Your first swim

The best part of the swim is that you're not required to do a perfect super-fast freestyle!  Side stroke, breast stroke, whatever gets you from point A to point B.  And if it's OWS, there are lots of kayaks around to stop and hang on to if you need it.  And pool swim - you can stop and hang on every wall if you need to.

My first tri was a pool swim - the water was freakishly cold, my HR was through the roof and I thought I was going to die in the first lap and a half.  Then I flipped over and backstroked the rest of it. :-D

By the end of the season I was able to do a 1 mile OWS.  Very slow, my goggles leaked so bad I had to give them to a kayaker and keep my head above water for the rest of it, but I did it!

It CAN be done!

My first triathlon swim was a HIM. I am pretty comfortable in the water but to reduce any problems I may have encountered I waited 10 seconds after the gun before jumping into the water. The speedsters bolted and I had clear water the whole swim (wave start). It was a great suggestion by a friend of mine who has been doing tris for 10 years and still does this at the start for races that he "wants to finish" (long ones for him). The swim was relaxed and I ended up passing a lot of people who hammered it at the start. I have told a couple of friends who did their first races this past summer. They were very happy with the advice and things went very well for them.

Things have changed now and I have convinced myself that I have a touch of speed. Funny.

My first swim took place almost a year ago to the day. My personal trainer kept talking to me about how his wife's friend had done a sprint tri and that I should too. I let my trainer talk me into a lot of things. Like learning to run, like running a 5K, like running a half marathon. I'm pretty impressionable I guess. Anyway, I had a stress fracture and he told me to use the recovery time to train for the tri. Only thing is I didn't know how to swim.

But he kept talking about it and this was a chance for me to fulfill a lifelong wish. Learning to swim.

I remember when I was a little kid, maybe 6 or so, my parents signed me up for swim lessons. Only to change their minds after that one lesson. But I still hadn't forgotten how much fun it was. Later, way, way, way later in life I finally got the circumstances to go back to that goal.

I got online and the first thing I did was sign up for the tri. There was no backing out now. I had 11 months to get ready for the race. I started looking for an instructor. Emailed everyone I could find. I was so excited when I finally found someone. My first instructor was a 30 min drive away. By the time I got there after work, changed and got in the pool, they were almost getting ready to close. We had two lessons. She helped me figure out that although I say I love the water, I am actually quite afraid of it.This was going to take a while. But it just wasn't logistically feasible to keep going to that pool.

I found another pool closer by with another instructor. Can you say nightmare?! She was going through divorce and menopause and taking her angst out on me. So now I was afraid of the water and afraid of my swim instructor too. What a way to start the day. But I wasn't going to quit. I had committed to this race and I just wasn't going to give up just because she had a stank attitude. I started going to the pool on my own, without her around just to practice. With the vain hope that next time she saw my progress she'd be proud and ease up a bit.

I went back online and found a wonderful device called the Aquajogger swim belt and practiced just bobbing around in the water. Kinda sorta walk/swimming if you will. Although it freaked me out, I went to the deep end with my Aquajogger on. Sweating bullets. But I survived. The panic began to subside. The thrill of accomplishment began taking its place.

I made fast friends with the lifeguards. They would come stand right by me so I'd feel safe. Little by little they encouraged me to try little things like letting go of the Aquajogger and using a kickboard instead. Then at least I'd be horizontal, in swimmer position. The kickboard became my best friend. I clung to it like a toddler does his blankey. 

My instructor was tough but I did learn the basics of front float and the rudamentary beginnings of freestyle. But most of my learning took place on my own, playing in the water and experimenting.

Finally, she left and changed jobs. How do you spell relief?!

 I went online again and this time was the charm. I found my current instructor. What a delight! 16 y/o, sweet as can be and she didn't intimidate me one bit. I trusted her and she admired me for taking this on. With that positive reinforcement, that's when I really started to make progress.  

Fast forward to Oct 19, I did my first sprint tri. 250 yd pool swim in 5 ft of water. I could stand up and walk at any time if I needed to.

Swim time of 9:16. It wasn't pretty or graceful but I did it.  I just knew I would finish last. Instead there were 117 behind my time. The light went on. Something amazing happened. I found confidence. Nobody had to tell me I can do this. Now I knew it for myself. I can do this!

Fast forward to today, six weeks after the tri, and what a difference! The confidence I gained in that race propelled me forward further than I ever dreamed. I can swim 1500 yds with hopes of swimming a mile very soon. This week, I did 50 yds in 1:02.

Vision of greatness loom large in my head.

