The Swimming Thread - Pool/OW
Discussion
I can't wait either. The fact that it is not a nailed on cert for Phelps to win makes it more interesting. I suspect as well that some of the others must be able to sense a prospect as well which in the past they didn't have. Even the closet rival must have had slight doubt stepping on to the blocks next to Phelps.
Lochte is still about. He is winning races at the local meets in the US but is not setting the timing boards alight. He has been taking tips from Phelps though it would seem. He is massive now, obviously been putting in the effort in the gym. He is also dating a Playboy bunny apparently. Tough at the top.
Lochte is still about. He is winning races at the local meets in the US but is not setting the timing boards alight. He has been taking tips from Phelps though it would seem. He is massive now, obviously been putting in the effort in the gym. He is also dating a Playboy bunny apparently. Tough at the top.
I have entered to the Coniston end to end race. Was supposed to do this last year but my eye infection put paid to that.
Also got a 3.8km swim race this Saturday. I did this one last year and locked 01:07:09. I am hoping to go under 1:05. Although I was in better swim shape last year I cocked up my pacing and went out far too slow.
Also going to practice a mass start but getting at the front.
Also got a 3.8km swim race this Saturday. I did this one last year and locked 01:07:09. I am hoping to go under 1:05. Although I was in better swim shape last year I cocked up my pacing and went out far too slow.
Also going to practice a mass start but getting at the front.
I got an 8 sec PB in the 3.8km OW. That was mostly down to just getting a better start, but it does show that my fitness is pretty much back up to where it was a year ago.
Had a great sprint finish with one chap, annoyingly I beat him to the shore but he got straight up and ran to that mat, I took about 10 seconds steadying myself as I felt quite dizzy.
I was 12th out of 29. 7th male and 2nd in the male 14-39 cat. Does mean I was beaten by people mostly older than me though
Had a great sprint finish with one chap, annoyingly I beat him to the shore but he got straight up and ran to that mat, I took about 10 seconds steadying myself as I felt quite dizzy.
I was 12th out of 29. 7th male and 2nd in the male 14-39 cat. Does mean I was beaten by people mostly older than me though
Nice, I'll take that. I used my Garmin 910XT, but on my wrist where it tends to have the odd brain fart. Mine clocked 3846m but I started it late as I wasn't ready for the go signal so it definitely sounds like it was long.
The course has changed since last year because of the aqua park. Last year the 3.8 started a little way back from the rest of the pack and did 3 and a bit laps.
Nice one on the sub 60, maybe next year I will be close to that.
There is another one in August. Was considering doing the 3.8 again, but then thought about the 10k. Also next year I want to set some good times on Oly distance tri so thought about doing at 1500m test event. Can't decide.
The course has changed since last year because of the aqua park. Last year the 3.8 started a little way back from the rest of the pack and did 3 and a bit laps.
Nice one on the sub 60, maybe next year I will be close to that.
There is another one in August. Was considering doing the 3.8 again, but then thought about the 10k. Also next year I want to set some good times on Oly distance tri so thought about doing at 1500m test event. Can't decide.
I reckon I probably swam about 50 meters before starting the watch. So in total I have clocked about 3.9k. I was warming up when they suddenly shouted 10 seconds so sprinted round to the start buoy and then it started, I then realised I hadn't started the watch.
I had been doing some laps at box end regularly and I understand a lap of the cable lake is 850 if you go through every red buoy, and that is roughly what my Garmin had been showing when wearing on my wrist. The GPS lines on the map look roughly sensible.
I hadn't even clocked the fact that 3 / 3800 is not the same as 4 / 5000. :-)
Yeah I may do the 3.8 or even the 5 or 10 in August. I have Consiton end to end in September so probably ought to do the longer distances. 10k round and round that lake is going to be pretty dull though.
The organisation seemed a bit off this year, or is it just me? I seem to remember lots of kayak support last year and I don't remember seeing anyone this year. It doesn't bother me too much as if I ever got into trouble its only 20 yards to the bank and so shallow anyway.
4k under 60 is tasty. I am still not at the point of being able to hold 1:30/100m for 400m. That's my final goal of the year to go sub 6. I got to 6:04 last year and I feel now that I am almost back to that shape although I haven't done a 400m TT for a while as I am so close to the HIM triathlon.
I had been doing some laps at box end regularly and I understand a lap of the cable lake is 850 if you go through every red buoy, and that is roughly what my Garmin had been showing when wearing on my wrist. The GPS lines on the map look roughly sensible.
I hadn't even clocked the fact that 3 / 3800 is not the same as 4 / 5000. :-)
Yeah I may do the 3.8 or even the 5 or 10 in August. I have Consiton end to end in September so probably ought to do the longer distances. 10k round and round that lake is going to be pretty dull though.
The organisation seemed a bit off this year, or is it just me? I seem to remember lots of kayak support last year and I don't remember seeing anyone this year. It doesn't bother me too much as if I ever got into trouble its only 20 yards to the bank and so shallow anyway.
