Well I took a swim today 2 weeks before my race. I spent the summer lifting weights and kayaking all in the hope it would benefit my swim.....well it did not....WOW it is harder than I remember.........My goggles filled with water and I was out of breath in about 20 strokes......I fear for my 1/2 mile swim.....any ideas? I do plan to swim a few times a week but in 2 weeks I am pretty screwed.

I've swam competitively for the past fifteen years and the most important thing to remember especially in these longer races is long smooth strokes and plenty of breathing. If you are choppy that is wasted energy, pretty over power is always the way to go especially when you aren't a strong swimmer Is it an open water swim or is it in a pool? If its in a pool use the walls to your advantage and push off of them hard don't waste a wall by just touching and going you need to explode off of the wall. If it is open water make sure your stroke is long and pick a side you are comfortable breathing to and breathe to that side the whole race(this can be done in a pool as well). All that extra breathing helps prevent lactic acid build up and it helps you get into a good rhythm. Hope this helps. Don't panic pick a pace you are comfortable with because going too fast can kill the race bad. Good luck!

Weren't you the guy who asked if kayaking will help your swim? I said no then and I stand by that now. (ok so it was a snarky answer but here is an explaination) Kayaking uses completely different muscles than swimming. In kayaking you drop your elbows to use your lats and biceps. In swimming, you want high elbows so you can use your whole arm and rotator muscles.

+1 to above. and tighten your goggles.

Its always the little things we overlook that kill us haha. Also I've thought a little bit harder about your predicament, and I've got a little bit more advice. These two weeks are not going to give you much improvement at all if any. Swimming is the hardest sport to train for because it requires tremendous amounts of yardage and time and long times out of the pool are detrimental to your whole stroke. That being said you probably aren't going to have the best swim of your life, however, the two weeks should not be wasted. I am mainly a sprinter when it comes to swimming anything above 500 yards I tend to stay away from, though I did train extensively for Sectionals(invitational meet) in both the 1000M and the Mile swims. Any amount you are going to race in the general rule of thumb for a swimmer in training is to do between 5-10 times that amount of distance every practice(broken up of course though I do not recommend this as you say you are not a strong swimmer). If I was in your situation I would practice every single day at least for the first week(you want as much as you are comfortable with). Equipment you should be using should be Pull paddles and Buoys to work on just your arms and a kick board to focus on your legs. A very generic practice would be a 300-600yard swim to warm up, this should be an easy comfortable swim working mainly on breathing and a correct long stroke that is smooth. After that take about 2-3 min at the most rest and do a 200yrd Pull(buoy between your legs and paddles on) continuing to force those long strokes. After that rest no more than 1 min. and do a 300-400yrd kick with the kickboard. Then do 3-7 100yrd swims on fast pace for you(I'm guessing 1:45-2:15 pace for your 100's) and resting 25 sec. in between each one. Then do a 300yrd warm down swim, this should be easy and you should really stretch out your entire body(reaching beyond what you think is the farthest you can reach LOTS OF ROTATION). After that stretch and make sure you are comfortable. This sort of workout can be modified to tailor your specific needs like i said it is very generic you can add to it or subtract from it this is just a very simplistic version of the practices I coach for my team. If you are swimming at a good pace with a smooth stroke you should be very tired after this, but you should not be overly sore if you start to hurt terribly in one spot(say your shoulder) then you might be swimming incorrectly(i.e. not enough rotation or dropping your elbows in the recovery part of your stroke). I really hope this helps out and feel free to message me if you seem to have extreme difficulties. Swimming is only as hard as you make it out to be, go in with a good mindset and a bottle of water and these practices and swims should be easy! Once again good luck!

p.s.If this is for a tri(I'm assuming it is) you should work hard on your pull sets with the paddles, because it is better to use mostly your arms in a tri swim since the rest of the race is almost entirely leg strength.

Two weeks isn't enough to build up your stamina. I suggest you practice the backstroke so you can rest and alternate from the freestyle.

Thank you for offering some good advice. I really screwed up here I have been riding like a bull and it is my strength swimming is a huge weak spot. I plan to swim as much as I can just to learn to relax in an open lake swim.....I kinda freaked out after a very short distance the race is 1/2 mile open water/lake swim.... I once did the St Peters Tri in Florida 1 mile open water ocean swim so I just figured I could do it with minimal effort, but that was over 10 yrs ago...Thanks for the help..

Wow Crocker, GREAT post. I pasted it and created my new training routine from it. THANK YOU. Great advice and I can't wait to jump in the pool and get on it.

Oh and Hammer... the best thing you have going for you is the confidence of experience. Since you've done an open water swim, just relax, let your arms do the work, and get a rhythm going... you'll survive it. Good luck!

Fellas, today was day two in the water. I used the advice given and simply tried to relax and breath and focus on my stroke. not having Nerves was a huge help....I have two weeks so I hope to get out a good half dozen times and just go through the motions. Having been there and done that on a larger scale does make it easier mentally.
Thanks again, I only wish I did not wait so long.

