Cr@p Swimmers R Us

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  • I don't mind eyeball suckage, but I like my Speedo Futura Ice goggles. Couldn't swim without goggles, eewwwww. Don't need a swim cap really as I have v. short hair. There are Aquasphere goggles that are more like masks that many triathletes recommend. I think you'd get some funny stares in them initially, but I think they'd definitely not suck your eyeballs.
  • Cheers, XFR! I’ll read it all when I get a mo!
  • Just been to try out the tri club - great fun, and we did some total immersion drills. Very interesting stuff! Probably not a good idea to do at the same time as my other swimming lessons as that isn't TI, but it's well worth a look. It made me think about the individual bits of the stroke which was probably what I needed.
  • If I think about anything other than breathing, I end up not breathing, then suddenly realise I must breathe *NOW*. "Now" is always when my nose and mouth are totally and completely under water. That reminds me, I was going to try the nose clip again, must go and find it and put it in my gym bag.
  • Yes, I decided to go and get a nose clip.

    The interesting thing about TI is that it builds up gradually, and starts just with leg kicks and breathing, then builds in a very basic arm thing that isn't the full stroke, but does get you used to the timing on the breathing. I have the book on order - can't wait for it to arrive :o)
  • I have the book, I was hoping the technique would pass through osmosis from touching it, but I guess I'm going to have to read it?
  • My name is TishyMouse and I am a cr@p swimmer.

    I swim 1-2 times per week, typically about 50 lengths, without stopping, doing bilateral freestyle, taking about 33 mins. So I have reasonable endurance, but I am so-o-o-o sl-o-o-ow. My 1km time hasn't improved AT ALL in the past 6 months. I did the open-water swim leg of an Oly tri in August (part of a relay) in 38 minutes. Not quite last but not many people behind me!

    I went for a trial swim session with my local tri club last night. My first coached swim ever. It was good fun though hard work. I was in the humiliating position of being slowest in the slow lane but luckily I have already had plenty of experience in being over overtaken by flowery-capped ladies doing breaststroke so my confidence was only slightly dented and I plan to go back next week.

    One thing I noticed was that while my stroke rate seems to be OK compared to the other novices (approx. 22 strokes per length) it takes me about 60 seconds to do 50m compares with their 50-55secs. Does anyone have any tips on how can I work on improving my cadence while maintaining the stroke length? Might it be to do with the strength of my arms (which admittedly are somewhat weedy)? Should I be spending more time in the gym rather than the pool?
  • Good lesson last night - it's starting to all come together. I do need to keep working on slowing down and not getting out of breath, and working out the best pattern for breathing.

    Stroke rate for a length has definitely come down - I was over 40 last week for a 33m pool, last night I was in the mid 30's :o)

    How's everyone else doing?
  • Managed 8 whole lengths of crawl in my session yesterday lunchtime! The rest was 20 lengths pure breast to warm up, then the rest of the mile a combination of 1 breast/1 crawl, with the occasional attempt at a number of crawl lengths, culminating in the mighty 8 lengths (that's 200m, 25m pool). Wore my nose clip and it certainly helped with the breathing, but I still desperately need to sort out some lessons, I'm sure my technique is dreadful. I feel as though I'm really twisting my whole body to get my mouth far enough out of the water to take a breath - that can't be right, surely?
  • One thing I found in the bit of TI I did Monday was that that was exactly what did happen, but I think it might have been exaggerated to drill it in. I don't know.

    Last night the non-TI coach said that you didn't need to - you make a trough as you cut through the water so you don't need to turn much to have your mouth above the water, even if the water beyond the trough would higher. Hope that makes sense!
  • Jose.Jose. ✭✭✭
    Hi peeps,

    I Did 1,900 mts in 1hour and 3 minutes (including transition 1) on my first Half Ironman distance triathlon. 98% breastrsoking and 2% "own free style". (actually I also walked some part).

    I recognised that I didn't do better or didn't use a bit more the crawl thing because I was "a bit" scared.

