Author Topic: Learning to swim/improving swimming (Read 82882 times)

Eccentrica Gallumbits · « **Reply #375 on:** 26 February, 2016, 09:46:49 pm »

Tonight I managed 10-12 metres of full stroke, no fins, no paddles, no rhythm, no ability to breathe underwater butterfly. It was very very bad butterfly, but I feel awesome.

Feanor · « **Reply #376 on:** 26 February, 2016, 09:55:11 pm »

Well done!

When Junior was little ( about 8 or 9 ), we went to the public swimming pool in Breckenridge, Colorado.
It had a Tarzan Swing rope thing, for the kids to swing on and drop into the pool.
He was way smaller than any of the big kids using it, so the attendant told him he needed to be able to swim to the far side of the pool before he was allowed to use it.
"What stroke?" said cheeky junior.
"Butterfly" joked the lifeguard.
And Junior jumped in and did a thrashy butterfly to the far side.
"Er, I was just joking!" said the lifeguard, and let him have the rope.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #377 on:** 02 March, 2016, 09:47:57 am »

There is a regular clientele at the pool around 8am. I did only 20 lengths today, having to see Phyllis in hospital before going off to work at 11.30. I remarked to a woman who was hanging onto the edge near where my final length finished "Knocking off early today. My heart's not in it."

"You know," she replied, "you look just like the god Poseidon when you get out of the water. All you need is a trident."

Day made!

Eccentrica Gallumbits · « **Reply #378 on:** 14 March, 2016, 12:51:09 pm »

Had another hour of butterfly lesson this morning and by the end I managed 15m of no fins, no paddles, full-stroke, reasonably competent butterfly. Twice.

And then I grinned like a loon and said "I did it I did it I did it!" for about five minutes.

Eccentrica Gallumbits · « **Reply #379 on:** 25 March, 2016, 04:07:48 pm »

Another hour of butterfly coaching. Am this -- close to being able to do it!

CrinklyLion · « **Reply #380 on:** 17 April, 2016, 02:29:47 pm »

It's great when it works, isn't it?

Today I actually went swimming for the first time in _ages_. Just 20odd lengths, but it felt OK.

Eccentrica Gallumbits · « **Reply #381 on:** 17 April, 2016, 09:40:45 pm »

I had another hour of coaching on Monday and other than a reminder to do pointy toes, coach didn't make a single correction to my technique, and when I queried it, he said he didn't need to cos I was doing it all right!

campagman · « **Reply #382 on:** 04 May, 2016, 05:58:54 pm »

Has anybody any tips for preventing or delaying my goggles misting up, please?

Eccentrica Gallumbits · « **Reply #383 on:** 09 May, 2016, 01:05:37 pm »

My new non-fog ones fogged today.

My butterfly lesson was a complete disaster this morning. I was tired and sore and useless. So we agreed to pack it in and work on back crawl arms instead.

Eccentrica Gallumbits · « **Reply #384 on:** 03 June, 2016, 08:45:36 pm »

We did racing dives tonight.

CrinklyLion · « **Reply #385 on:** 11 July, 2016, 12:43:44 pm »

36 lengths. 8 breaststroke to warm up, then 4 sets of back/2xbreast/crawl, then 2 sets of 2xback/2xbreast/2xcrawl. Given that I was in Yearsley-feels-like-swimming-through-treacle Pool, a classic Victorian 50 yard one (although it does have a roof these days) I reckon that makes about a mile.

(Took nearly an hour though... at my fastest in the good old Barbican days I could do a mile of dreadfully inefficient breaststroke in under 40 minutes!)

Greenbank · « **Reply #386 on:** 18 July, 2016, 01:03:57 pm »

First trip to Shepperton Lakes for some open water swimming tonight. Will hopefully do 3 or 4 big laps once I've done the induction.

Hoping the cheaper rental suits are good enough, really don't want to splash out to have to £400 on a swimming wetsuit, £150-ish will be more than enough!

Greenbank · « **Reply #387 on:** 18 July, 2016, 09:55:12 pm »

Did 2x400m laps (the big laps are 750m) as I'd forgotten it was a 22km cycle each way and I had to be home by 8pm. Will probably do 1500m next time and then 3km or 4km on the third trip (I do this in the pool regularly) so the distance doesn't worry me.

Great fun, slightly nervy setting off (it's been 20+ years since my last proper open water swimming) but despite some dodgy sighting I was quickly back into it. Just under 8 mins for each 400m lap. Forgotten how floaty you are in a wetsuit.

ian · « **Reply #388 on:** 19 July, 2016, 10:01:56 am »

Quote from: campagman on 04 May, 2016, 05:58:54 pm

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.

