Swimmers unite!

[aristocat]

Any swimmers still here?

There were quite a few of us last year, just wondered if you are still here. I still go 3 or 4 times a week and love it :)

Ages ago I had a 1-1 session & was also knackered at the end of it.

However, I practiced what I had been taught & it really helped & I improved quite fast.

Just had my first swim for a week - I strained a calf muscle really badly & had to rest up. Could only do half my normal swim. It's amazing how quickly you lose it!

I'm off to Mallorca tomorrow on my long-distance swim training camp- its pouring down here today so can't wait to get some sun and away from following the black line down the pool.

I'm a bit apprehensive about it being cold in the water and not being able to keep up but I keep telling myself I don't think i could have done anymore training so I'm just going to relax and see how it goes - we've got some impressive long-distance swim coaches (particularly the female ones) so I'm hoping to be inspired - I've packed my porridge as instructed and I'll bring back some training tips

Good luck Kaizen, you are such an inspiration!
Have fun and look forward to hear all about it when you get back.

Cheers Dili - I'll think about when i was in the remedial swimming group in primary school with the nasty swimming teacher. This time last year i was swmming a crap, tiring kilometre of half breastroke and half frontcrawl.

I've had to pack my thermals, woolly hat, thick socks, gloves for sitting in the boat after swimming - I'll be able to post some glamourous swimming photos afterwards

Kaizen - that sound like it will be fun. DD and I are off up to Glasgow next weekend to take part in a masterclass with Keri-Anne Payne - and we get to see some of the finals of the British Championships too!

Hi all, can I join you? I've been swimming every weekday since January, 1k a time, not particularly fast but I feel fantastic and really miss it on the odd occasion I can't make it to the pool.

Nice to see some fellow water babies on here!

Oooh found a thread I want to play on - havent read it all but thought Id introduce myself!
I used to be really in to all my classes, yoga, bodypump etc. I suffered a knee injury last year and havent been able to do any of them since beginning of Dec. So I have swum. And swum and swum.
I go 4-5 times a week and just 3 months ago thought I was superwoman for doing 100 in a week haha, now I do that twice a week and between 40-80 on the other days.
I dont have any long term goals, just to keep swimming. I used to find 10 boring but now I can switch off and go for an hour without thinking.
Thankfully our pool has signed up to swimtag, I know I can do 40ish in 30 mins, a mile in 48ish mins etc etc so I just swim for a set amount of time then check in online to see what Ive done. You get graphs and everything which my inner geek just luuuuurrrrrrrves! Anyone else got this?!?!

Hi ladies. Haven't posted for a while, but I've been swimming lots. Tried Windermere last week. Damn it was cold, but at least I did it! Swam 2 miles in the pool for the first time yesterday in preparation for the Great North Swim. Achy in places I never dreamed of this morning!

As part of the training for the Great North, I need to keep swimming on holiday the first week of June. We're going to Santo Tomas in Menorca. Will the sea be warm enough for just wearing a normal costume, or will I need a rash vest or something more thermal? Anyone got any experience?

Hi Always - water temperature should be about 18 degrees, so you should be fine in a costume if you've been in Windemere, but you could take a rash vest. Depends on your acclimatisation and body fat. I've just been to Mallorca in April and it was 14 degrees - chilly but doable

You lot are the motivation I need. I love swimming but getting to do it is a problem. I've found a gym with a crèche so can do 2 hours a week. How far would you swim in am hour?

Swimming for an hour is quite a long time and depends how intense you do it sauce so you could do a 'power' session, which would get you out of breath (and make the hour seem a long time ) or steady speed, or just have a nice swim or pootle about. See how far you go and then use that as a baseline. Top class swimmer would do about 3 miles...192 lengths....

I wouldn't be that intense - I used to be fast swimmer - now I might do every 4th length at a speedier pace - front crawl. Otherwise an easy going breast stroke. I can't run to save my life - ten minutes max! - but I could do breast stroke for 45 minutes without a problem.

