I don't think ANY course will guarantee that.
However your best first port of call would be your local leisure centre, they nearly all do adult learner classes, and most will do one to one tuition for a modest extra fee (most class sizes are <6 anyway)
HTH and good luck, swimming is, IMHO, one of life's key skills, like good manners and being able walk.
In 06 I needed to learn to swim after accepting a dare to do a triathlon (see where I ended up? Just did my first mile nonstop!).
I went to the local pool and booked a session with their adult swim instructor. Then I went away and had a few practises of my own, then booked another session, and after the third such session I was getting there.
I'd recommend the on-on-one approach. You don't have to bother with any of that "looking all back-of-the-bus" angst that you might get in a class.
You sound like you've got an even worse version of what I had.
I've looked in to some of the course and group seem to be £120-140 for six - eight week courses or around £190 for six half hour one on ones. Both seem pricey as I may not be able to get over the putting my head under water thing.
I also can't swim by myself as I panic I'll drown. Almost did a few years ago in my friends pool hence the fear now.
Can anyone recomend a course that guarantees you being able to swim?
It would be interesting to have some stats on how many adults drown in public swimming pools. I bet it's hardly any
It would be interesting to have some stats on how many adults drown in public swimming pools. I bet it's hardly any
Correct, the number who actually suffer from terminal apnea in public swimming pools in the UK is miniscule, but then that is probably down to the training that all pool staff MUST have (even if not employed as a life guard). From what I can remember from when I did my pool life guard training more people die of heart attacks in swimming pools that drown, and even that number is low as swimming is a low impact exercise so puts less stress on the heart (and indeed is generally recommended as the first sport a heart patient should attempt)
EDIT, the only figures I could find were for 2002, when 7 people drown in swimming pools in the UK, but that figure is not divided up into public/private pools
Strong swimmers take risks - we went out for a sea-swim last year and got caught by the tide at Elie, in Fife. For about ten minutes we were both swimming as hard as we could and got *nowhere*, then had a little revelation that if we didn't swim harder NOW, before we got tired, our wetsuited bodies would wash up in Norway.
Or worse, we'd end up as those idiots on the telly being rescued.
We swam harder. Afterwards, it was exhilerating. But mostly, it was just stupid. :-[
Check out swimfortri or Stephanie Ellis. Both can do one-on-one lessons afaik.
It's so nice for people to relate water borne death stories in such a thread, I hope I can redress the balance a little bit, I have (and my two brothers) have been swimming for over 30 years each and have yet to suffer a water borne tragedy. this is most probably because we can swim, do it I say, learn to swim you might never need to use the skills you learn, but you can guarantee the time you do need to use them you will be glad you did (and it will be too late to start learning at that point!)
I learnt to swim as a child at primary school although I was never particularly confident. Then as an angst ridden skinny teenager I avoided swimming pools or any situation that involved showing off my puny body to the general public. Later in life I found that I could no longer swim due to fear of the water. In my twenties a friend had a go at teaching me in Lake Windemere and that was a disaster. The only reason I didn't drown was because he had to fight me to get me out of the water and as luck would have it I was worse at fighting than swimming.
Skip a good few years and at the age of 40 I decided enough was enough, I was going to learn to swim. I enrolled in adult classes and drove there on the first night terrified. There were several moments between getting out of the car and reaching the pool edge when I nearly chickened out but somehow I made it into the water. Over the next six weeks I managed very very slow progress and completed my first width on the last evening.
I progressed to another pool where friends went and eventually managed a length (only 25yds but hey, a length sounds good). The problem was I just never conquered the fear. After a year of regular visits I would spend an hour in the pool and maybe complete ten lengths, I even strung two together once, but the fear never subsided. I learnt to swim but I remained afraid of the water. So I gave up. I decided I would drown if I fell in a river or lake, and if I ever had the misfortune to be present when a small child fell into the water I would just have to live the rest of my life feeling like a complete failure.
I wish you all the luck in the world Lynx, and I'm sure you will succeed but please don't beat yourself up if you don't, we can't all achieve everything in life.
Oh yes the goggles, I'd forgotten how important they were. I also used a nose clip which reduced the panic caused by breathing water through my nose. (But made me look like a prat. ;D )I learnt to swim as a child at primary school although I was never particularly confident. Then as an angst ridden skinny teenager I avoided swimming pools or any situation that involved showing off my puny body to the general public. Later in life I found that I could no longer swim due to fear of the water. In my twenties a friend had a go at teaching me in Lake Windemere and that was a disaster. The only reason I didn't drown was because he had to fight me to get me out of the water and as luck would have it I was worse at fighting than swimming.