4k under 60 is tasty. I am still not at the point of being able to hold 1:30/100m for 400m. That's my final goal of the year to go sub 6. I got to 6:04 last year and I feel now that I am almost back to that shape although I haven't done a 400m TT for a while as I am so close to the HIM triathlon.
cookie - the cold can affect people in different ways. I couldn't do it at first. I entered the river swim at Windsor, got in, couldn't get my head under water and DNS.
I had some coaching. Was shown how to get into the water slowly to minimise the shock. I get in let the water run down the back of my wetsuit, then start swimming breast stroke and lower my head slightly into the water, breathing out. Do it slowly till you get over the initial shock. If you go in too quickly the cold water shock (when it splashes your face) makes you breathe in quickly and shallowly which means you just can't swim properly because you just can't breathe properly. This can be exasperated by an overly tight wetsuit which also makes it feel like you can't breathe.
Rivers are often colder then lakes, especially if it has rained recently. It depends on a lot of things. The lake I swim in regularly is shallow so it warms up quickly but loses the heat quickly also. Lats month the temp dropped from 18 to 15 in one week and those 3 degrees make a huge difference to comfort.
The best thing to do is practice till you get used to it. Find somewhere local where they do open water swimming. There are lots of places that let you turn and pay a fiver or so for a swim. By practicing in a open session rather than a race it gives you time to get used to it all without any race pressure.
Once you have been a few times you will get quite used to it and will be able to hop in and start swimming straight away. Occasionally you will get a shock when a particular lake or river is surprisingly cold but you when you have your technique for getting in its not too bad and it will bother you less. I went recently and the lake was 15. I couldn't put my head under water to start with and when I did I got ice cream head. I thought I am going to do 1 lap and get out but once I got going it was fine and I did 3 laps. Couldn't feel my hand, feet or face when I got out mind.
I had some coaching. Was shown how to get into the water slowly to minimise the shock. I get in let the water run down the back of my wetsuit, then start swimming breast stroke and lower my head slightly into the water, breathing out. Do it slowly till you get over the initial shock. If you go in too quickly the cold water shock (when it splashes your face) makes you breathe in quickly and shallowly which means you just can't swim properly because you just can't breathe properly. This can be exasperated by an overly tight wetsuit which also makes it feel like you can't breathe.
Rivers are often colder then lakes, especially if it has rained recently. It depends on a lot of things. The lake I swim in regularly is shallow so it warms up quickly but loses the heat quickly also. Lats month the temp dropped from 18 to 15 in one week and those 3 degrees make a huge difference to comfort.
The best thing to do is practice till you get used to it. Find somewhere local where they do open water swimming. There are lots of places that let you turn and pay a fiver or so for a swim. By practicing in a open session rather than a race it gives you time to get used to it all without any race pressure.
Once you have been a few times you will get quite used to it and will be able to hop in and start swimming straight away. Occasionally you will get a shock when a particular lake or river is surprisingly cold but you when you have your technique for getting in its not too bad and it will bother you less. I went recently and the lake was 15. I couldn't put my head under water to start with and when I did I got ice cream head. I thought I am going to do 1 lap and get out but once I got going it was fine and I did 3 laps. Couldn't feel my hand, feet or face when I got out mind.
cookie118 said:
I did notice that everyone, from the front to the back, was on two strokes-is that normal or do a lot of people do three in open water?
3 is useful in training for getting rotation right but very few would bother in a race. I am tall and have very long stroke so I always breathe two in pool and OW. I breathe to the left unless I am turning a buoy on the right when I swap sides briefly.At race pace in the cold everyone is fighting for breath so imagine most would go two breathing every two.
Clocked 6:13 on my 400m TT this morning with my coach. Only 9 seconds away from my all time PB last year of 6:04.
Interestingly because I have been doing more triathlon I haven't swam as much as I did last year. Only been doing 2/3 sessions a week this year whereas last it was 4/5. Seem to have stayed more consistent though and avoided illness a lot more.
Hoping for sub 6 by year end. Managed a 2:59 on the 200m so I can go at sub 6 pace, just need to be able to hold it for 400 now.
Interestingly because I have been doing more triathlon I haven't swam as much as I did last year. Only been doing 2/3 sessions a week this year whereas last it was 4/5. Seem to have stayed more consistent though and avoided illness a lot more.
Hoping for sub 6 by year end. Managed a 2:59 on the 200m so I can go at sub 6 pace, just need to be able to hold it for 400 now.
cookie118 said:
Big thanks 944fan for your advice.
We were heading on holiday to the west coast of Scotland so I bought myself a wetsuit (an AlpKit Lotic-very good for me but I've got nothing to compare it with!) and did 3 swims over the course of the week.
I found that what worked was pretty much what you described-breaststroke head above water, then head below water and gradually lengthenining the glide, then moving into crawl. I really enjoyed the swimming, a great change from beforehand. I have a sneaking suspicion the river will be cooler than the sea but I'm raring to go again!
Also I tried two breaths in the pool rather than three today as a bit of an experiment. And it got me about 5 seconds faster on a 100m rep with the same effort (1:35 vs 1:40 on an 80% effort). Not the most scientific of tests but I reckon the change might be very good for me so I'm keen to try it more.
