For those who may be interested in tri's, but clueless about swimming, check out www.totalimmersion.net. I used their book and DVD a couple of years ago to go from "back of the pack", to solidly "mid-pack" in the swim, and it didn't take very long.

Swimming is all about technique...water is 800 times denser than air, and you simply cannot "muscle" it (the fastest swimmers always take the least amount of strokes). Fortunately, with a few simple improvements in technique, you'll be amazed at how much easier it is.