swimming ettiquette

[a7mints]

my dc who is 12 has joined a triathlon club.They do various drills with the main focus being on swimming their age groups distance in front crawl as fast as possible.The trouble is the pool is quite small 20m and they have put him in a lane with a lot younger children, who she can swim much faster than.Her stroke is not great and it is really just that she is taller older and stronger that make her swim faster.They told the children to tap the foot of a slower swimmer in front and they would let them past at the end of the length.
So last night they set off on the 300m swim and they put her at the front because of being faster , but after about 3 lengths she caught up with the last one ie lapped them.She tapped them each length but they wouldn't let her past.Eventually she tried to overtake the little ones (she looked at the coach who gave her thumbs up) so she powered past but accidentally kicked 2 little ones hard (There wasn't a lot of room because of oncoming swimmers) She was absolutely mortified!
She has only been going 2 weeks and I don't want to be 'pushy', but it is quite expensive and if she can't train flat out, I don't think it is worth going
They seem to time them every week but she can't get a true time because of the other little swimmers, and she will not dare to overtake again for fear of hurting someone .Would you say something or leave it a few weeks?
I would prob have to email the club because the class is too chaotic

[lljkk]

That doesn't sound like a good situation.
Yeah for sure I'd say something.
My 12yo DS wants to try a triathlon, we are just going to regular lanes sessions at the pool, not a club.
I imagine a club is good for teaching them out to do transition though?

[a7mints]

Well I sure hope so!
She has only done one triathlon and was 6 minutes in T1!!

[stuckinny]

I would leave it a couple of weeks before saying anything. There might be a reason she's been put in that lane - rather than having to go flat out it may give her a chance to work on technique. There is more to a successful triathlon swim than just going flat out. You may save 30 seconds in the water but the impact might be a slower bike or run by several minutes.
If nothing has changed in another two weeks I'd mention it to the coach. With most sports you have to trust that they know what they are doing even though you may not think its right (I've been proved wrong on several occasions).

[VikingMama]

Most children's triathlon clubs seems to focus more on triathlon technique and race tactics rather than actual swim training. Most triathletes train regularly with swimming clubs so use the Tri club sessions for more triathlon focused sessions, e.g. swimming in a group, sighting practice, indoor tris where there are 6 children to a lane of varying abilities.
There will be kids there who don't belong to a swim club so won't know the swim lane etiquette. I'm sure the coaches will spot that your DC is fast and perhaps shuffle groups around but I would use your swim club for actual swim training rather than the Tri club.

[celtiethree]

In my kids triathlon club they focus a lot on swim technique and only do time trials occasionally, some sessions they may focus on endurance. But there is always some technique work, that's the only way that they will get faster. They then supplement the endurance/technique sessions by having specific sessions on race technique including mass starts, sighting etc. I would say that most of the kids have really good lane etiquette. Could it be that the lane your DC is in is for the new starts??? Though if they were all doing 300m time trial are they in the same age category for racing but they are just physically smaller? Hopefully they will recognise your DC is a stronger swimmer and move her, if they don't i'd speak to the coach in a few weeks.

[a7mints]

They do have parts of teh session, in fact most of it wjhen they focus on technique, but they have a weekly full out 200/250/300 m swim as fast as they can.But yes, I will leave it a few weeks to give them a chance to sort out the groups.
I will encourage her to ask whether 'overtaking' is acceptable or not, and also maybe they will re-iterate the foot tapping message!

[VikingMama]

I'd tell her just to overtake, she'd have to in a race where there will be slower swimmers. It'll also help the slower ones get used to being passed in the lane.

[celtiethree]

Typically in a race they can't overtake in a lane. If they catch up then they need to tap and the tapped person waits at the end for them to go ahead. When entering a race you are asked to enter an accurate swim time, they then group according to to the times. Unfortunately it doesn't always work so it's important to understand the rules re tapping to pass. They always emphasise this at the race briefing.