Skip a good few years and at the age of 40 I decided enough was enough, I was going to learn to swim. I enrolled in adult classes and drove there on the first night terrified. There were several moments between getting out of the car and reaching the pool edge when I nearly chickened out but somehow I made it into the water. Over the next six weeks I managed very very slow progress and completed my first width on the last evening.
I progressed to another pool where friends went and eventually managed a length (only 25yds but hey, a length sounds good). The problem was I just never conquered the fear. After a year of regular visits I would spend an hour in the pool and maybe complete ten lengths, I even strung two together once, but the fear never subsided. I learnt to swim but I remained afraid of the water. So I gave up. I decided I would drown if I fell in a river or lake, and if I ever had the misfortune to be present when a small child fell into the water I would just have to live the rest of my life feeling like a complete failure.
I wish you all the luck in the world Lynx, and I'm sure you will succeed but please don't beat yourself up if you don't, we can't all achieve everything in life.
I see alot of myself in those comments.
This year we when to lanzerote and I had a swim in the pool (and the sea) after taking over an hour to just emerse myself. This was improved by buy a pair of decent gogles for the first time ever, and that gave me better confidence to open my eyes under water. This all had to be with the gf by myside as I was really paniced incase she was too far to save me from drowning.
Hence I want to keep the momentum up.
Strong swimmers take risks - we went out for a sea-swim last year and got caught by the tide at Elie, in Fife. For about ten minutes we were both swimming as hard as we could and got *nowhere*, then had a little revelation that if we didn't swim harder NOW, before we got tired, our wetsuited bodies would wash up in Norway.
Or worse, we'd end up as those idiots on the telly being rescued.
We swam harder. Afterwards, it was exhilerating. But mostly, it was just stupid. :-[
Strong swimmers are statistically far more likely to drown than non-swimmers.
Oh yes the goggles, I'd forgotten how important they were. I also used a nose clip which reduced the panic caused by breathing water through my nose. (But made me look like a prat. ;D )
I was looking into this a while back. At that time none of the local classes suited me time-wise so I abandoned, but I'd like to revisit the issue. I might even consider a residential course - have you thought about that, Lynx? Get it done in one hit?
My problem with swimming is that I just sink, no matter what I do. Each attempt to swim involves at least one near-drowning ;D. Are there certain body types that just can't do it?
Well I've decided that I really should learn to swim or should I say improve my lack of swimming.
I learnt when I was younger and was a poor swimmer. I could get my head under the water. Well after a few water incidents I have decided that I should learn to swim.
Can anyone recomend a course that guarantees you being able to swim?
I'm think of some one on one tuition just to give me the confidence to swim. Is this a good idea or better if its in a small group?
Any hints and tips to get the head immersion thing sorted would be really good for me.
Thanks
Any hints and tips to get the head immersion thing sorted would be really good for me.
Can also nearly swim a length. But I can't understand why I'm left gasping for breathe, with my heart rate WAY up after swimming a width. My technique is very bad, but at least I won't drown ;DI went through this. I forced myself to swim more slowly - use long slow strokes, concentrating on technique (I don't know much, but it all helps!).
This makes me smile. When I was managing my lengths I was thrashing from one end to the other, totally exhausted each time when one of the life guards pointed out that I was taking 32 strokes when I should be taking about 20. So I went for another length and concentrated really really hard on being relaxed and taking long slow strokes. I got to the other end feeling quite pleased with myself and looked up at the life guard. "how was that" I enquired. "Not bad", he said, "31 strokes that time". ;D ;DCan also nearly swim a length. But I can't understand why I'm left gasping for breathe, with my heart rate WAY up after swimming a width. My technique is very bad, but at least I won't drown ;DI went through this. I forced myself to swim more slowly - use long slow strokes, concentrating on technique (I don't know much, but it all helps!).
This worked fine with breast stroke, but it's harder with crawl for some reason - probably just need more practice.
Of course with breaststroke you always have the 'old lady' fallback of keeping your face and hair dry, but I think in the long term this is bad for your back!
Any hints and tips to get the head immersion thing sorted would be really good for me.
+1 for Lee's technique. That is a much better version of the approach I stumbled through.
I know it is pretty much irrelevant in the context of this thread, but it is much easier in the sea, on account of the extra buoyancy.
Thank you all, you have made me feel better about my fear.