Greenbank · « **Reply #389 on:** 19 July, 2016, 10:43:54 am »

Quote from: ian on 19 July, 2016, 10:01:56 am

Quote from: campagman on 04 May, 2016, 05:58:54 pm
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).

Quote from: ian on 19 July, 2016, 10:01:56 am

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...)

tonyh · « **Reply #390 on:** 19 July, 2016, 12:41:24 pm »

Sub half-hour?

Greenbank · « **Reply #391 on:** 19 July, 2016, 01:14:24 pm »

Quote from: tonyh on 19 July, 2016, 12:41:24 pm

Sub half-hour?

The IM swim is 2.4miles or 3860m.

1:30/100m would give a time of 57:54.

tonyh · « **Reply #392 on:** 19 July, 2016, 01:45:03 pm »

Thanks, my misunderstanding. Good luck with getting under that hour! Impressive stuff.

Greenbank · « **Reply #393 on:** 19 July, 2016, 04:33:14 pm »

Was surprised at how fast a wet suit makes you go (given the extra buoyancy and less of me in the actual water) when I went for the lake swim the other day.

Have ordered the cheapest Zone 3 Venture wetsuit from Wiggle, not bad for £106 or so.

Next day delivery so I hope it arrives before 4pm and I can pootle along to Shepperton Lake again to try it out for a proper swim.

It's helping take my mind off the Mersey Roads 24 this weekend.

Greenbank · « **Reply #394 on:** 20 July, 2016, 09:04:22 pm »

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1264775435

Happy with that and the new wetsuit. Well, the third lap at least. It took the first two laps to settle down and get into a good rhythm and not trying to go too fast.

Toasty warm in the lake today. 25 deg C water temperature.

tonyh · « **Reply #395 on:** 21 July, 2016, 06:51:19 am »

Quote from: Greenbank on 20 July, 2016, 09:04:22 pm

.....to settle down and get into a good rhythm and not trying to go too fast.

Looks a good plan for the 24 as well! Good luck and enjoy another adventure.

ian · « **Reply #396 on:** 21 July, 2016, 10:26:57 am »

Quote from: Greenbank on 19 July, 2016, 10:43:54 am

Quote from: ian on 19 July, 2016, 10:01:56 am
Quote from: campagman on 04 May, 2016, 05:58:54 pm
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).

Quote from: ian on 19 July, 2016, 10:01:56 am
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...)

Oh, like with cycling, I'm not really trying to get any faster. Swimming is my daily workout, as Moby's stunt double I have to keep my svelte waistline. I'm a few decades into a near-30 minutes fifty length front crawl-breast stroke combo. I'd be a lot faster if I didn't have to keep navigating around slow moving OAPbergs.

But yes, the soap thing works. I've been using the same pair of goggles for over a decade. The downside is that I get to see all the bad tattoos. Though, given the warm weather, there's no shortage on view without going to the pool.

Greenbank · « **Reply #397 on:** 21 July, 2016, 10:48:01 am »

Quote from: ian on 21 July, 2016, 10:26:57 am

I've been using the same pair of goggles for over a decade.

So have I, but because they cost £150. (Prescription goggles as I can't wear contact lenses.)

ian · « **Reply #398 on:** 21 July, 2016, 06:48:33 pm »

I think they were £2.75 from Decathlon. I bought two pairs. I'll probably have died before I need the second.

Feanor · « **Reply #399 on:** 21 July, 2016, 07:21:14 pm »

I appear to be a rubbish swimmer.

We were doing a PADI diving course recently, and one of the requirements was to swim 10 lengths of the pool.
This was a box-ticking exercise, at the end of the day, and I was in CBA mode.
So I decided to do it in lazy breast stroke, because my front crawl is splashy, inefficient and tiring.

Big mistake.
The action of bringing your legs together at the end of the stroke applies an outward force to your knees.
I managed to bugger up my Anterior Cruciate Ligament or somesuch gubbins and was basically cripple for most of 2 weeks.

I should have just thrashed up and down in my ungainly front crawl, or risked banging me head with a back crawl.

Interestingly, the knee pain was much better for a couple of hours after diving to modest depths of 12 - 18 M.
I wonder if the pressure squidges fluids and inflammation away from the injured area?
A sort of hyperbaric therapy for muscle / ligament injury.