Author Topic: Swimming - how far is far?  (Read 5933 times)

CrinklyLion

  • The one with devious, cake-pushing ways....
Re: Swimming - how far is far?
« Reply #25 on: 09 September, 2010, 09:02:55 pm »
I have no problem at all with the floating, but don't have very good technique, am not particularly fit and am most definitely not streamlined.  I can comfortably do a mile (64 lengths of the very same pool as you were probably using, mrcharly!) in under an hour but struggle to go faster.

When I swam several times a week (and did a lot of aquafit classes, plus a handful of reasonably challenging gym sessions most weeks) I was a fair bit fitter and a bit more streamlined and managed to comfortably do 64 lengths of truly shockingly bad breaststroke in the Barbican, which I reckon was a slightly 'slower' pool, in just under 40 minutes.  128, which I aimed for once a week, was about 1 hour 25 minutes of steady away plodding.

Must get back to the pool, haven't been for weeks.....

Re: Swimming - how far is far?
« Reply #26 on: 09 September, 2010, 09:22:55 pm »
Can recommend the book, it's about 10 quid on amazon and understanding the theory made a big difference to me.

Under six quid delivered if it's this one?

That clip looks effortless. It'd be good to get half as smooth as he is. It looks like he puts his arms in the water earlier and reaches further than we were taught.


andygates

  • Peroxide Viking
Re: Swimming - how far is far?
« Reply #27 on: 09 September, 2010, 09:51:40 pm »
I can't get on with swimming books.  Like martial arts books, I think I'm doing it right when I'm very much doing it wrong; it takes humans to poke and prod me, really, to make improvement.
It takes blood and guts to be this cool but I'm still just a cliché.
OpenStreetMap UK & IRL Streetmap & Topo: ravenfamily.org/andyg/maps updates weekly.

Re: Swimming - how far is far?
« Reply #28 on: 09 September, 2010, 10:22:30 pm »
With my lungs full of air, I used to sink like a stone.
I weighed 65kg at the time - but had a 26" waist and no discernable fat.

Things are little different now - more like a 34" waist, 79kg and enough fat to stay warm in winter ;)
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Re: Swimming - how far is far?
« Reply #29 on: 09 September, 2010, 10:25:00 pm »
I used my HRM in the pool last Friday and used 854 kcal in the 1 hour session.

You should take up cycling; my HRM said I had used 1400 kcal in a 1 hour ride around Richmond Park.

I'm inclined to believe neither.
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Re: Swimming - how far is far?
« Reply #30 on: 09 September, 2010, 10:25:43 pm »
Can recommend the book, it's about 10 quid on amazon and understanding the theory made a big difference to me.

Under six quid delivered if it's this one?

That clip looks effortless. It'd be good to get half as smooth as he is. It looks like he puts his arms in the water earlier and reaches further than we were taught.



that's the one i've got, yes.

It is effortless, it's fantastic - in the vid above I'd just spent 2 hours swimming round a lake and it was as easy as going for a gentle stroll.  It gets harder when you speed up...

Re: Swimming - how far is far?
« Reply #31 on: 10 September, 2010, 05:38:18 pm »
Do those of you who have tried "Total Immersion Swimming" think that a novice could use it from the outset while learning front crawl for the first time or is it something that you need to already have a decent front crawl in order to have any hope?

cometworm

Re: Swimming - how far is far?
« Reply #32 on: 10 September, 2010, 11:09:38 pm »
You could do worse than look at triathlon swims for "long" as they're generally longer than most swim events. Ironman is a 3.8km swim (ideally done in less than one hour) while olympic is 1500m in 20ish minutes.

andygates

  • Peroxide Viking
Re: Swimming - how far is far?
« Reply #33 on: 10 September, 2010, 11:10:19 pm »
You could learn it as your crawl style, for sure.  But I couldn't learn it from a book -- I tried.
It takes blood and guts to be this cool but I'm still just a cliché.
OpenStreetMap UK & IRL Streetmap & Topo: ravenfamily.org/andyg/maps updates weekly.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Swimming - how far is far?
« Reply #34 on: 10 September, 2010, 11:47:15 pm »
As someone who hasn't done much swimming at all for a long time, I'm pretty happy to be able to manage 40 lengths (1km) in 20-25 minutes - this is a typical pre-work morning swim for me, which I do a couple of times a week. I would happily do a longer swim if I had time, but I'd miss my train.

If time weren't an issue, I would consider 2km a really good swim - probably the equivalent of a Sunday morning 90km club ride in terms of effort, but not really what you'd call a "long" distance. The 3.8km swim of an ironman tri is definitely a "long" distance. A 20km swim is off the scale - much like a 1200km bike ride, really.

d.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: Swimming - how far is far?
« Reply #35 on: 17 September, 2010, 07:12:02 pm »
I dreamt about total immersion swimming last night, it was a lot easier doing it that way. Am going to see if the library can get hold of the recommended book.

I've also just found this story. Hope it goes well for him!