Lee, I have bought a pair of childrens latex sealed googles as they seem to fit better than the other adult ones and actually seal around my eyes without hurting but still feeling rather strange. The strange feeling is because I'm not used to wearing anything that close on my face.
well have decided that on wednesday (probably around Lunchtime) I am going to go and scare myself in Clapham pool for half an hour by just immersing my head and doing nothing else.
I know it is pretty much irrelevant in the context of this thread, but it is much easier in the sea, on account of the extra buoyancy.
Stick to the shallow End of the local pool.
(The sea is full of Sharks and Turds)
I know it is pretty much irrelevant in the context of this thread, but it is much easier in the sea, on account of the extra buoyancy.
Stick to the shallow End of the local pool.
(The sea is full of Sharks and Turds)
And the sea has current, swiming pools usually dont.
I know it is pretty much irrelevant in the context of this thread, but it is much easier in the sea, on account of the extra buoyancy.
Stick to the shallow End of the local pool.
(The sea is full of Sharks and Turds)
And the sea has current, swiming pools usually dont.
Not all the sea has current.
I know it is pretty much irrelevant in the context of this thread, but it is much easier in the sea, on account of the extra buoyancy.
Stick to the shallow End of the local pool.
(The sea is full of Sharks and Turds)
And the sea has current, swiming pools usually dont.
Not all the sea has current.
Ok did it for three quater of an hour on and off.
But found getting water up my nose really uncomfortable, so the choice is either nose clips or get used to it. Found the googles annoying, maybe I need to get used to wearing goggles, the fit is good but I don't like having then on. They seem really unnatural but I suppose I'll get used to them.
Well try again on saturday or sunday.
Other swimmers: is it worth getting fins or paddles? Do you use them, do they make a difference, and would you recommend them to someone who is nowhere near expert? (Would these for me as basically a beginner be about as effective as putting race tyres on a BSO?)
My learn-to-tri book reckons they're essential, but then again they seem to have quite a bit of stuff down as essential. The only one I've gone for so far is the HRM since that seemed genuinely useful for assessing training, but as yet I have not been persuaded into other 'vital training tools' or I shall be bankrupt well before I'm buff.
Hints and tips then. :thumbsup:
Kathy, your hair position (should be in your neck area) and surface (no wrinkle) are VERY important to a fast swim!
One arm drills are interesting. They ought to train a long, gliding body shape (or just panic as you sink like a rock, in my case).
Latest comment on my stroke, from overhead viewers on a gantry, was "elbows high!" - the pull is way too deep.
Forgot all about this.
Well as a continuation, I'm getting better and more confident.
But not ventured in to the deep end.
Oh and my breast stroke is all arms and legs do very little.
Half the trick with breast stroke legs is not having them stop you dead each stroke. Still working on that one...
But hey! The elbows thing really really worked for me! It allows the trunk twist to sync and drive the whole motion, so after an 11:30 500m a couple of weeks ago dying on my arse, this morning was a solid and steady 10:30 without any drama. Very happy am I!
Just spotted this really nifty stroke guide:
Wow, Check Out Our Amazing Swimming Animation, Mr Smooth! (http://www.swimsmooth.com/index.html)
Swimsmooth are a sound lot, and Mr Smooth is an animated front-crawl mannequin type effort.
I passed a milestone tonight I think.
Front crawl has always been a bit of a struggle for me. I don't know why, but I have never been able to get into a steady rhythm with it, so I've always been limited to at most about 10-12 lengths at a time (even when being coached I never managed more than 12).
Tonight I did 33. :thumbsup: And it wasn't being tired that made me stop, it was the fact I said "I'll do 33 lengths tonight". 10% increase per week you see. Once I got past the initial stage where I am still warming up and get aerobic, I felt I could go on indefinitely. So at ln(2)/ln(1.1) I should be swimming a mile of front crawl in 7 weeks give or take.
My main problem seems to be breathing with front crawl - I must breathe out more and try to relax the breathing so I don't end up gasping for breath. How to do that though...
..d
My main problem seems to be breathing with front crawl - I must breathe out more and try to relax the breathing so I don't end up gasping for breath. How to do that though...
..d
have a look at Wow, Check Out Our Amazing Swimming Animation, Mr Smooth! (http://www.swimsmooth.com) - it's a brilliant site, I'm learning lots..
have a look at Wow, Check Out Our Amazing Swimming Animation, Mr Smooth! (http://www.swimsmooth.com) - it's a brilliant site, I'm learning lots..
