Triathlon - Swimming woes

I have a triathlon in 1.5 weeks and I've started "training" for the swimming portion (read: attempting to learn how). I'm definitely getting the form down. Kicking with the hips, rolling the body, elbows up, but my problem is: I have to stop every time I try to breathe, because whenever I stick my head out, water shoots up my nose!

I've tried many things like breathing out while my head is initially coming out of the water, etc. but that usually screws up my rhythm, as I feel like I don't have enough time to get another breath.

So tell me.. has anyone had this problem? I feel like if I got nose clips, I could focus more on the breathing patterns, rather than worrying about swallowing more chlorine.

You may have to change the way you are pulling your head out of the water. Some people are not the same with the left or right hand side. If I roll my head left I am fine 100% of the time, when I roll my head right, I struggle with water intake sometimes.

You have a tri in 1.5 weeks and you're just now trying to learn to swim???

All I have to say is that I hope it's a short pool swim.

Oh, and good luck!

Steve

I wasn't a strong swimmer when I began triathlon. Not the strongest still but I certainly don't sweat it. Keep at it.

You should be breathing out while your mouth and nose are essentially still in the water. This prevents the water coming in. Also, try turning a little more to the side as you are taking in air which will place your nose/mouth up higher out of the water. You'll begin to figure out what's compartable and efficient with the more experience you get.

You have a tri in 1.5 weeks and you're just now trying to learn to swim???

All I have to say is that I hope it's a short pool swim.

Oh, and good luck!

Steve

It's a 300m pool swim. I can float on my back the whole way if I need to :) I'm just trying to figure out how to do it in under the 10 minute alloted time.

Well with about a week and change left...all I can say is get a nose plug, and good luck. After time you learn to train your body to only breath through your mouth. Then learn to breath even with water around your mouth. I think only about half y mouth goes above the water.

Most people train the swim portion of the tri for months before trying it. So like I said, good luck...

It is not uncommon to see people doing the side stroke during the swim. Mostly this is when they get exhausted by going out too fast (which I've done), but whatever, it allows you to have your head above water at all times. I do hope that you take swim lessons, so you have a variety of strokes you can use in the future. Good luck!!!

Yeah, like others have said: exhale while your face is in the water and finish the exhale just as you pull your head out. When you do pull your head out of the water--to the side--angle it back behind you. so, if you are looking at the computer screen it is not a simple "look right/left" but a look over your shoulder toward the back of your chair movement...this works for me.

good luck!

Get the nose clips. Eventually you won't need them any more, but in the meantime they'll help you get through the race.

Can you swim breaststroke? Or, should I say, can you swim 300m breaststroke in under 10 minutes? The breathing pattern in breaststroke is pretty hard to get wrong.

If breaststroke isn't going to work for you, one thing you might try is practicing your breathing with a kickboard. Kick with your face in the water, and just concentrate on one arm at a time, turning your head to the side as your hand reaches your hip. Once you get comfortable doing this lose the kickboard and see if breathing during your normal stroke is better.

By the way, I assume when you breathe you're turning your head to the side of the arm that's at the end of the stroke, right? By this I mean when breathing to the left, your left hand should be at your left hip and coming back up.

yea make sure your exahling is the one thing i can tell you. i know i had trouble with it when i started competitive swimming but one thing that really helped me was make sure that you are about to run out of breath when you turn your head you should have enough pressure coming out to blow alot of the water away from your nostril/ mouth area and take a deep breath because you are simply out of air at this piont. this helped me also how many strokes are you trying to do in between breaths?

If you can swim at all, 10 minutes is plenty of time for a 300m pool swim. If you can't get the breathing, switch to breast or side stroke. Hell, flip over and float on your back if you need to. Just pace yourself and don't go out to fast.

Have fun!

Steve