[a7mints]

i am wondering whether it is worth a one-off one to one swimming lesson at the local pool to sort out her stroke, but I am guessing there is a lot of info on the web. Her breathing is good, but her arms seem a bit long and shallow IYKWIM and she feels her legs are ineffective. I have seen elite team practising with a float and their legs seem to be going hardly anything but they are going so fast!!

[lljkk]

Do triathletes normally lane share during a race?? I've only done 1 tri, I had my own lane,

[celtiethree]

Yes normal to share a lane very unusual to have lane to yourself.

[a7mints]

In this area I think the triathlons are mosyly if not all, open water

[lljkk]

kid triathlon swim is so brief, just 160-300m or so, I'm still surprised that they share lanes in races.

[lljkk]

ps: R tumble turns banned in pool triathlons in Britain, then, even if solo in lane? I'm reading conflicting things.

[celtiethree]

a7 where r u? Have you looked on Entrycentral for Aquathon & Tris in your area? I have 3 DC currently racing and I'd say 75:25 split pool vs open water.

lijkk, even though races are short logistics don't allow for 1 swimmer for a lane, many kids races have 100.+ kids. Normally they want one heat to finish all legs (or nearly finish) before starting the next heat. This allows marshals to direct kids correctly on bike and run loops. It also allows the kids to race against each other rather than it being a time trial. Yes tumble turns allowed but often not at end of first length.

[lljkk]

Ah, the race we R looking at had 42 kids in it last yr in the Tristar2 band, fewer kids in Tristar1 &3. Would Tristar2 be swimming with Tristar1 & 3 and other youth/adults, do you think?

The club hosting the event is unfriendly, so we R preparing solo. Thanks 4 the info. (wondering what else we don't know...)

[celtiethree]

Each of the TS categories will race separately as they race different distances. They will organise the races into heats, there may be more than one heat for each category if there are a lot on entrants. If there are 42 in Tristar 2 there will be more than one heat for that age group, they may have a boys heat and a girls heat. The most I have seen in one lane is 6 but typically less than 6. It can be a mass start where they start them off all at the same time and it's fight to c who gets to the front first. Or if will be a staggered start at 5 second intervals in a specific sequence, i.e. black hat, followed by yellow hat etc. Times are adjusted to allow for the different start times. Swim hats are provided by the race organisers. You will be advised of your heat and starting position when you check in. Transitions are important, racing in a Tri suit and using a race belt cuts down on time as you are not struggling into a t shirt while wet, don't worry about socks and use lock laces in trainers. Talc in trainers is good to help get them on wet feet.

[lljkk]

Celtie3: thanks for info. tbh, the whole thing sounds horrible to me, but DS is determined to give it a try, so we shall we see. I'm not bothering with a tri-suit b4 DS has done even one Tri, though. I'm just aiming for him to not come last or end up miserable, the first time. If he enjoys the baptism by fire I guess we can consider more commitment & investment.

[celtiethree]

lijkk it's a fantastic sport can't recommend it enough. My 3 DC love it esp. the open water cross (off road) tris. Hope ur DS has a gross first race.

[celtiethree]

Aargh great not gross

[lljkk]

lol, me too. Assuming we get our heads around all the petty rules!!

[VikingMama]

The rules may seem petty but they are there for the safety of the kids. My DD has raced 20+ triathlons and duathlons, once you've done one, it gets a lot easier to know about transitions, racking bikes, dismount lines, helmets on before picking up bike etc. It's worth watching a kids one first.

[lljkk]

Hopefully Youtube videos will do. The soonest one I can find within 50 miles is next May.

[celtiethree]

Over the colder months you're more likely to find a duathlon to compete in. You'll probably find an Aquathon earlier than May, they are a good introduction to multi discipline events. Triathlon England (if you are in England) has a link to each region and the race series in each region.

[lljkk]

The soonest event next May is an Aquathon, actually (for kids), thanks for pointing out difference. There R adult events from March. I'm not sure we want to sacrifice 4-6 hrs just to go watch, think I/we'd rather use that time for other types of training. :).

Just realised DS needs to learn tumble-turns to progress in swim lessons anyway, so time already invested is not lost.