Forgive me if this isn't already somewhere in pages 2 - 6, but you really need to read "Total Immersion - freestyle made easy" by Terry Laughlin.The last local workshop (Hampton) was last weekend. Bother. The next one isn't till February. Bother.
www.totalimmersion.co.uk (http://www.totalimmersion.co.uk)
www.totalimmersion.net (http://www.totalimmersion.net)
He teaches front crawl in a staged technique whereby you assemble an efficient stroke, bit by bit. Swimming is 70% technique and 30% strength. Without any technique, everyone struggles.
Read the book, look at the videos. As a cyclist-turned-triathlete who completed IronMan in 2008 from scratch, it works.
In Terry's words, "don't practice bad technique." You'll never escape.
Also, do try a club - tri clubs are good. The standard is from good to appalling (a bit like triathletes cycling skills, really)
The trick is to identify when your form is going, and rest up. Plugging on with bad form results in my style of "thrashing badger" swimming.
Forgive me if this isn't already somewhere in pages 2 - 6, but you really need to read "Total Immersion - freestyle made easy" by Terry Laughlin.
www.totalimmersion.co.uk (http://www.totalimmersion.co.uk)
www.totalimmersion.net (http://www.totalimmersion.net)
He teaches front crawl in a staged technique whereby you assemble an efficient stroke, bit by bit. Swimming is 70% technique and 30% strength. Without any technique, everyone struggles.
Read the book, look at the videos. As a cyclist-turned-triathlete who completed IronMan in 2008 from scratch, it works.
In Terry's words, "don't practice bad technique." You'll never escape.
Also, do try a club - tri clubs are good. The standard is from good to appalling (a bit like triathletes cycling skills, really)
two things:
Just getting back into swimming. Have been trying to be aware of technique. The main problem at the minute is breathing in while doing breast stroke. I lift my head above the water but always end up with water in my mouth.
I presume I should breath in with pursed lips but through bad breathing control always need a good gulp of air.
Any advice, thanks.
two things:
Just getting back into swimming. Have been trying to be aware of technique. The main problem at the minute is breathing in while doing breast stroke. I lift my head above the water but always end up with water in my mouth.
I presume I should breath in with pursed lips but through bad breathing control always need a good gulp of air.
Any advice, thanks.
when are you breathing out and how far out is your head when you breath in?
I try and blow out under the water, just before breaching. I probably sound a bit like a walrus but I'm past caring...
Can recommend 'total immersion' for a great book on how to swim front crawl much easier. I've gone from being knackered after 2 lengths to doing 3k in about an hour, and my 'strokes per length' has gone from 25ish to about 16.
My legs are my least productive limbs in the pool, but i suspect this is lack of technique. My suspicion is backed up by today's 100m SB7 breaststroke: the woman not using here arms (at all) qualified 2nd, only just behind an athlete with above-the-knees amputations.Or another option would be a hybrid stroke. I can barely crawl but for a bit more speed I often breaststroke with my arms and crawl kick with my legs.
A technique I've always favoured. Breaststroke legs are, IMHO, silly frog impressions that look pretty but provide no useful power. The arms actually work really well, as long as you don't have to waste too much thrust keeping your face out of the water (your BMI may vary; mine certainly has).
Well, that's good news, sort of. ;DIf you're a strong-ish swimmer (i.e. not me) you can make good progress with various side-on and backstroke variations, just using your feeble arm for balance. You're less likely to fall off and re-damage something, but I guess you need to pretty confident about safe 1-armed pool entry/exit [pools vary a lot in the facilities available].
I must try swimming again. I'm banned from that for weeks yet. I know I've been riding my bike during that ban, but I think it's different. I've got the cycling muscles, and it's better riding than being shoved around on a train. Swimming I'm not very good at, and involves me using my arms a lot more...
ETA: I'm still buzzing from it. It's been such a shit year, with my hip and the whooping cough. I feel like my whole year has been I can't do [insert activity of your choice] easily, or for long, or without a lot of pain, or at all, so some time spent being told that I'm doing pretty well at something has really perked me up. I have a pilates class tomorrow - might go for a swim straight after. :D
Less awesome was me walking home, getting in and realising I'd walked home with my blue plastic shoe covers on. ::-) :-[
Blue plastic shoe covers?! What are they for? They sound incredibly uncool whatever they are..They are to keep your saddle dry whilst you are in the supermarket or in your tent. :smug:
Start breathing out as your head re-enters the water -- there shouldn't be much breath-holding at all, just IN-ooooooout, IN-ouuuuuut...