Glad it worked for you. It was a game changer for me just learning how to get in properly. I still do it now when I am getting in.We were heading on holiday to the west coast of Scotland so I bought myself a wetsuit (an AlpKit Lotic-very good for me but I've got nothing to compare it with!) and did 3 swims over the course of the week.
I found that what worked was pretty much what you described-breaststroke head above water, then head below water and gradually lengthenining the glide, then moving into crawl. I really enjoyed the swimming, a great change from beforehand. I have a sneaking suspicion the river will be cooler than the sea but I'm raring to go again!
Also I tried two breaths in the pool rather than three today as a bit of an experiment. And it got me about 5 seconds faster on a 100m rep with the same effort (1:35 vs 1:40 on an 80% effort). Not the most scientific of tests but I reckon the change might be very good for me so I'm keen to try it more.
With the breathing I always breathe every 2 (from an easy swim to full on race), it just works better for me. As long as your head position is good when you do breathe it shouldn't adversely impact you and getting more oxygen in keeps it aerobic. Worth trying it more, seems like it is making you faster and you are taking more breathes, not fewer, so it shouldn't negatively impact you at all.
cookie118 said:
Also-I'm normally quite apologetic and in running (my main sport) you don't normally have much contact, so my normal reaction when I make contact is to say sorry-but the swimming races are getting me out of that habit pretty quickly!!
Yeah I have to learn to be a lot less "nice" in the mass start swims. I used to try and get out peoples way but there is no point. Just keep doing you thing and ignore them, let them go round you if they are faster, otherwise they can f
k off. In a tri last week some tt punched me in the head twice. I slipped in behind him and drafted him for a large chunk of the course and then over took him.cookie118 said:
The 250m went fairly well-I set off too fast though and had to briefly breaststroke halfway up to catch my breath, but in the 500m I started off much better and easier and had quite a good race! It was quite cool as we turned at the bottom of the course and then me and 3 others went stroke for stroke up the course before me and another guy pulled away. Then we went together for a while until he pulled away from me, leaving me to sprint into the finish against those catching me up again (I think,it's a bit of a blur!).
It's made me realise though that I have so much to learn!! I cocked up the turn so ended up swimming on the inside of the course on the way back up (mid-stream), judging my effort in the pack is so difficult and I've got so much more to improve technique-wise.
Good work. The pacing and technique comes with doing lots of races. There is some stuff you can work on in the pool but mostly it is finding your style on OW. Once you have done a few the nerves go and you can focus on what you are doing a lot more. You also get the confidence from your swim fitness that you know how hard you can go.It's made me realise though that I have so much to learn!! I cocked up the turn so ended up swimming on the inside of the course on the way back up (mid-stream), judging my effort in the pack is so difficult and I've got so much more to improve technique-wise.
I did the 1500m at Box End this morning. 20:59, 5th male, not sure if that is 5th overall. Course was short though by about 200m.
scenario8 said:
Evening. Hopefully this thread might offer some advice.
I have a 2 year old son who has been "swimming" once a week with me for over a year now and he loves it but we need to move on to the next stage. Currently the swim involves playing on the steps, holding onto the side and lane dividers independently, sitting on the edge splashing around, jumping in from the side (to fully submerge and to be brought back to the surface by me) and so on but any "swimming" involves me assisting (holding him up) as he kicks freestyle and arms breast stroke. He now wants to be fully independent but doesn't have the strength to keep himself afloat. What's the PH thoughts on buoyancy aids? Arm rings? Vests? I don't want to innocently go down any learning cul de sacs.
We've not gone down the "lessons" route yet as in my opinion baby lessons are terrible value for money and, also in my opinion, he's not really ready for proper tuition.
Anyway, any pearls of wisdom appreciated. Ta.
Both my kids had lessons with an ASA teacher. I think they started when they were about 3 or 4. Anyway they all started with arm rings to help. I am not sure if this was just because of safety (1 teacher 6/7 kids who can't touch the bottom) or a valid tool. Rather than the inflatable arm bands they had round foam discs. They can be stacked to give greater buoyancy and then slowly removed.I have a 2 year old son who has been "swimming" once a week with me for over a year now and he loves it but we need to move on to the next stage. Currently the swim involves playing on the steps, holding onto the side and lane dividers independently, sitting on the edge splashing around, jumping in from the side (to fully submerge and to be brought back to the surface by me) and so on but any "swimming" involves me assisting (holding him up) as he kicks freestyle and arms breast stroke. He now wants to be fully independent but doesn't have the strength to keep himself afloat. What's the PH thoughts on buoyancy aids? Arm rings? Vests? I don't want to innocently go down any learning cul de sacs.
We've not gone down the "lessons" route yet as in my opinion baby lessons are terrible value for money and, also in my opinion, he's not really ready for proper tuition.
Anyway, any pearls of wisdom appreciated. Ta.
One thing they use all the time (even now for my 8 year old when practicing fly etc) is something called a noddle or woggle. Its a long piece of round foam. It can be wrapped around under the arms etc and gives buoyancy while leaving the arms and legs relatively free.
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