Swim Lessons?

Have you talked to the instructor about what your goals are?  8 - 1/2 hour lessons where the instructor has the intention of just teaching you the basics of how to swim can be very different from 8 - 1/2 lessons where the instructor will work towards the goal of improving your ability to swim 1500m in open water.

You need to find a good swim coach. Some folks at Ys are great instructors and others not so good. Price is fair..I pay my swim coach $35/lesson which can be 30-50' long until I can no longer take in information well sort of get overloaded.

Honestly at my Y the instructors they have give lessons are horrible and I'd never recommend that any adult wanting to learn to swim to compete in tris use one of them. You need to ask a bunch of questions about the potential instructor. My Y they tend to be kids that are lifeguards and swam as kids or adults that took some certification class to teach swim classes.

Ask around where you live maybe even post on the board from your state for recommendations. You'd be better off with a high quality swim coach that is more expensive and take 4-5 lessons than lots that are inexpensive but poor quality.

I have worked with a different swim coach each year since winter '04/'05 and finally found a great coach who is National Masters AG record holder and had been coaching 20+ years. She has the ability to explain things many different ways until it clicks with me.  It may be that I was now ready to learn but she has helped me a lot. In open water I'm swimming 20+ seconds per 100 faster.

I don't want to discourage you but be sure if you invest the time and money you have someone qualified to help you. Swim lessons can be a great to help improve your technique.

The swim coach who writes articles here on BT has a list of coaches he recommends you could try there too.

I haven't spoken with her about my goals yet - I simply called for more information, missed her return call and listened to her message. She outlined the program, 8 1/2 hr sessions designed to help beginners, intermediates, advanced - and even mentioned she's trained individuals for triathlon swims as well. I'll be sure to mention OWS. Thanks for the tip

Thanks Kathy. Great advice. I will do some digging into the Y's coaching staff and also poke around on the PA forum for any swim coach recommendations.