Also, try to concentrate on timing your breath with your pull. As you pull, you make a wake around your head, and your mouth has plenty of clear air. :thumbsup:
Breast stroke is supremely inefficient, too much energy wasted on vertical motion and not streamlined at all.
Breast stroke is supremely inefficient, too much energy wasted on vertical motion and not streamlined at all.But strangely, I find it much less tiring and can do it for much longer than any other stroke. So in terms of endurance, for me it's very efficient.
Breast stroke is supremely inefficient, too much energy wasted on vertical motion and not streamlined at all.
Inefficient sounds perfect.
My main interest in swimming is in keeping weight off but I'm also interested in improving upper body and core strength to aid with cycling longer distances in comfort (relative to now). Which begs the question of which strokes, in which proportion of total swim might deliver the best results ?
Brilliant :). This thread makes me want to swim more.This.
Brilliant :). This thread makes me want to swim more.This.
Well done EG.
I'm just coming to the end of 13 weeks intermediate lessons (only about £70 for the 13, 1 hour sessions here in Wales), I've been pondering it for ages (after nearly drowning in the Caribbean in March), but as others have said, just do it it's remarkable how much technique will improve, I went form not being able to do a length of crawl in 1st lesson to having some form of technique within a few weeks, all very friendly too as all students are in the same, er,Yeah, I knew I was getting a better technique when my arms and hands started aching! ;Dboatchilly council pool. Now it's mainly fitness and getting strength in my skinny cyclist's arms ::-)
The trick with swimming seems to be to start early (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-20581126).That's rather wonderful!
Another factor has been embarrassment......
I just swam a mile. Well, a bit over a mile - 1650m.
*points to ticker*:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
So what sort of swimming trunks shall I get? Baggy shorts or budgie smugglers? :D
It could be seen that the lack of wagonwheels was a good thing!
I just swam my biggest distance yet, 2250m. Tired now.
Today, for the first time EVAH I haz swum a length !!!!!
..................I was able to carry on doing it without drowning or drinking too much water. I think that's the aim of the game,
Think I might get back into swimming, seeing as I can get concessionary entry to the cooncil pool as a student! :thumbsup:
I want someone to come with me and film me so I can see what I'm doing, because I see some people who are very splashy, and it doesn't feel like I'm as splashy as that but if I was, it would all be behind me anyway and I wouldn't know.
No, I want to be able to see what I'm doing. Also, that would be weird.
No, I want to be able to see what I'm doing. Also, that would be weird.
I think the source of my new-found speed is my new swimming costume.It has an integral jetpack. My old one has a layer of "figure-flattering" ruched material over the base costume and the ruching layer is past it, and every time I swim in it it sags out and billows and creates a lot of drag. ;D
I was well fast* again today. Average time per length 82 seconds, fastest length 76 seconds. I think someone is putting performance-enhancing drugs in my soup.
*it's all relative
There was a woman in the pool today who has the smoothest front crawl I have ever seen. She was absolutely splashless. She's like a swimming ninja.
So all the people who don't usually do lane swimming were in the slow lane - the women who want to swim side by side, yakking, with perfectly dry heads, the people who think front crawl means lifting your entire upper body out of the water and flailing your arms around while you twist from side to side at the waist and never get your face wet, the people who want to cling to the sides and the ends in a group of 6...
I just tried 50m front crawl and nearly drowned twice. ;D I need to see the swimming coach, I think.
My-oh-my Gallumbits! How things change!
:thumbsup:
I've just signed up for a stroke development class which starts at the end of the month.
You went 3 times faster?Two times faster. Her steady lengths are 50m lengths as she's lucky enough to have a big pool.
That's like going from a 12mph pootle on the bike to a 36mph sprint. Doable, but pretty extreme!
Maybe the pool was downhill.That would explain it. Far more likely than me not actually reading your post properly ...
I just tried 50m front crawl and nearly drowned twice. ;D I need to see the swimming coach, I think.
I would have thought most people cand swim breaststroke for far longer than they can swim crawl.
What do we call swimming-faster-than-anyone-else-in-the-pool-in-the-medium-lane guy?That depends on whether he should be in the fast lane or the overtakees should be in the slow lane.
What do we call swimming-faster-than-anyone-else-in-the-pool-in-the-medium-lane guy?That depends on whether he should be in the fast lane or the overtakees should be in the slow lane.
