Clean and Shiny Newb swim question

Sure. Depending on the race and the rules, you can even touch the bottom as long as you don't push off forward from it.

Just with the breaststroke, be very aware of the people around you. You don't want to kick someone.

John

My first (of the 2 I've done) was 500 yards and I did it completely breaststroke as I was not confident with freestyle.  I was very close to last, but I am only racing to finish!

First...Welcome to BT!

If I understand correctly, you can swim about 4 or 5 lengths of the pool using a crawl stroke, but then have to swim a length breast stroke before going back to crawl?  Why do you need to do this?  Do you feel like you can't get enough air?  Do your muscles hurt too bad?

Depending on your answers, my guesses are that the issue is one of the following (in order of how likely I think each is):
1.  You are going too fast, and need to slow down.
2.  You've developed this pattern as a crutch, the problem is only in your head, and you could keep going if you really set your mind to it.
3.  You actually have something wrong with your body position, such as low legs, that is causing you to work a lot harder than necessary.

You still have 5 weeks until your event.  That's plenty of time to progress to a 500m continuous pool swim from the point you are describing.

To answer your actual question, yes, it's fine to use an occasional breast stroke during a pool swim, but etiquette is to pay attention when passing other swimmers to try not to kick them.

Welcome- Five weeks is a long time. Keep putting in the time and you might be surprised at how much you progress.

Edited by Karibu 2010-07-14 8:18 PM

1. Slow Down! I was in the same boat a few months ago and couldn't do more than 50m without resting. Then I read somewhere (probably here) to slow down. I went to the pool with the intentions of seeing how slow and relaxed I could go. I swam 500m non-stop at the break neck speed of 4 min./100m and felt great. Speed will come later or so I've read.

2. Kick as little as possible. Your big leg muscles need a lot of oxygen and provide very little in the way of propulsion.

3. Beg, borrow or steal a copy of the Total Immersion DVD. After watching it once I went from 30 strokes per 25m to under 20.

Disclaimer. I am very new to distance swimming myself but these 3 things made a world of difference to me. I am curious to hear what experienced swimmers have to say about my 3 tips as I am still learning.

If you can swim the distance using whichever stroke you want/need to; I think that the problem lies mostly in your stroke (and not as much as your conditioning yet).  Go to the local community swimming pool when they are having a practice.  Afterwards, politely ask the coach if he/she would watch you swim a few laps and critique your stroke.  My assumptions are that you probably aren't pushing your hand all the way down past your hips and you enter far to early.  During your WU, do a drill (as slow as you have to) where your stroke is as long and smooth and steady as possible. "Push" until your arms are straight and your palms are facing the surface of the water; drag your finger tips along the surface and your thumb along your rib cage while keeping your elbow as high as possible (some may argue this point with me), and catch the water "gently" with your arms stretched out as far as possible.  At this point, the other arm should be pushing past your hips and beginning the finger tip drag!  Remember to get deep rotations around the axis of your spine.  This is a drill, but your actual swimming stroke will be very close!

Edited by Cordulegaster 2010-07-16 6:42 AM

The bottom is the one place you can push off forward from and walk on and still be legal within the race. You cannot get forward movement from the rope or the sides, though, only the bottom.

Any stroke is legal.