Subject: RE: Swim snorkel 6 years ago I entered my first Tri (Sprint ). Although having been a lifeguard in my youth, I never had lessons or really learned how to swim correctly. When I decided to do a Tri I was 48. I joined LA fitness to have access to a pool. I started training in Feb and the Tri-for-Joe was at the end of May. For the first two weeks swimming was pretty difficult for me. At that point I came across the front face snorkel and things were going better. Then using videos off YouTube, I developed my technique.
Now LA is only 25m, 50m would be ideal but, when I started the snorkel, I was taking 27 strokes to get from one end of the pool to the other. After 4 weeks of snorkel and technique, I cut it down to 16 strokes!
Now the answer to your question... At that time, I was told I could NOT use a snorkel. So for 3 weeks before the race, I put the snorkel away....1st week I thought I would drown, 2nd week still had to stop and cough on occasion , 3rd week I was pretty comfortable with the side to side breathing and was averaging 18 strokes. I did ok for my first Tri 16:26 for 8oom and a TON of folks!
The key to getting the breathing down was having the technique down first! I did not use a regular snorkel because my arm would hit the tube.
I used the swimmer's snorkel with a cardio cap but, now there is a freestyle version which may be better;
http://www.finisinc.com/technical/snorkels
This was probably the most worth while piece of training equipment for me when starting out. I have not done a try since that first year but, I am considering trying again and yes I will start swimming with this thing till I get the technique back down.
Good Luck Edited by ET1SW47 2016-02-09 1:11 PM
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