It'll come back. Don't push the swimming too much at first and concentrate on technique to avoid making the elbow wibble - or other bits as you compensate. And Do Your Physio! If they haven't referred you for physio - nag until they do.
***This message was brought to you by the member of the fractured-radial-head club who thinks other people should learn from her mistakes***
If he was faster than some people in the fast lane, he should have been in the fast lane.What do we call swimming-faster-than-anyone-else-in-the-pool-in-the-medium-lane guy?That depends on whether he should be in the fast lane or the overtakees should be in the slow lane.
I'd have voted for him in the fast lane and the lady doing breast stroke in the slow lane then I'd have had the medium lane to myself. (Obviously).
Some in the fast lane were slower than him. Trouble is they were probably there first.
I actually really enjoyed it, even though I'm knackered now and my knee feels a little stiff.
I actually really enjoyed it, even though I'm knackered now and my knee feels a little stiff.
Had a few more swims since this, including a trip to the pool yesterday morning. My right knee is now very sore. Bum. Only when I bend it, but it's fine bearing weight, and it's just on the inside of my knee just below the kneecap.
Any tips from the swimmers on how to help it heal, besides ibuprofen and rest? I'm guessing prevention is "less breaststroke" in future :(
"Coach Carol" told me that ... I can't actually swim....!
It's a while since I have swum but it seems the 33m pool is in decline and 50m pools are a rarity.25m
Wowbagger posted elsewhere his disappointment that he only had a 25m pool in Southend.
The twin 33m pools at Swiss Cottage are no more.
How long is your local pool?
How long is your local pool?
The University are in the process of molishing a shiny new just-under-50m pool within not-worth-getting-a-bike-out-for distance of here. Much noise was made at the planning stage of it being Birmingham's first Olympic sized pool, but (in a turnout won't shock anyone familiar with barakta's rants) it seems that somebody forgot to allow for the thickness of the grout or something and it's fallen slightly short of the Olympic specification. It appears that hasty re-wording of all the promotional material is cheaper than doing it properly.
It's a while since I have swum but it seems the 33m pool is in decline and 50m pools are a rarity.My nearest is the Royal Commonwealth Pool, which has an Olympic-size pool, a 25 metre pool, and a 25 metre diving pit. Next nearest is Warrender which is 25 yards.
Wowbagger posted elsewhere his disappointment that he only had a 25m pool in Southend.
The twin 33m pools at Swiss Cottage are no more.
How long is your local pool?
I once worked at a university where they'd built the library but forgot to account for the weight of the books. Clue: they're heavy.
And a lovely river..
I had a go in an endless pool over christmas.
I had a go in an endless pool over christmas.
Where was that Mike?
Fancy swimming Newnham-Grantchester-Newnham together next summer? River swimming is always safer two-up.
I once worked at a university where they'd built the library but forgot to account for the weight of the books. Clue: they're heavy.
Every university seems to have this urban legend. Along with the one about the weight of the water, and the one about the student accommodation falling short of the minimum requirements for a prison cell[1]. (The computer lab where they forgot to allow for the heat of the computers wasn't a myth. Towards the end of the CRT era, every university seemed to have one of those, too.)
While I'm sure these things have all actually happened somewhere at one time or another, they're best treated with a [CITATION NEEDED] when someone shares the witty anecdote about their alma mater.
[1] At UKC we had a variation on this theme, with the Eliot and Rubberfood colleges being designed by the same architect as The Maze prison. This is easily confirmed to be bollocks, as the architect was in fact ripping off a college in Pennsylvania
Any breaststroke swimmers out there who can give me some tips/information please.
I am attempting to learn to swim it this stroke correctly but am really, really struggling to get the whip kick correct. My coach has told/shown me what to do, as have videos on Youtube. However, whenever I try it, it seems to generate no power at all. Indeed, I hardly seem to move when using and float and thus, without any arm strokes.
So, just out of interest, as a percentage of overall power/forward movement comes from your arms and how much from your legs? If its next to nothing from your legs, then I won’t worry. If, as seems from Youtube it is quite a bit, then I need to seriously practice more!
Thanks in advance.
Any breaststroke swimmers out there who can give me some tips/information please.
I am attempting to learn to swim it this stroke correctly but am really, really struggling to get the whip kick correct. My coach has told/shown me what to do, as have videos on Youtube. However, whenever I try it, it seems to generate no power at all. Indeed, I hardly seem to move when using and float and thus, without any arm strokes.
