Cr@p Swimmers R Us

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  • Saffers, if you got good technique the speed will come. With a good technique gives you a great foundation to build on.

    Be mindful that objective is to finish the swim as easy as you possible can. If you have good technique this makes this doable. The speed will follow.

    *Disclaimer obviously Im not a preffeshnial coach so my observations are based on reading things on the tinternet and drinking alot of milkshakes* image

    Ohh and Im sure camping has something to do with slow swimming bleedy sure I read that somewhere image

  • M.ister WM.ister W ✭✭✭
    Swimming is a tiny part of the race so don't worry Saffers. I was so slow in the swim at IM that more people were ahead of me than eventually finished the race. I had no trouble finding my bike as there were so few left in T1.
  • RC......I do hope your are correct about the speed coming along.  My Coach has commented that I don't even swim fast enough to get out of breath.......which is right as I do swim comfortable....LOL but I go on and on.

    LMAO.....@ camping !!! What was that hotel called again that has had lots of cancellations?image I do hope you are going to have a coca lola with us at the campsite.image

  • M.ister, every cloud has a silver lining then.image
  • Saffers wrote (see)

    RC......I do hope your are correct about the speed coming along.  My Coach has commented that I don't even swim fast enough to get out of breath.......which is right as I do swim comfortable....LOL but I go on and on.

    LMAO.....@ camping !!! What was that hotel called again that has had lots of cancellations?image I do hope you are going to have a coca lola with us at the campsite.image

    image Indeed I shall quaff a couple of Fantas or something image
  • Lovely jubbley....I shall pack a fanta just for you. image I promise not to spike it. image
  • my first attempt at OW swimming last night was a total disaster.

     I was in a group of beginners, we swm out about 50m with the coach and were treading water while she explained the intricacies of swimming around buoys. I suddenly felt the urge to panic as I was way out of my depth, surrounded by cold water with nothing to hold onto so I had to get back to shore quickly.

     The coach was great, she said that it was a natural first timer's reaction and, when the group had finished, she came over (I was still in the water, but at the edge) and took me for a swim to get more accustommed to lake swimming.

    I am going to try again tomorrow evening in a smaller, shallower lake closer to home to try and get a feel for the water a bit more

  • DD....I did the same a couple of years ago. Swam to the middle of the like and just needed to go back and get out. For some of us it takes a little getting use to it......it will come with practise. Good on you for going again.
  • (((DD)))  Sorry to hear that.

    I met a girl from my tri club down at my lake t'other day and she's the same. 

    You just need to remind yourself that you're a competent swimmer, there are people around you and that you can always tread or float if panic starts to set in, calm yourself and swim slowly back to base.

  • Especially if you use a wetsuit - you simply cannot sink in one!
  • try telling my subconscious that though.

     I know you cannot sink in a wetsuit, but my brain kept over-riding common sense!

     I will be fine next time I go in, I think it was the treeading water that got to me

  • DD, I swam in the sea for the first time at the weekend and we went way way wayyyyyy out from the shore.  I had to ask my buddy to swim the side that I breathed so that I could see him for reassurance and without me asking him, he swam at my pace and swam beside me.  Every time that we stopped and trod water, I would find my chest tightening up.......I think this was a little bit of panic but I put it down to just the unknown.  I know I am a strong swimmer, I know there are no sharks......LOL....but still image
  • M.ister WM.ister W ✭✭✭
    No sharks?  That's what you think image
  • My swimming seems to have gone backwards and am still struggling to swim multiple lengths of front crawl without stopping!

    The slower i go the less natural my breathing seems to be! Any tips would be useful from peeps who used to be at that level but managed to progress on!

  • Jimmy I was at that point a year ago... it was a mix of technique and as noticed that if I went under a certain speed once you're on the glide part of the stroke I was going so slow that I'd start sinking and that would interfere with my breathing.
  • Thanks for the FB OW swimming thingy Mr W - duly signed up.

    No sharks?  Saw basking sharks at night and porpoises in the sea while I was watching a production of Life of Pi at the Minack Theatre. image

  • I think going slower is defo affecting my breathing. It feels a lot more natural to breather every 3 strokes rather than every 2 which is what i have been doing when i have been trying to slow my stroke down. But doing it like that I just always seem to swollow a load of water!!

    at least i only have 16 lengths to swim!

