a level of familiarity with the coach and the system and I ended up fitting right in.  Granted, I was decent swimmer and could be solid MOP with most of the people already there (so does that count as a beginner?) I just didn't know the "rules" of masters.

I think it's letting the coach know your intent to get better and that your not just a drop in getting a workout in.