Any other swimmers here?

[sbjf]

Well, I call myself a swimmer, but I'm just starting out. I love being in the water and I recently joined our Family YMCA. I'm loving it (free child care is included, nice break for mommy!). I met with one of the coaches (included in monthly price, too), she set me up with some goals and routines, and showed me how to work the strength training machines.

I usually do my strenght training first, and then some cardio (bike or swimming).

I guess my question for the swimmers out there is, how do I get good at it? I can swim, but not like the kids on the swim team kwim? I'd like to really get good at it so that eventually it will be my main form of exercise (since I love it, right?). Do you think I should hire a teen on the swim team to teach me? Or can I pick this up myself? Some fluff questions....should I wear a swim cap? Do you? Why/why not? What brand swimsuits do you like? I have an awesome Speedo one that I just lost/misplaced and I'm so bummed. I went to Sports Authority to get a couple of new ones since I'm in the pool so much now, but all of them were cut too low in the back (not attractive at this point.) Any good tips, brands, sites, etc.?

THANKS!!

(I hope I'm not the only swimmer here!)

[MarisaSF]

I'm a fish and love to swim!
Hope I can help answer some q's for you.
FWIW, I swam competitively through college and some masters. I coached too. Love it!

Well, let's see, where to start:
Stay with your goals. Did the coach give you "workouts" like: 50 yds x 4 on 2 minute intervals or anything like that? If yes, great. If no, I can probably dig up some workouts on line for you and you can modify them to your speed.

Best advice for getting good/faster/stronger, for starters:
-pay attention to how many strokes you take per lap. You may start taking 30 strokes per lap (count both hands as they enter). Gradually try to decrease this -- by kicking harder and/or taking longer strokes -- gliding on your sides. Less energy spent, less tired you get, faster you can go for longer!
-in freestyle (crawl), you should NEVER be "on your front" -- it is a side-to-side stroke. Rotate with your hips and let your shoulders follow. Think: the longer you are in the water, the faster you get from point a to point b!
-NEVER use a kickboard -- it's bad for your form. Try kicking on your side with your mouth in the air.

-yes, wear a cap. I like the cheap latex ones - they seem to fit best.
-I also like the most basic goggles -- Speedo Sprints (or whatever they're called now)
-wear whatever brand suit fits you well. Look for good deals on Speedos and other workout suits (TYR, uh, I'm blanking on the others) at places like Marshalls.

HTH a little and gives you a place to start. I'm happy to come back and answer your q's. I don't visit this forum much, so pm me if you need an answer and I'll come back here!
Have fun!

[pb&j]

I'm very fortunate to work for a university with an outstanding swimming facility that offers stroke mechanics and fitness swimming classes. If your Y has a stroke mechanics course, I'd highly recommend doing something like that. I'm not sure about hiring a teenager... you might try hiring the swim team coach, though. Learning a few drills and getting some individualized help with your technique is invaluable. That and practice, practice, practice will help you get better.

It has been my main form of exercise for almost a year and half. I love it - especially since I've been pg for most of that time. I do a fitness swimming class 2x per week, where a bunch of us show up, have a reserved lane, and have a workout written for us (and get yelled at ;)) by our "coach." We usually do about 2500 yards during class (though I've been slowly easing off the yardage now that my stroke is resembling more of a waddle). The nice thing about having a planned workout for the day is not getting bored. It's one thing to go swim 2500 yards, but it's a much more enjoyable thing to swim a 500 yard warmup, do some kick/drill/swim 75's, do some 100's on an interval, do a long set, and then cool down one day, and do a totally different kind of workout the next. Between semesters, some of us from the class usually try to get together to swim to keep motivated and in shape.

Right now I'm in Land's End maternity suits - not much help to you, I'm afraid, but I usually like speedos. The speedo website shows all of their different styles, and there are plenty that aren't cut low in the back. I got my last one from some internet place that I can't remember...

I do wear a swim cap, mostly because my hair is that neither long nor short length that is long enough to get in the way, but too short to put in a ponytail.

HTH and happy swimming!

-Ry,
mom to Emma, stillborn 11/04/04
and Max, edd 01/15/06 - it's a HEALTHY BOY!

http://lilypie.com/days/060115/3/25/1/-5/.png[/img] ([img)

[pb&j]

Marisa -

I was wondering how quickly you'd find this thread, apparently, about as quickly as I can type. ;)


-Ry,
mom to Emma, stillborn 11/04/04
and Max, edd 01/15/06 - it's a HEALTHY BOY!

http://lilypie.com/days/060115/3/25/1/-5/.png[/img] ([img)

[slknight]

Marisa, I didn't know this about you! I also swam competitively in college (full scholarship to a D1 school). I coached masters for awhile and have finally dragged myself back into the pool with a masters team. Where'd you swim, what were your events, etc? 100 and 200 fly and the mile here. Feel free to e-mail me or PM me offline.

Bonnie, I'll answer your post in more detail later. I've been liking TYR suits more than Speedo lately.