I'm loving this. Joined a Masters Team I'm loving it so much. Can't shut up about this I'm loving it so much.

I feel like I've discovered who I was meant to become. This is the real me. So much more than what I even imagined I could be. Learning, growing and feeling more empowered with each day. I learned to run. I learned to change the gears on my bike. But the greatest joy of all -- I LEARNED TO SWIM!!

Signing up for that tri was one of the best decisions I ever made. If I can do this, anybody can.  

If you have not been a competitive swimmer in the past, then of course the swim is what scares you most.  When I started swimming I had just been a hack in the pool, knew generally how to swim but not really-splash around with the kids thing.  I could not do many lengths at all, slowly but surely I have learned a lot about body position and gliding and the times have improved and can now swim for 40 minutes to an hour nonstop.  My first ri, I think I could barely swim the distance of 400 meters continuously in a pool.  I decided to go ahead and do it, trust me I had wanted to do a tri for a long time but the swim always kept me away.  I didn't want to get to another winter wishing I had done one so I just did i!.

First tri last summer - went out too fast, caught up in the moment and within 50 yards was flipped over and was back stroking-kind of panicking because I did not swim my own pace.  I did the back stroke for the next 325 meters thinking, why in the heck am I doing this?  Why not stick to the running and be happy being a decent running age grouper, why in the heck do you think you need to do this!  Within 50 meters of the shore again, I flipped over swam to shore and on with the sports I love and had a blast.  I did another sprint later and it went much better-no backstroke.

The last tri I did was a half ironman with a 1.2 mile ocean swim, pretty much thinking the same thing-but now kind of laughing at myself as I swim zig zagging all over the course! 

Why not just stick to running?  I like the new challenge in tris and have a long way to go to be good.  There will always be faster people and slower people, that's not the point.  It is the personal challenge that swimming represents.  I hate to succumb to fear. 

I am really glad I did not sit on the sidelines again this year; I have a lot to work on this winter.  I got my feet wet and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Go for it, you can do it! 

Here is my race report from my log for my first tri.  My first swim was more like a flail/hyperventilation.  But I made it! After about 10 OWS this summer I learned that I was not a bad swimmer and wish I had gotten into swimming before this year.  Once your friend does it few times it won't be an issue.  If he can beat cancer, this is a snap.

The stories are good.  Here's how to introduce a new swimmer to swimming.

Start out easy (very easy).
In the shallow end:   
Float on your stomach with your face in the water. 
Push off the wall and float (glide) on your stomach like Superman.
Kick while gliding.
Can you kick and glide across the pool? 
Add some arm motion.
Add breathing (it may take 4-5 trips before your ready for this).  
Once you can get across the pool in the shallow end, try it in the deep end. 
Repeat all of these in the deep end.
Practice rolling from front to back and back to front.
Spend a half hour jumping off the diving board and swimming to the side.

Now try that first lap. 

The key to making it is to relax and swim at a very slow pace (effort equivalent to walking, not running). 

I've done this with 5-6 year olds (granted, it was 27 years ago) and they are surprised at what they CAN do.  The key is to add one new element at a time.  We'd have contests to see who could glide the farthest.  They never realized how much swimming they did once I let the "play" on the diving board.  If your friend thinks like a 5-year old, they'll be OK with this. 

At my first tri swim, which was also my first open water swim, the RD announced before th eswim that just 10 seconds to your right the water was shallow enough to stand up.

 The water was 60 degrees and it was also my first wetsuit swim.  About 25 meters into it and I could not breath.  I remembered from my days in Boy scouts that you should just roll over and float on your back.

Anyway, 7 years later and I love open water swimming.  There is a liberating feeling for me when I am in the middle of a lake and I swam there and know I can swim back. 

A link to my first race report ... swim not good

TC3,

Here is the link from my introduction to this sport. My continued interest in this sport is directly related to this very well managed BT web site and  it's exceptionally helpful members and moderators.

 http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=132402&posts=10#M1681484

TC3, (Hank)

 I will gladly offer my services.  Who are we speaking about?

 M

I ran my first tri in 07 and was mentaly pretty good to go. I was a good biker and runner. Eric helped me train(he has done quite a few) and we swam and swam and swam...I was ready to go...until the day before the race! we got to the resort and I looked at the lake and the course seemed to go on forever! I had always swam in a pool and not in a lake since I was a kid. I couldnt sleep that night. Race time came and Eric kept tellin me I'd be fine, just swim like we trained he kept saying...male pride kept me there.

