Swimming is tough!

I am the same way.  I have a real hard time with the swim.  I have gotten better at it by just swimming.  I have come to realize that some people are more bouyant than others.  I am not bouyant at all so not only am i trying to go forward, I have to work hard just to keep from sinking. 

it is for this reason I decided to buy a wetsuit in order to help with the bouyancy.   I have not bought one yet so any suggestions/tips about wetsuits, I am listening. 

  I was new to triathlon training. I had been biking 12-15 miles, I had run 7 miles without much trouble, I was toned, and felt very confident for what training I'd done. Time to start swimming. I stood at the end of the pool confidently ready to rip off 500 or so yds....swam to the other side, WALKED back and sat huffing and puffing as I watched other swimmers go lap after lap. You're right, it's tough!

Swim fitness is weird because any other fitness you have (run, bike, etc) doesn't really translate. The good news is it improves quickly.

I've read some good programs for developing swim fitness. There's a good one on the web called 0-1650. Most programs, as well as my experience,  is to do sets and rest between them. Then make the rest between them less and less, while making the sets longer.    And then there's technique......

 Here's the link

http://www.ruthkazez.com/SwimWorkouts/ZeroTo1mile.html

Lessons

I just read your "introduce yourself" post.  You ran a marathon, so two laps in the pool should not require a break.  There has to be a serious flaw in your stroke to be holding you to 50 yards at a time.  I'd be willing to bet that after just a lesson or two you would be good to go and swimming large chunks of yards at a time.

It's either that or you just need to slow down.

I was in your same spot not long ago and for me, it all came down to breathing.  I wasn't exhaling correctly underwater, which causes all sorts of problems.  This post helped tremendously as well...

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

Print it and read it everyday for a week or two.

A great accomplishment!

Thanks!! I've been working pretty hard at it and trying to focus on technique and doing sets rather than just flat out swimming. Hopefully I can scrounge up some extra money and get a few lessons over the winter.

Swimming is all about technique... if ther is any way you can get ANYONE (coach, swim teacher or just a friend that swims well) to look at your style and see if there is anything that could be limiting your ability then go for it!

The other thing most people do when they first hop in the pool is try to swim to hard, to fast and muscle their way through... start with a warm up... so go slow nad easy and see how you go.

Initially its about doing it so your speed is not of consequence.. once you feel comfortable in the water then look at increasing pace...

2 words

Total Immersion

i was in the exact same situation until i found TI.   within a couple months of training and a private lesson using TI, i can swim well over a mile relatively easy.

just do a search of these forums about TI and you're problems will be answered

Swimming is about natural ability or learning technique, way before fitness becomes a factor.  I can't run 7 miles, but I can sure knock out 1500 meters of swimming without a problem.  It's not because I'm in great shape, because I STRUGGLE to break 30 minutes in a 5k, but I am at ease in the water, and all I think of while swimming is "Breathe...glide...elbows high."  Once you calm down in the water and get a good technique, you'll see very fast improvements.  You already have the fitness part down.

At first swimming is definately the toughest part of triathlon.  Once you figure it out you quickly learn (at least I believe) it is the easiest physically.  Swimming is all form and technique (well maybe not all but to be fairly profecient it is mostly form). 

I started swimming for fitness with no intention of doing a triathlon.  I was training for a ultramarathon at the time and did not even own a bike.  Went to the pool one day in board shorts and a cheap pair of goggle and make 4x25 with huge breaks and head out of water the whole time.  3 months later I found a pool tri that was 300m, which at the time I couldn't even do that distance.  I bought a bike and got to where I could swim 300 meters in about 9 minutes.  Went to the pool one day told myself to slow down and not stop, I made 750 meters, 2 days later made 1500.  I did nothing different than a few days earlier just relaxed.  I ended up finishing my race easly but the swim was by far my worst time, my placing were (230, 55, 59) out of 280 people with a swim time of 8:30 and bike around 20mph with only 4 or 5 rides in total.  A year later I did the same race again and swim was down to 5:30 and bike was still around 20.  As you can see I gained quite a bit in swim time just by swimming alot.

So much of swimming is form and not motor. Back in my boy scout days I did the mile swim pretty comfortably for a merit badge. 15 years later I feel like a brick in the water. Mostly because I've forgotten all the nuance of a good freestyle stroke.

I just got the Total Imersion DVD and book last weekend. I'm impressed with the concepts and now trying to put them into practice. I see the light at the end of the tunnel though, which is effortless strokes spearing me through the water. You might consider giving TI a try also.

X 10 to the Ruth Kazaz method of going from 0 to one mile. I had a decent background in open water swimming and surfing when I was younger but until February of this year had not seen a pool to work out in for over 10 years. After getting some suggestions I tried the 0 to one mile method and was pretty happy with the results. The swim fitness gains were great...especially given the bike and run training.

I did a couple of OWS events this year and owe my results to the jumpstart that the Kazaz program gave me.

I ran a 3:34 at NYC marathon, jumped into the pool a month later - for the very first time - and I could barely squeak out 50m without having to stop, red-faced and panting, and that was at a slow speed.  It took me three solid months of swimming twice a week before I could bang out 400 meters straight. 

Swimming is an ENTIRELY different animal than biking and running.  You have to develop technique and you have to develop your "swim lungs".   

Check out these two awesome videos by Dave Scott.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYt8x_7uL48&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SVfLvO5Z0M&NR=1

I jumped into the pool completely out of shape after a 20 year break from swimming and was able to swim 2,000 meters with flip turns a week later.  I think this shows that the intensity of the exercise is not what makes it "hard", but rather technique.  I think there are three things you need to swim a long distance:

1.  You need to be comfortable with your stroke.  If you don't know how to swim efficiently, you'll waste a lot of effort to gain very little forward motion.  You will also likely panic, elevating your heart rate and breathing.

2.  You need to be able to breathe naturally.  While I breathe naturally from my right, I cannot breath well from my left and suffer dearly when I try.  It's something I'm working on.  It takes lots of practice to be able to breathe without effort.

3.  You need to go as slow as it takes to sustain your pace.  For a new swimmer, the line between a sustainable pace and a 25 meter pace is very fine.  Turn on the gas and you'll find yourself winded at 25 meters.  Slow down and you'll eventually find a rythm that will let you swim unti your skin falls off.

I totally agree that swim lessons are in order for anyone having trouble swimming.  Though I consider myself a skilled swimmer, I have also purchased several DVDs in an effort to improve.  I have found that some very simple changes to my stroke have made my swims faster AND easier.

 I think a lot of people think that swimming is a natural ability that anyone can do well.  While most people can do something that looks like swimming, it takes training and practice to do it effectively and to do it well.

Best of luck.

Dave

When I started out, I had similar problems.  What worked for me best was to breathe and slow down.  I noticed I was trying to swim as far as possible on each breath, which left me exhausted by the end of a single lap.  When I started to breath with every right side stroke (my preferred side), and slowed down my swimming to match my breathing, it all started to come together.  Focus on the breathing first, then start to pay attention to where your arms are in relation to the swim.

Now the biggest limit to distance for me is boredom.  So I was able to work on improving my times this year, and went from beng a waaaaay BOP (as in 2 waves of racers would pass me in the swim) to a solid MOP swimmer.

and it wasn't because you weren't "fit enough" to swim more than 50 yds.  It's because your form and technique was so bad that you were probably doing the equivalent of a 50 yard sprint in the pool.

If you can't do two laps, the answer is lessons.  If you are struggling to finish a half mile, mile, etc... the answer is more time in the pool.