    Keep practising, there is always hope.
  • XFR, I have some way to go before my stroke manages to make anything approaching a trough into which I can direct my breathing! But I shall investigate at lunchtime...
  • Did my second sprint distanc tri on Sunday and actually managed to do over half the swim in crawl (well my version of it anyway!). When I had some lessons a while back I was taught that your whole body should turn to the side as you reach forward - I can just about manage it on one side when I'm desperate for breath. I still haven't managed to make anything vaguely like a trough to breath in.
  • Ooh, maybe I am doing it right then? I really must look at that Total Immersion book. And work on my troughs. Is a sprint distance swim usually 750m?
  • WaboWabo ✭✭✭
    quimby I believe sprint is 400m.
    possunt quia posse videntur - we can because we know we can 
  • It seems to vary, the one I did was 400m.

    I was taught the turn right to the side for TI.
  • Coo, I'm closer to the distance than I thought. Although I can still do it faster with breast stroke.
  • Both the tris I've done have been 500m, but I think the majority are 400m.
  • Open water sprints are 750m - London, Windsor, Ironbridge etc. There are a few open water Supersprints like Eton and a few others I think.
  • With regard to goggles I really rate the Aquasphere ones. I bought these after getting really fed up with having to empty my others after every length. There are few things more uncomfortable than feeling your googles filling up as you swim along. The Aquasphere ones look more like a snorkel mask. You do feel a bit of a plonker emerging from the changing room in them, but to be honest once I have my swimming hat and noseclip on, I'm not winning any beauty contests anyway. I usually just hope no-one actually recognises me.
  • This website might be of interest?

    http://www.gerbenonline.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Swimming&file=video

    One of the better video clips to study is the 'Hackett Thorpe catch up style' clip which is 9th from the top

    regards

    Dave F.
  • I can't get any of these to download - they seem to slow down then grind to a halt. I don't have broadband but can normally download files like this no probs
  • It did the same for me via a browser download, but I plugged the URL into GetRight and set off 4 segments going, and I managed to download the file Dave F recommends.

    I don't look like the video when I do crawl ;-)
  • What's GetRight and where can I get it from please?
  • www.getright.com - it's a download manager. Paste an URL into it, then you can configure it to pull a file in more than one session from the server - a bonus when the bottleneck appears to be at the server end, not your end.
  • Flip!

    Just back from the pool - I swam a mile :oS

    Ok - I stopped for breathers every few lengths, so I'd never do it in an open water swim, but it was a mile nonetheless :o)
  • Did my first swim since running a half on Sunday, did my usual mile with 20 breast to warm up, then 1 breast/1 crawl up to 42 lengths, then 8 whole lengths of crawl, 2 breast, then 12 (twelve!) whole lengths of crawl without stopping. That's the furthest I've ever done of crawl - 300 metres.

    Well done on the mile crawling, Bear, I've a way to go before I manage that!
  • yeah, but you've done a lot more lengths without a break - I did six yesterday which is 200m, but I've never done 300m without a major breather.

    64 lengths of a 25m pool (which is what you did if 12 lengths is 300m) works out to be a mile :o) Nice one Quimby!
  • Ah, but, Bear, my thing is, I know I can do a mile of pure breast stroke fairly easily, it's the crawl that's the major problem. (In fact, if I have time, I can happily breast stroke for 1.5 or 2 miles without knackering myself. Not very fast, mind, but I can keep going.) Even a very slow crawl leaves me so much more tired than breast stroke. It's like 7 minute miling compared to 11 minute miling! I'm sure it's poor technique mixed with feeble arm muscles, and I am getting better with practice, but I still have a way to go.
  • Yes, I think you're in a similar situation to me.

    I think it's a bit like starting a 10k as if it's a one mile run - I can do 6 minute mile pace for a mile, maybe two, but after that I run out of steam completely. The tricky is to slow down to 7:15 pace. I think I need to do the same for swimming, plus probably develop stronger arm muscles. I'm going again tonight so I'll report back. Think we're doing kicking drills.
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