  • Tri club swim tonight.  Forced myself out the door as it is that season to do that speed work.....I have no speed and it is outside my comfort zone and I do not like it. image Surprisingly, though I don't think I did tooooooo badly.  The sprint section was 6x25m in 40secs......  too many lengths to count tonight but the end section was 6x200m of various.....paddles, fins...etc...  The Coach told me to miss the first 200m image so I got a head start.......the buggers still finished 100m ahead of me!! How does that happen?image

    Another new person started tonight but I could tell just by looking that he was gonna be fast........I was right! image

    Shoulder was a little sore before I went, not sure why......swimming has made it worse though and it now aches. image

  • image Ohhhh that shoulder injury could be made a hell of alot worse Saffers when you have to knock your tent pegs in image. I told you camping is no good for you but you will insist on going image image
  • LOL....I am doing all the driving so I shall insist that Kanga and Schmunkee do that tent stuff whilst I open my beer. image  Only ever camped for two nights in one go......always refused to go for longer when hubby suggested it but then he never suggested racing image
  • Just popping in to say hello.  It's Bala half IM this weekend isn't it.  So are some of you doing it/supporting?  Sounds like it'll be a great weekend.

    I haven't been swimming since Monday when I did 1.5 hours in the posh pool with a lesson but I've got tri club tomorrow (indoors) then taking a couple of friends to the lake in the avo with a picnic.  Have been doing running and cycling this week.  Did I mention I've got my first tri (sprint) on 25 July in Caldicot/Chepstow. image

  • Oh Saffers - take care of that shoulder.  Deffo get Kanga to bash the tent pegs in.  I'm gutted that I'm not going to Bala but I wish everyone the very best of luck.

    I had a fab fab OW coaching session this morning. Best swim coaching I've ever had.  Practiced sighting a lot and he helped me with my stroke and explained more about my arm position for the catch.  He demonstrated what I was doing, then what I should be doing. image   Got a lot of practice to do now.

  • Or saffers get a Pop up tent!! Thats what I haveimage;)
  • Easy tri club session tonight, Kathrin said we all have important races coming up in the next week so:

    400m easy warmup

    Succession of 200m using different drills each time and sprinting the last 25m - 
    2 left fists, other arm normal, 2 right fists etc.
    alternate fist/open hand
    stroke reduction - count 25m, reduce each succeeding 25m by 2 strokes each.
    hand to armpit
    pull bouy
    600m cooldown, breathing every 3rd stroke for 50m, next 50m every 4th, revert to 3rd, then 4th, etc,

    Total 2000m.

         image

    edited to correct typos

  • Another good session there Mrs Wolf.  The coach at my OW session had me doing fist drills and when that went totally wrong (as fist drills always do for me) he saw just how rubbish my catch is which was useful.  I'm not bending my elbow enough and pushing down too much so I'm just slipping through the water.  (how he managed to see my stroke though dirty lake water I'm still amazed at). Interestingly, those of us who have Mr Smooth - he doesn't seem to bend his elbow much on the catch either.  Can anyone comment on this??  Am I missing something??

    Off to google video clips on a good catch..............

  • Kathrin told me to point my middle finger at the bottom of the pool immediately after hand entry, that automatically pushes your elbow up. She's right, as usual. Then your hand and entire forearm is involved in the pull. Don't forget to push back too, the majority of swimmers have too short a stroke.
  • Just sitting here doing pointing down movements with my middle finger - it works!  image 

  • I'm trying it here too Soupy and it works for me too. Will try it next week as tri coach remarked again on that weaker left arm and the fact I don't lift it high enough. Plus points are that I'm getting faster and endurance is building. I might join the tri open water sesh next week and move my LSR to another day.

    I know a few people with shoulder issues at the moment - why do these things come in waves? You're not alone Saffers.

    Had a second diving lesson today at the lake in a borrowed wetsuit, so managed to stay around for longer. Couldn't swim after because I'm not a weekend member and technically not supposed to be there. Slow progress but definitely better than last week.
  • Does anyone know any good stretches for post-swimming?  I am starting to get achy around the neck and shoulder area, probably 'coz I don't do any stretching afterwards.
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