So, just out of interest, as a percentage of overall power/forward movement comes from your arms and how much from your legs? If its next to nothing from your legs, then I won’t worry. If, as seems from Youtube it is quite a bit, then I need to seriously practice more!
Thanks in advance.
Has anybody any tips for preventing or delaying my goggles misting up, please?
Has anybody any tips for preventing or delaying my goggles misting up, please?
Rub some soap on the inside (I just use the dispenser in the swimming pool toilets) and lightly rinse to leave a little residue behind. Job done.
Fifty lengths (25 metres) every day (at just over 30 minutes). I don't get much faster. Or slower, I suppose.
Sub half-hour?
.....to settle down and get into a good rhythm and not trying to go too fast.
Has anybody any tips for preventing or delaying my goggles misting up, please?
Rub some soap on the inside (I just use the dispenser in the swimming pool toilets) and lightly rinse to leave a little residue behind. Job done.
Saliva works for me (not as soap).Fifty lengths (25 metres) every day (at just over 30 minutes). I don't get much faster. Or slower, I suppose.
Much like cycling, doing the same long slow distance swim every time is the slowest way to get faster.
Doing all of the complicated stuff:-
* Drills with kickboards, pull bouys, paddles, fins, snorkels even
* Swim ladders and/or intervals
* Proper technique (either from drills or coaching)
* etc...
is how you get faster quicker.
Once I'd built up the fitness I went down from 2:05/100m to 1:50/100m (for a 4k swim - just pull, no kicking) by just doing those big long swims but then it plateaued.
Since adding in proper training I've got down to ~1:45/100m and hoping to sneak under 1:40/100m by September. Under 1:30/100m and I'd be deliriously happy as I'd love a sub 1h IM swim (next year maybe...)
I've been using the same pair of goggles for over a decade.
training
- a 90m pool is too damn far, I'm knackered by half way.
It's going to be an eventightersleeker fit with my wetsuit this year, unless I can drop a good few kg in the next few weeks.
Reading this thread inspired me to go swimming again on Sunday after an imposed gap of some 2 years...blimey, just checked this thread, its nearer to three years.....following an injury to my right arm which meant I could not raise the arm above my head. I had got into my head a silly idea that I could get fit enough to do the Swim Serpentine (the mile) in September..... well, before my injury I could manage 1 200 to 1 500 metres in a pool with some effort and I had had some coaching so my stroke was much better than it had been.
However.... come Sunday I discovered that I could no longer swim....well I managed to do 50m before giving up. My "improved" stroke was terrible: I just couldn't get the breathing right, while my previous stroke was slower and more painful than it had been. A mile seems, er, miles away! I have checked the times for the last event and the slowest was someway over 2 1/2 hours.... I would be looking at around an hour which is slow by normal standards but hey ho, its not a race....is it?
Not wanting to give up after just one go, I tried again this evening and again, my improved stroke just isn't working but I did manage 250m using the old, arms only stroke. I feel I could have done more but it was an open session and thus, there were lots of children in the pool enjoying themselves.....how dare they!!!! >:( ;D ;D ;D
Can I make it to a mile by September: I think I should be able to do if I put some work in....something I try to avoid at all costs! The one thing I forgot was how much it hurts my back and neck!
If I can get from 400m arms only and feeling like I'm half dead, to 1500m and feeling good at the end of it in about 2 months, then I'd say a mile in September is well within your reach.
I appreciate open air swimming is a different beastie.
What all this shows is that swimming fitness is specific to swimming and does eff all for anything else, unlike eg cycling and running to a degree.
It felt okay but my legs are still not there and I had to stop for a few seconds every 50m to get my breath back. No doubt I could have done more but frankly, I feel it is best to build up slowly as the arm I had injured three years ago has started to hurt again. :(
Will try for 10k over 3 sessions this week and same again next week and then have an easy week before the event itself.
First swim since doing 1km in November. Only managed 500m before I could feel my technique falling to bits. Will do ~1km on Wednesday as MiniGB's lesson has moved forward to a time when the rest of the pool is open, which is great my for training plan and also means we get home a bit earlier.
Some irritating bloke was drafting me (swimming) while he was doing kick drill this morning. This Should Not Be Allowed.
I didn't think fins were allowed in pools, they can inflict nasty cuts if you swipe someone edge on.
First swim since doing 1km in November. Only managed 500m before I could feel my technique falling to bits. Will do ~1km on Wednesday as MiniGB's lesson has moved forward to a time when the rest of the pool is open, which is great my for training plan and also means we get home a bit earlier.
