The swim in your first triathlon (sprint)

1) LOL, Sorry I had to laugh, yes you swim the whole event  But you can stop to rest if you need to, you can also roll over on your back and backstroke, this is a good way to calm your nerves, regain breathing and slow down your heart rate. My first Tri was a olympic and I ended up in front of the pack and I was getting clobbered and swam over and it was quite terrifying. I think I made it less then 50 yards and had to pull over and tread water for a couple minutes to get my head together and get going again. I then backstroked for a ways to continue to calm myself and then was able to get back in the game and get the job done.

2) You have room for huge improvements. Swimming is very technique driven and once you start learning the technique of Triathlon specific freestyle you will make HUGE gains. Last year my best time was 35 min for a mile. (1800+yrd) That included the run back to transition as well.

3) I am using a workout guide called 'Swim Speed Secrets Workouts' This is a series of workout cards you take with you to the pool to structure your workouts. Its a 8 week program based on 3 workouts a week. I typically can only get in 1-2 workouts a week due to work and the fact the closest pool is 35 miles away. Having a structured workout is making huge gains for me both physically and mentally.

https://www.swimoutlet.com/p/velo-press-waterproof-swim-speed-workouts-7531132/

Also check out the first 10 podcasts, 4-8 specifically in this series from Tower 26. (in this link they are listed first episode last)

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/triathlon-swimming-tower-26/id1080467712?mt=2

Best wishes and you got this no problem. Just starting out swimming seems very difficult at first. The best thing you can do is start learning proper techniques right away so you do not ingrain bad habits that will have to be unlearned. 

Welcome!  

Question 1: no, but it's the fastest stroke.  People will use backstroke/breaststroke to rest or recover but the majority of folks will be swimming freestyle.  The breaststroke kick can knock a competitor silly if they are swimming next to you so you need to be aware of your fellow swimmers if you decide to use it.

Question 2: It depends.  You can make big improvements (I'm thinking cutting your current time in half) if you get swim lessons and swim more than 2 times a week...you'll get minimal improvement in your swim specific endurance only swimming twice a week.  Your running ability sounds pretty good but it won't help you if your exhausted coming out of the water.

The good news is you have plenty of time to get ready.  

I would try to get in the pool 3-4 times a week.  Your coach should be giving you feedback and specific drills to develop good technique.  It will be a bit of a struggle at first since you will be trying to address technique and swim specific endurance at the same time...everyone goes through this to some degree.  You might consider posting a swim video here for some additional feedback.

Bike/run- if you've only got 6 hours/week, I'd spend 2/3's of it on swimming and the remainder on biking/running.  You can fake your way through the bike/run at the sprint distance...especially with your running background.

Great progress!  Seems you're well on your way to the goal of safely completing your tri, which is awesome.  Be forewarned, it can become an addiction. 

It sounds like you've made a plan that will work for you and fit your schedule/available time, which is half the battle (consistency and working out "smart" will go a long way toward improvements in performance).

I'll offer one additional piece of advice for race day, admittedly similar to some of the above, about stroke.  While freestyle is the fastest and most common, there are lots of other folks out there using many different strokes.  My advice is to try a bunch of these strokes and see which ones work for YOU for calming your nerves, catching your breath, etc.

Many people like the breast stroke, but I find it tiring.  Others like backstroke, which I do like for resetting my goggles (my first tri after taking some 15 years "off" and I got punched in the face by a person who was "winning the start" and had to get my goggles back on my head).  For catching my breath if I've gone too hard or redlined for some reason (like getting socked in the face), I personally like the sidestroke (all that lifeguard practice).  It's fairly fast and I can breath like a shrew (fast) to catch my breath quickly without losing too much time. 

But that's just what works for ME. 

TLDR - Try some of the other strokes out to see what YOUR go to recovery stroke is (including trying to put goggles back on while swimming) before race day.  Hopefully, you won't need it, but it's a confidence builder to feel good about one of the alternate strokes before your first go.

Welcome and enjoy!

Matt