[jenmcadams]

I am decidedly not a fishy, but learned to swim out of necessity for triathlons. My sisters both did swim team growing up, but I never did. When I started out I couldn't swim 50 yeards without stopping. the first year, I actually paid for an expensive weekend swim clinic (called Total Immersion) and then I didn't stick with it and never made it to the starting line of the triathlon I registered for that summer. The next year I decided I was going to do the race and my DH gave me some pointers which helped, but not a ton. Then, I paid for 3 private lessons at our health club which was great and really got me started. That summer, I normally did some sort of ladder workout (50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200, 100, 50) -- pretty boring, but at least it gave me some structure. That got me through my first two triathlons (a 1500M swim and a 1.2mi swim). Then I got the crazy idea to do an Ironman triathlon (2.4 mi swim) and knew I needed more help with swimming, so I joined a Master team (basically swim team for adults of all abilities...it sounds more intimidating than it is). I highly recommend finding a Masters team in your area (http://www.usms.org/)...I am a slow swimmer (slightly better now, but generally in the bottom 10% of any triathlon I do), but Masters really helped me stick with it, do good workouts and improve my form. Check to see if your Y has a team...Masters teams normally have people of all levels and while I was one of the slowest on my team, the team was pretty accepting and the coach was great. Some teams are more competitive, but ours had a fair number of triathletes/fitness swimmers who never swam in meets and just came to workouts once or twice a week. Our team had workouts early 5:30-7:00 AM which was a pain, but at least allowed me to coordinate with my DH for child care. A coach/masters/lessons is imperative to developing good form. They'll teach you drills and other techniques for your workout which will help you learn to swim without as much effort. I think one of the biggest eye-openers for me was how important drills are in a workout.

As far as swimsuits I like Speedos...I've had good luck ordering online once I knew my size. I do wear a swim cap -- mainly b/c people have said it will protect my hair. I also always used some sort of swim shampoo (I liked one called Aquia I got at a swim shop one time, but I think Loreal makes a kid one you can get at the grocery store) after each workout.

Sorry for the long rambling post...I definitely feel like if Masters swimming could help someone like me finish a 2.4 mile swim, it could help anyone. My DH and my sisters pretty much thought I was a lost cause swim-wise and while I'm not great, I'm much more comfortable now.

[sbjf]

>I'm a fish and love to swim!

Me, too! I feel so awesome in the water.

>Stay with your goals. Did the coach give you "workouts" like:
>50 yds x 4 on 2 minute intervals or anything like that? If
>yes, great. If no, I can probably dig up some workouts on line
>for you and you can modify them to your speed.

No, the coach didn't give me any swim goals, but I'm meeting with her again this coming Wednesday. I'll ask her then to outline some for me, thanks for that tip, I would have never thought of actual swimming goals. The goals she gave me were very general (heartrate range, cardio times, weights/sets, etc.

>
>Best advice for getting good/faster/stronger, for starters:
>-pay attention to how many strokes you take per lap. You may
>start taking 30 strokes per lap (count both hands as they
>enter). Gradually try to decrease this -- by kicking harder
>and/or taking longer strokes -- gliding on your sides. Less
>energy spent, less tired you get, faster you can go for
>longer!
>-in freestyle (crawl), you should NEVER be "on your front" --
>it is a side-to-side stroke. Rotate with your hips and let
>your shoulders follow. Think: the longer you are in the water,
>the faster you get from point a to point b!
>-NEVER use a kickboard -- it's bad for your form. Try kicking
>on your side with your mouth in the air.


Awesome tips, thank you!! You are definitely a serious swimmer/coach. I lucked out! I don't use a kick board by the way, I'm trying to look cool in there. :-)


>
>-yes, wear a cap. I like the cheap latex ones - they seem to
>fit best.
>-I also like the most basic goggles -- Speedo Sprints (or
>whatever they're called now)
>-wear whatever brand suit fits you well. Look for good deals
>on Speedos and other workout suits (TYR, uh, I'm blanking on
>the others) at places like Marshalls.
>

Ok, will do!


>HTH a little and gives you a place to start. I'm happy to come
>back and answer your q's. I don't visit this forum much, so pm
>me if you need an answer and I'll come back here!
>Have fun!
>
I will pm you if I wind up with some more specific questions, thank you so much!

[sbjf]

Thanks, Susan! And let me know where you find the best deals on suits. The ones at Sports Authority were very pricey. I looked on ebay but they didn't have any in my size, though the prices were great.

[nd93]

Why no kickboard? I've always liked using a kickboard to concentrate on my legs, then switching to a pull buoy to concentrate on my arms.

[sbjf]

>I'm very fortunate to work for a university with an
>outstanding swimming facility that offers stroke mechanics and
>fitness swimming classes. If your Y has a stroke mechanics
>course, I'd highly recommend doing something like that. I'm
>not sure about hiring a teenager... you might try hiring the
>swim team coach, though. Learning a few drills and getting
>some individualized help with your technique is invaluable.
>That and practice, practice, practice will help you get
>better.
>

WOW, that is fantastic. My Y offers formal swim instruction (private and group) but I didn't know if it would be worth the money, that's why I was thinking the teen route might be good enough. I think you're probably right though that getting a good coach will be worth it since I'm serious about this.