Oh well....wish me well. 31st is the day 7am start....Lake Mohawk NJ

Well good luck to you! And thanks Chris, swimming is my thing its the only part of the tri I can actually win haha. If you ever hit a plateau in your training and feel like you can do more feel free to PM me and I can help you with some more workouts and drills.

You'll do GREAT Hammer, just keep it up!

And thanks again Crocker, I'll definately hit you up in a few weeks I'm sure!

I wanted to give an update on my training. I have 1 week to go before my race. I took all the great advice and have put in 4 swims to date...I just returned from a 1/4 mile in the lake. I feel more confident but man my shoulders hurt. I will be wearing a full trisuit and swam in an aqua shirt today I felt awful in the water....Slow, is that possible? Will the suit slow me down? anyway thanks for the good words I do feel more confident and will get in 1 more swim before the race....

Try wearing the trisuit for just a little bit before race day and swim around in it so you get comfortable. If its skin tight then it shouldn't slow you down rather it would help you out. If it isn't skin tight and then there will be drag which could potentially slow you down. To help with shoulder pain make sure you stretch out your whole shoulder area starting across the chest then down on your tricep with your elbow up above your head. Makes sure you shake your arms out so they aren't too tight if you're swimming afterward. Last tidbit of advice, a well guarded swimmers secret(feel free to tell everyone haha) rub your back and shoulders and pecs with Tiger Balm(not for sensitive skin) or Icyhot literally minutes before the race. Trust me this makes a huge difference. The ointment will loosen out your muscles preventing shard tight pains throughout the swim. Tiger Balm for those of you who don't know is Icyhot on steroids and is not to be treated lightly. This stuff burns so if you have never done therapy like this go with the Icyhot(both can be found at a local drug store). Also, the water will "enhance" the Icyhot's effect so be prepared when you jump in for it to burn slightly more. That is what I always did religiously before every single race(not triathlons though, I would check to make sure its legal though I don't see why it wouldn't be) and it really helped prevent mid-race pains and knots. Again I hope this helps! Keep us posted and let us know how you do!

In relation to the first post, I just started swimming for the first time in over a year. While I do have a triathlon as a goal, I have not chosen a particular triathlon, and so I was just spending today just trying to see how I did. I ended up doing 30 laps in the 25 yard lengthwise pool at the aquatics center by where I live, totalling 750 yards, which I guess is ~ .43mi. I was pretty tired at the end, but that is to be expected for my first time swimming in over a year.

My more immediate goal is to rotate my hips more as well as keep my head further in the water, as I believe those are the reasons why I get exhausted so fast. Once that works, I plan on trying to do two laps at once with little to no rest (I can't do that flip that I see everyone else doing, I have to spend 30-60 secs whenever I reach the end of each lap), or should it be the other way around. One thing I have noticed from watching other people doing freestyle in the pool is that they do less complete circles, but rather they barely move their arm/elbow out of the water and it becomes more a rotation of the shoulder (i.e., they keep their arm like an "L" rather than straight when it is out of the water). That and they try to minimize the splash of the hand entering the water.

CrockerCock may already have mentioned this, but a repeat is worth while.

Don't wait too long to stop/reduce training. It has been decades since I swam compettively, but I still remember tapering for big meets. At least teh entire week before was not endurance training. It was technique, starts and the like. Giving the body a rest. I would say the absolute latest for any endurance work on your part is tuesday (assuming a saturday tri).

You messed up on the start of training, don't compound it by overdoing last minute training.

Why do so many people do this? - focus on their strengths and not their weaknesses. I know it's more fun but...

Swim as much as you can - forget about swim taper, you could swim up till a couple of days before and it's not going to hurt you for a 500-750m swim.

And make sure you learn from your mistake

OK fellas....I survived. The swim while long did not sux as much as I thought. I came out in 24 mins..1/2 mile..some kid did it in I think 12 mins???? is that even possible?
The race was a 1/2 mile openwatr lake swim, 10 mile bike 5k..I did it in1hr 26 mins.....
Winner did it in 1hr 04mins..team did it in1hr 1 min..

Thank you for the support I know I need to work on my swimmin gfor the next one, but what is a good time for a open water 1/2 mile swim?

Take care people....I am toast.
Nappy time

Thanks for the update. Glad you made it! Haha yes 12 mins is completely possible, though I guarantee he is a competitive swimmer. My peak time for an open water 1/2 mile was right at 10:32.27 however, that was n a single swim race my normal for a triathlon or training would be anywhere between 11:30-13:00 depending on number of people, where I start, lake its in, temp., etc... Great job 24 is respectable for not training until last minute. If you want a goal for your next tri with a 1/2 mile swim your best bet would first to beat 20 mins which is not going to come easy. With swimming you have to keeping upping the ante as they say complacency with a workout is bad news in swimming it means you've reached a plateau. Every time you start to feel comfortable with a workout you need to either increase distances in the pool or speed up interval, sometimes both. If you put in about 3-4 months consistent at least 3 days a week (preferably 4 or 5) of good training you can definitely shave about 5-6 mins off of that time. Hope this helps feel free to PM me if you need help planning a long term training schedule. Once again awesome job!