Manatees - 2018 Edition Now CLOSED (Page 85)

Agreed about the toe covers. My feet don't overheat with them and they could aid in the whole dryness thing if the roads are wet.

I learned to swim to do triathlon. I've been swimming for 2010. I've taken private lessons, I've attended group classes, I've done masters. I'm still a BOP swimmer. I'll try something different this winter in the hopes of becoming more of a MOP swimmer.

While i've always swum and am extremely comfortable in the water -I did grow up in S. Florida with a pool and the ocean right there!,  I've never been  a real swimmer; so have been a BOP triathlon swimmer. I did masters' swimming when first started out, but my technique never improved, so last year I took some private lessons and it really helped me. Though still slow, I'm much better than I was. I also still hate the swim portion of the race and question my sanity every single race!  I think I will probably take a few more lessons during the winter in hopes of really improving.

Your times have really come down this year! Do you think that Tower 26 helped?

IDK, i know starting last year and continuing to date that I've been swimming more, that I've worked on strength stuff, and I've tried to pay more attention to what I'm doing   The tower 26 workouts are good though, so I'm sure they have helped. All that and the use of pool toys 

Good advice! The coach at my masters team was not really helpful. The woman i went to for lessons really just focused on my technique, but it was technique geared for OWS.  She also conducts OWS clinics, so I really should look into that myself! 

My sweet spot is probably around the oly distance- sprints make me really, really work to catch the fast swimmers and people who don't take time to make sandwiches in transition like I do; oly distance gives me a bit more leeway to make up deficits; and the longer stuff just makes me cry

I think the rules should change and allow people with small hands to use at least finger paddles during the swim to make up for the saucer like hands the bigger people have   

When I started triathlon, I swam on my own with my limited swimming experience growing up (very comfortable in the water but never any formal stroke/technique training).  Eventually I joined a masters group and the first instructor was a HUGE help with improving technique and learning a better feel for moving through the water.  Sadly, he left to work at another college and his replacement was not very helpful for those of us still honing our technique.  The next person (not affiliated with the college) eventually became a tri coach and while he knows his stuff and I did pick some things up from him, I felt he tended to cater more to his tri clients and didn't bother with the rest of the masters group as much.  

I took a handful of private lessons last summer to help get ready for my 5K swim, and similarly this year I hired a Secret Swim Coach to help me prepare for the same event.  Over the years I've gone to swim clinics at tri expos - one year I did aTotal Immersion class and another year I did one that was lead by the great Sheila Taormina, who, by the way, has a couple great books I've picked up that help explain and demonstrate some technique stuff.  All said and done, I tend to be MOP to slightly front MOP (usually above MOP in AG, for instance) in my races.

Bottom line:  individual coaches can be helpful.  Clinics can be helpful. Masters can be very helpful if you have the right person leading them.  Books and videos on the interwebs can be helpful if you find the right one(s).

Same here! Also why I generally don't like Olympic distance -- too high a percent of swimming!

Swimming poll: I grew up doing summer swim league until I got to middle school. I stopped swimming competitively but then my senior year in high school, decided I wanted to be on the swim team. I was certainly not in the "A" group, but held my own in the "B" group and was not the slowest by far. My event was backstroke, I freaking love the backstroke - especially leading off a medley relay. I have a very vivid memory of trying to get my 50 freestyle time under 30 seconds, and I finally did at the end of the season. Memories 

Fast forward to adult-hood. I probably started swimming again when I trained for my first triathlon in 2006. So I'd had a few years off but picked it up quickly again. I am strangely happy with my paces (1:50 - 1:55/100 yd) and don't feel that an investment in a coach would give me the bang for my buck I'd be looking for. Or maybe I'm just lazy haha! 

Swimming is BY FAR the most enjoyable part of triathlons for me. I smile the entire time I'm swimming, and I am legitimately sad when I exit the water and feel like I actually have to "work" for the rest of the race. I realize I'm in the minority.

You are getting all of the problems out of the way before the race! Way to go!

Kevin has a Fenix 3. His watch band broke last week. He asked me to order a new one, saying he did not remember where we got the last one. I looked it up and ordered it. We replaced it last fall from Amazon, the fall before that from Clever Training. That brings us to the fall of 2015 when he bought it. I guess it's safe to say that the Fenix 3 watch band lasts for one year! (FWIW, he uses this as his everyday watch as well as his workout watch).