On june 6th I will be competing in a sprint triathlon. I am a decent runner as well as biker. But have never done any competitive swimming before. As of right now I cant swim more than a couple hundred meters without getting really fatigued. What can I start doing now to prepare my self as much as possible for june 6th. What I have been doing the last couple days is 10x 50m at 50sec with 20sec of rest. Any advise will be greatly appraciated.

we typically train doing 3500 yards 3 times a week, mix it up too, do some 75's then 100's then 200's maybe a 300, then work your way back down to doing 50's. train doing pulls train doing kicks to alternate. but basically you need to be swimming often to get good.

3500 yards 3 times a week? Thats a LOT of swimming. Not saying its a bad thing, as I personally suck at it too and should probably do more, but for someone like him (who probably is the same pace as me) thats like a 2 hour swim workout a day. Being that he has till June 6th, and he is just starting, jumping into a workout like that may burn him out fast. The rest of the advice about mixing it up is sound, being that its a sprint distance the swim is probably 1/2 - 3/4 mile, and survival is important for the first one. Id say mix it up for 1000 - 1500 yards 2-3 times a week, and try and mix in on one of those days a continuous 1000 - 1500 yard swim. That will get you through the first event, then you can ramp things up...

I agree it is alot, we typically get there in one hour though not 2. but you have to have a goal set kinda high, if you cant quite make it that ok but training for swim should be a really hard one hour practice. when i started training in the pool which was only 3 months ago our group was doing the 3500 and i would just every now and then let them do a down and back while i caught my breath and out of 3500 i was doing about 2600. 3 months later i am just about keeping up only missing maybe 200 yds of the 3500. basically the only way to get good in the pool is to push yourself and do it consistently. also get yourself some good training fins if you have not done so already and a pull buoy and work those pulls.

Haha... A tough day at the pool for me is 1200.

I'm still working on technique, etc. This summer I'll be ramping up my distance in prep for my first oly, though.

1200 yds is more than enough for a short swim. Just focus on good form, and trying to relax in the water. You don't need to do tons of volume, but the quality is important. You can start by doing 600 yds in a workout then pushing yourself to do a little more each time. You have plenty of time if you can get in 4 workouts a week for a few weeks.

10,500 yards a week seems like major overkill for someone's first sprint race, especially when they aren't comfortable swimming more than a few hundred yards at a time.

I'd suggest swimming 1500-2000 yards, twice a week. Focus on form and do lots of training drills (side kicks, fists, bilateral breathing, sighting, catch-up, fingertip drag, etc.) and some speed intervals. You'll get faster, stronger and find yourself swimming further without needing to rest.

IMHO, gradually increase the distance distance of the sets, and decrease the number you do. Also, gradually decrease the rest. on 50's, you should be aiming for a quick 5 sec rest.

Work on your form, make sure you can practice at least 1500 yards in a day. and just for perspective, during the high school season i swim 4000-6000 yards a day, five days per week plus two 2000ish yard morning practices per week.

we just switched over to long course today and did 3800 yards, omg it was alot harder than short. personally i think training at a higher volume will make your sprint tri seem like a walk in the park.