Only managed 600m last Wednesday for similar tiredness reasons but did 1100m on Monday and shoulders didn't feel sore at all, only stopped due to the lanes suddenly getting very busy as the pool had messed up the bookings and two schools turned up at the same time so they stole an extra lane.
Will try and bash out at least 1km today, hopefully 2km, including 2x100m or so with fins (had forgotten how fast they make you go, but how knackering they can be at first).
Suggested exercises you can do at home if you can't get to any real water to do swimming:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URS28C3GWQQ&feature=youtu.be
One of the problems with local rivers is there is very little avaliable in the way of bacterial/chemical testing. Hence it can be potluck on how safe.Sounds like a day trip by bike. Just adding to my todo list - cycle to seaside and swim.
Depressingly the sea is 80+ min away
I watches some vids giving hints on crawl style (I'm competent at swimming in all styles, but my crawl is clumsy and I get breathless quickly)Rotator cuff injuries are common. It is made worse by failing to rotate properly.
So, on holiday, with wetsuits, we swim about every 2 days. One day I swim for a couple of hours - and end up with an injured shoulder. Could have been trying to sustain crawl for about 1km total (in bursts), or could have been my attempts at butterfly.
Holding arm out levelthen swinging back (eg reaching over into back of car) is painful.
So our local Aquatics centre has now reopened but only the 50m pool, not The warmer 25mYou could try the 50m pool. If it is really much colder you could try a thermal rash vest - but you will look like the Sacha baron cohen “Bruno” character.
No use to me as I’m a slow 1,500 m oldie who cannot cope with 50m having done 25 m pools all my life.
So go to the Shire booking website and finally get a 50 minute slot on Friday morning in Peterhead, a cool 40 mile away
I’ve had two knees and hip replaced in last 3 years so am used to starting from scratch again.
Just be great to get back in the water.....
My nearest local pool, where I’ve swum for last c30 years may open “mid-October” due to operating issues. They’ve had 6 months FFS
ah well......
These are the ones who get upset when asked to move. But have seen go a very interesting shade of red/purple when overtaken by a "young" girl , she 16 ands is regional/national standard on breaststroke
1. "Fast"[2] which also seems to mean "Slow but is an Alpha Male in possession of a penis and is therefore unable to use a lane marked 'Medium' or 'Slow'".
800m in a lake this morning. Air temp around 0, water temp 3.
First experience of “after drop” (your core body temperature drops several minutes after leaving the water).
Not that I have noticed. I tend not to get too cold when cycling. The only time I have got really chilly is towards the end of LWL when I slowed down with “digestive issues”. I have experienced being warm when I finish cycling and the getting cold from not generating as much heat, but that is a gradual onset and can be solved by getting warm.800m in a lake this morning. Air temp around 0, water temp 3.
First experience of “after drop” (your core body temperature drops several minutes after leaving the water).
Haven't you had that when cycling in winter?
I've enjoyed sea swimming in the Caribbean and Florida, but generally, I don't like cold. I did once swim in a very cold in Madeira and had to be revived with cocktails.
Once upon a time, many years ago, I was scuba diving off the Isle of Man, and I turned around and right there, looking back at me, the most fearsome of sea creatures. The Aquapig. Really, an entire – presumably dead pig – has somehow floated up behind me. Be careful out there.
I’ve started back swimming (indoor) with the reopening of the gym attached to my erstwhile regular place of work. Its very very quiet just now for obvious reasons and for as long as it remains open its great for swimming practice with a lane to ones self. I live a couple of miles away so its just folk like me who are using it just now.
Generally I find swimming the form of exercise that benefits my upper body and core that I enjoy most - probably as i can see tangible progress (faster, further, perceived efficiency) reasonably quickly which acts as a virtuous circle. Im going again tonight.
First experience of “after drop” (your core body temperature drops several minutes after leaving the water).
I've enjoyed sea swimming in the Caribbean and Florida, but generally, I don't like cold. I did once swim in a very cold in Madeira and had to be revived with cocktails.
Once upon a time, many years ago, I was scuba diving off the Isle of Man, and I turned around and right there, looking back at me, the most fearsome of sea creatures. The Aquapig. Really, an entire – presumably dead pig – has somehow floated up behind me. Be careful out there.
Probably normal for the Isle of Man. We're too middle class to have dead pigs in the water round here, though I did once find the rotting carcass of a porpoise on the beach. Seals have been spotted here recently but I've never seen them myself.