>It has been my main form of exercise for almost a year and
>half. I love it - especially since I've been pg for most of
>that time. I do a fitness swimming class 2x per week, where a
>bunch of us show up, have a reserved lane, and have a workout
>written for us (and get yelled at ;)) by our "coach." We
>usually do about 2500 yards during class (though I've been
>slowly easing off the yardage now that my stroke is resembling
>more of a waddle). The nice thing about having a planned
>workout for the day is not getting bored. It's one thing to
>go swim 2500 yards, but it's a much more enjoyable thing to
>swim a 500 yard warmup, do some kick/drill/swim 75's, do some
>100's on an interval, do a long set, and then cool down one
>day, and do a totally different kind of workout the next.
>Between semesters, some of us from the class usually try to
>get together to swim to keep motivated and in shape.

Good input, I'm going to print out this thread so I can refer to it easily. I'm so glad I posted here!

>
>Right now I'm in Land's End maternity suits - not much help to
>you, I'm afraid, but I usually like speedos. The speedo
>website shows all of their different styles, and there are
>plenty that aren't cut low in the back. I got my last one
>from some internet place that I can't remember...
>

I will check the Speedo site.

Thanks again!!

Congrats on the impending arrival of Max, (love the name!!)

[sbjf]

Awesome tips, Jen, thanks! I had never heard of Masters teams, I'm going to keep that link handy. I probably should do some lessons first to get decent at least, right now I don't even know any official strokes..what do you think? I'll check there site, see what they offer in my area.

I'm so glad there were so many swimmers here! :-)

[MarisaSF]

>Why no kickboard? I've always liked using a kickboard to concentrate on my legs, then >switching to a pull buoy to concentrate on my arms.

A kickboard, IMO, is not a terrible thing. It gives the rest of your body time to rest, and you can work on your legs.

However, you can maximize your workout by working on your proprioception (sp?) and body mechanics and "feel for the water" by just keeping one or both arms out straight or down at your sides while kicking. Same workout for your legs, better workout for your body and swimming development.

In the "long axis" strokes (backstroke and freestyle), one should technically never be on one's back or front. You should rotate from side to side. Sooo... a great kicking drill is going up the lane rotating while kicking (think: 10 kicks one side, 10 kicks the other side or whatever; I especially like to do this on my back) OR kick down one lap on the R and one lap on the L, for example.

In the "short axis" strokes (breaststroke and butterfly), your whole body can move/flow naturally if you're not using the kickboard. Both strokes require somewhat of a bobbing or diving motion; the kickboard gets in the way of that. Better, IMO, to put your arms out in front of you, and dolphin or frog kick on your front of back and let your upper body undulate.

From another angle, I feel that the kickboard forces your upper body into an unnatural position that can strain your back.

A pull bouoy is a good training tool for strengthing your arms. With it, unlike with a kickboard, your legs can remain in a fairly natural position. However, I'd say, once your arms get strong enough, it's slightly better to just let your legs "dangle." That's a personal preference -- I don't like how pbs make my legs float higher than I like them. Nor do I like doing flip turns with pbs, or how they feel scratchy.

[MarisaSF]

If you google "swimming workouts" a bunch of sites with sample and modifiable workouts pop up!

[MarisaSF]

Oh that's great, Susan! You know what, Alex's pic in your avatar always reminded me of those deck parkas we used to wear. I still have one from my high school team and hope Jazz will wear one herself someday! She is a true water nut -- pools, fountains, bath, beach -- if it's wet, she's in it!

I swam for a YMCA team in NY and then for a D3 college, where I also played water polo. I was a 200 backstroker and IMer. I did a lot of breaststroke in college too, but my true heart lies with back. :)

As a side note, I went to college with Ry (rprav8r), hence her note. Ryan, I'm glad to see you're swimming so much. It's soooo nice in pregnancy, isn't it?

ETA: Susan, if any "tips" I'm giving seem way off base to you, please feel free to chime in! I won't be offended. :)

[pb&j]

Yes, yes, yes, it's worth the money!! Not only do you get tips that will improve your form, but it's a lot harder to skip a workout when you've paid money and people are waiting for you. :)

MarisaSF's tips are great - like she said, we went to college together, and I have seen her swim and she is fast. ;) But even if you're a slow swimmer like me, you can still get a lot out of a workout. Even getting pregnant-er I've been able to modify my workouts in a way that I'm not sure that I would have with a land-based sport. In fact, until the last few weeks, my interval times were still improving! Though now the belly is acting like a keel, making front crawl really interesting watch.

GL, and let us know how it goes.


-Ry,
mom to Emma, stillborn 11/04/04
and Max, edd 01/15/06 - it's a HEALTHY BOY!

http://lilypie.com/days/060115/3/25/1/-5/.png[/img] ([img)

[MarisaSF]

Bonnie-
Just checking in to see how your swimming's going!
Let us know!