I have never done a tri before but think it might be right up my alley. I prefer solo slogs to packed road race strategy and I am a decent runner. The hitch is.... I am not much of a swimmer. I figured I'd stick to duathlons but there are so few around here (MN) to do and so many tris that I am reallt missing out!

I can swim, have decent form but my endurance is not so good. I'd think my cycling and running endurance would transfer to swimming but it doesn't seem to. My other problem is, I don't have much of an idea how far I can swim continuously. I never count laps nor do I know even how far I swim. I'm afraid in my first tri I'd be halfway out to the first buoy and be exhausted!

Any tips on improving the swim? Why doesn't the endurance transfer over from the other disciplines? Is it the addition of the arms?

Thanks.

In my opppinion swim is another sport than the bike and the run. When I am doing my long-slow swims in the pool I can say this is the only time in my life that I have been passed by a "larger" woman other than in an all you can eat buffet. Swimming is something that you have to develope on its own. I can run and ride pretty far straight off the couch but hop in the water and its another game! Work on your technique and spend time devoted to the pool and you will see your times improve and might...just might start to enjoy it. Cheers Skoots

swimming is definetly a whole nother beast. I like most(you seem to fit in the same category), can ride a bike for just about ever, can run 8min miles for half a day, but can't swim more than 50 yds without being exhausted. The reason is wasted movement/energy, go to totalimmersion.net and buy the freestyle made easy dvd. It will teach you the most preffered method of swimming by triathletes. When you get the technique down, you become more efficient in the water, and have more energy for the bike and run. Also, if you want to enter a tri and you know you can't swim freestyle for the given length, just roll over and do the backstroke until you regain some energy/your breath. You'd be surprised at how many people get excited during the swim and end up having to do the backstroke, sidestroke, etc until they regain their breath and calm themselves down.

Good tips... I need to learn good form and then practice a lot. Alas, summer is not a time when I want to be swimming endless laps indoors. I'd rather be on my bike out in the sun!

If there were more duathlons I'd do a ton of those but there aren't in my area. Tons of tris though....

Find an outdoor pool!

1) If you want to swim faster getting a coach is the way to go. Simple things like hand placement will give you a ton of speed. Moreso than running or cycling you need a coach to swim fast. Like Master's once a week. Teams are great and humbling.

2) You might think you are fast but you are probably not. Swiming is funny that way. It takes a lot of work. The faster you think you are, the slower you really are.

3) Buy a wetsuit to go faster.

4) Draft in the race. Hook in right behind a bruiser and let them do all the pulling.

Any tips on improving the swim? Why doesn't the endurance transfer over from the other disciplines? Is it the addition of the arms?

Swimming is a lot about form and technique. It takes a long time to refine. With that said, it's also about stamina. Only if you have both can you go fast in longer distance. If you are just doing 50 yd sprinting, than you don't need good stamina. But in triathlon, you won't be doing any of that. As with anything, you'll just need to practice to get better. Try to read up on some books and practice the techinques.

Technique is everything, and any success in swimming must stem from a good stroke. But it's hard to gain technique when you haven't got the strength to spend 90 minutes in the pool.

When you jump in the pool and swim fast to failure, it's likely your shoulders that are the weak link. Since you run and bike, you've got the heart and the lungs. Keep swimming, of course, but pick up a pair of rubber bands at a swim shop (they have them around here, I don't know about your neck of the woods). Ask how to use them, and use them. They're a great tool for beginners to get that shoulder strength. Once you have that, you'll find that you can concentrate a bit more on the finesse.

Alex