How little swimming can I get away with? (Page 2)

If you care about biking hard and running hard after the swim you have to have swim fitness. 

If you are there to finish and enjoy the day you probably don't have to swim at all. 

Join a masters class, go twice a week, that's enough to maintain.  Perhaps you will find that you enjoy it and will go more than twice, at which point, you will actually increase your speed.  Swimming alone is boring and makes even the best of us want to quit.  Masters is a totally different world.

I think this is what I didn't agree with.  Even if I put a lot of time in and want to get faster and can get on the podium doesn't mean that everyone has to.

I think this is an activity for ANYONE.  The impression I got from this statement was that unless you are "in it to win it" it's not for you.

But you are right, it's probably not a GREAT activity for people of that mindest, but it doens't mean it's not a good one, even if you are just a weekend warrior.  Some people use them just for the social reasons and to get out for a weekend - and that's fine for them, even if it's not how I approach it.

I can sympathize with the OP. I like doing tris, I love training, and when I get to the pool I tend to enjoy swim training. But I tend to end up cutting (big) corners on the swim practice. I enjoy the biking and the running more, and I'm more likely to have specific goals for those two sports, and both of them are easier to fit into a busy schedule. I can run out of the front door, and I do almost all biking at home on the trainer. Getting to the pool is just more of a pain, and so it tends to fall by the wayside. Last year I trained more consistently for the swim, it was my first season, but this year I've mostly been doing some crash-course swimming before my tri races, which have been intermixed with a bunch of standalone bike or run events. My swimming is far weaker than my bike and run, but I'm fine with that, though I often kick myself over the amount of time that I've already lost by the end of T1.

Having said this, one thing that I did that helped with swim prep this year was to buy a set of StrechCordz, which allow me to do swim workouts in my living room before biking or running. Very time efficient, and helped me to stay fairly close to my best swim speeds, and even helped me to improve some aspects of my stroke that I hadn't properly understood when in the pool. This won't make me a great swimmer, but it makes it easier for me to be a passable swimmer who can then enjoy the bike and run legs in races.

I'm able to do 1 long continuous swim (2500 yars.) a week with a mix of intervals thrown into it and stay the same speed 1:45. I have done 3 1/2 IM with swim times 33:00-35:00.I swam alot in the 80s when in high school. So when I started back up 4 years ago it only took a few months to get to the 1:50 100 yard. In school I swam 1:05 but swam 6 days a week. So if I where you I would get back to your 2:00 100 than try 2 swims a week. After 3 weeks see if you are maintaning or slowing than adjust from that. If you stay the same go to 3 swims every 2 weeks. I would not do less than 1 swim a week.

I've been doing tri's(all sprints) since 1994 and have trained for the swim maybe half a dozen times in those 18 years. Probably completed in the neighborhood of 30 events. 400m to 800m lengths. If your stroke is OK and general fitness is good, 20 minutes of swimming isn't bad. Bike is my strongest discipline and can normally finish in the top 10% to 15% for my AG in that discipline so lack of "swim fitness" isn't a huge hinder.

Now do I ask myself after each event why I don't train more as I know I could improve my finish position (I average midpack to top 25% for local events), heck yes. I just don't.  I have a lot of "passions" in life that limit how much time/energy/money I can contribute to each. Doesn't mean I don't love triathlons. I do! Besides, they are me and my wife's "date mornings"! I suppose having so many passions might be like having 6 kids, you love them all but it sure is different than having 1.

If only I didn't have to work.............................................

It always amazes me how passionate a lot of you guys are about this stuff!  But anyway, I'm considering getting back in the pool 2xweek once it opens again in September.  I guess I don't really HATE swimming but every time I go all I can think about is how much I would prefer to be running or biking!

I was hoping that after a season building some swim fitness I would begin to enjoy it, even look forward to it.  After all I HATED running when I started but within a couple months began to not mind it and then began to enjoy it.  Same thing doesn't seem to be happening with the swimming though.  Unless it just takes longer, much longer?

As for the OWS, I was really hopeful this spring that moving outside and ditching the pool would suddenly make swimming fun.  Didn't really work that way. 

Ill shoot for twice a week in the pool this winter and see how it goes.

So, if you hate swimming you can do a few things: swim as little as possible so you can still  maintain your confidence and endurance for OWS on race day. Quit tris and do dus. Quit the sport altogether.

If you enjoy racing tris, then the last isn't a viable option. And swicthing to dus isn't necessarily, either. No matter what people like to saw, a du is NOT a tri without a swim. It's a different race. It tends to favor slightly different talent sets, and is (at leas in my opinion) more difficult to "sneak by" in.

I really didn't care for swimming, either. I was an average swimmer who could have been decent if I trained, but I didn't want to train. :D So I did the minimum, which for me was 1, maybe 2, times a week, about 1000-1500 meters at a time. It was enough for me to keep my form sharp and my endurance up.

Now, EVENTUALLY, I gave it up altogether, and now only do dus. Which I actually find to be much more difficult as far as racing goes...but a lot simpler and less stressful logistically. But like I said, it's a different sport, and if you're REALLY into tris, that's not the best action.

I'm in the same situation but mainly due to time.  Its much easier to hop on the trainer in the basement or go for a run in the neighbourhood than to drive 30 minutes for an OWS or try to share a lane with 3 others (or more) at the Y.

So I've reduced my swim workouts to roughly once a week (or less) and have been able to maintain my pace of 1:50 to 2:00 / 100 metres.  Not fast but over a sprint distance I'm still in the pack to be able to pass a few people on the bike or the run.

Yep, sounds just like me!  Though for some reason the idea of Du's don't really excite me.  I don't know why.  I could see moving on more towards adventure racing, Kayak tri's, MTB racing or a number of other things like that though. 

I just like to race...I was a runner first, but had to give that (at least 7 dpw running/racing). If I didn't have dus, I'd probably just find something else to do...go back to the Velodrome, do more MTB races, something.