I started out ok, but only for a flash...I side stroked,dogpaddled and made it! We started in waves and the wave after me passed me up just before halfway, but I made it and thats what counted. I ran the same race this year and swam just a bit faster, but knew i'd make it. And I'll make it in 09 too. The swim is still by far the hardest part, but I know I'll do it because I did it before. Tell him to hang in there sooo many of us are bad swimmers and if we can do it so can he. Eric wants to run a relay team, but I think I have to swim, cuz now it is the part I want to improve on.

rob

I'm a swimmer.  I come from a swimming background and swam competitively both as a teenager and as a master.  My first tri was also my first open water swim.  I hadn't considered that maybe I should swim in open water to see what it feels like - I just figured I can swim so I'll be okay.  (Yeah - I know - I'm smart...)

The water stunk.  Seriously - like dead fish.  I got in and it was WAY over my head.  And I couldn't see a thing.  I hadn't considered how different it would be from a pool.  *blink* Seriously.  So once the gun went I started but it was overwhelming and scary not being able to see, having all these people around me.  I brought my head up a couple times and had a look around and then once I got into the groove I was fine.  The initial "OMG-ness" was pretty scary though.  It did get a little weird at the end ... there was a ton of weeds about 3/4 of the way through - which was awful. *ick*

I've learned that although swimming in the pool is great - it's kinda like being on a trainer on the bike.  It doesn't teach you how it really feels... So since then I've swam in lots of different lakes/oceans and rivers.  I never got used to all the people and it still freaks me out a little - but I just start off to the side and swim a little farther just to have a little bit of space.  (I'm not out to break any records though...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_6tOzt-nfM

Give him this link.  It'll help him get ready to swim.  At least it'll make him laugh.

I can't empathize too much because I've been swimming since before I could walk.  But I was stationed at Parris Island where about half of the recruits were adults who couldn't swim.  The ones who wanted to learn figured out how to relax and learned quickly.  Those who tried to fight the water sank like a rock. 

Get him relaxed in the water more than anything else.  And don't let him get discouraged. 

Good on him for learning.  That's gotta be one of the hardest things to learn as an adult.

Before my first triathlon I was a horrible swimmer. It was the swim that I feared the most. I knew I could do the bike and run but the swim absolutely scared me to death.  I could only do the breast stroke..a very sloppy one at that.  Fortunately, on race day, the half mile swim turned out to be very pleasant with no fear at all...grinning from ear to ear...and I still am not a good swimmer,  though I am much better than when I started.  

     The key for me in getting through my first tri swim without nightmares of drowning for weeks afterward was simply training myself to be comfortable  and relaxed in the water for a long duration of time without touching the bottom of the pool.   I started out by setting a goal to simply stay moving...and not touch the bottom of the 4 foot pool for a solid 10 minutes.  For 10 minutes, I would force myself to make my way from one end of the pool to the other and not touch bottom or hang onto a wall.   Usually I  would do a combination of breast stroke,  freestyle, some sidestroke, and occasionally floating on my back.  It didn't matter to me as long as I didn't touch bottom.   Once I got to 10 minutes, I would raise the goal to 20 minutes.  I got to where I could go for an hour like this.  Then I knew I could easily complete the half mile swim.  I went even further and introduced the scenario of getting my goggles kicked off.  As I was swimming, I would take my hand and knock them around and let water get all in them.  Then I would make myself relax and put them back on...all without touching in the 4 foot pool.     For me, completing the swim would be all about being relaxed and in control.    Teaching myself that I could remain afloat and moving for 1 hour in the 4 foot pool totally translated over to complete confidence in my ability to be comfortable in the deep water for the duration necessary to complete my first tri swim.   I also practiced in some shallow open water and then some deeper open water which also was a big help.   Another big help in learning to be relaxed and comfortable in the water was some video tutorials teaching the total immersion technique.  I found alot of good stuff on youtube.  Now that I am comfortable and at ease in the water,  I am now able to focus on stroke technique.   

I came out of the water in just over 19 minutes.  Not a great time by any stretch but most importantly, I enjoyed the swim and didn't panic.  I just kind of mozied along and enjoyed the experience. I did probably 25 percent freestyle, 50 percent breaststroke and 25 percent sidestroke.   I stayed to the outside since I had read here that breaststrokers have a tendancy to kick others...and I didn't want to be one those guys...ha ha. 

 I think my only moment of concern came when I came out of the water and ran up the ramp...I felt so dizzy and unstable!  I totally wasn't expecting that sensation.  Fortunately, that went away and the rest of the race went really well.