Inspired by you all on this thread I went for a swim this morning - I would like to take back all my "I can swim for 45 minutes no problem"

I had toe cramp and just about managed 35 minutes and was doing breast stroke most of the time. Seems I'm not nearly as capable as I thought.

Thank you Kaizen . I like idea of attempting a power session.

I also seem to have most of the swimming pool leaking into my pants. Post baby swimming is a whole new experience

Sauce I am not up to your level of swimming & never was - old gimmer here.

But when I started swimming again in January 12 lengths was finishing me off. Now I can do 40 with out much pain.

It's amazing how quickly it comes back.

Am off for some Turkish sea swimming soon - water temp is 20C - I can't wait.

I love sea swimming more than almost anything in this life. There's only one thing better, IMHO!!

Oooh a swimming thread!

I've been doing lengths at our local pool since August. It's an old BIG pool so each length is nearly 50 metres. I can do 1 k if I get in earlier enough in the hour long session. Mostly do 16-18 lengths rather than 22. I do sort of breast stroke - breast stroke arms and simple kicking legs. Tbh swimming is such a miracle for me - only something I did in my mid thirties having been scared of deep water before that - that it does not bother me one jot how I look.

Kaizen - thank you! Slightly nervous about open water swimming without the wetsuit buoyancy to provide some reassurance that I can pause and roll onto my back if indeed to. Was thinking to buy a float to attach to my waist in case I need it.... Do you have experience?

Sauce - swimming worked wonders for my pelvic floor. Far better than other exercises in my opinion

Always this is good to put stuff in if you are swimming on your own, or to hang onto if need be.

www.ishof.org/safety/ssd.htm

Excellent, Kaizen, thank you.

You ladies are all very inspiring!
I am really keen to get into swimming properly, am quite overweight now and know I feel better in mind & body if I can do something regularly. I tend do always do breaststroke and I know it can be done energetically but I find it all too easy to do it at a sedate pace. I really want to do front crawl but at the moment can barely manage 25m.

Here's the thing - I have access whenever I want to a private outdoor heated pool which is about 12m long. It's very lovely but I worked out 1k would be about 83 lengths! When j did breaststroke the other day I sort of did a lap of the pool so I didn't actually stop at each end. Not sure if that would work with front crawl though.

Any advice for me? Should I seek out a lesson or two in the front crawl techniques mentioned upthread or do you think my weight/lack of fitness/lack of basic technique would be a barrier?

Perrinelli I would advise maybe a lesson or two for technique, as it makes a big difference to your experience of swimming. Or you could watch some You tube videos and practice on your own.

Dont worry about your weight - I've just spend a week training with some big female Channel swimmers (probably size 20 and up) and they did long distance and Masters swimming. Weight is no barrier and can be an advantage once you get fitter. Good luck!

There were 2 super fast swimmers at the pool today - they had flippers, hand paddles etc. is there a fitness benefit to those? I assumed it would make the swim easier so burn less and tone less?

I'm aching - pushed myself but thinking about when I can fit in another swim this week - bought new costume ....I'm getting hooked!

Thanks thread. I needed a push ...

I don't use any aids at all, but only because I was taught the Total Immersion style of swimming, which relies on gaining natural balance in the water, and aids are seen as getting in the way of this

Lots of other swim styles use them though, mainly for technique work - so 'fins' help ankle strength and flexibility and strengthen the kick. Paddles help with the 'catch' so they improve the feel for the water. From my observation, lots of blokes who are poor are poorer swimmers rely on training aids to get over things like sinking legs, instead of going back to basics. Two blokes were flying in the fast lane last week and I was nearly puking to keep up, then they removed the pull-buoys from between their legs, legs sank, back to square one. But some of the fastest swimmers also use them to train, so when used well I think they add something. They can also make sessions less boring

Good on you for pushing yourself - it's a nice swimming ache!!

Oh Kaizen exactly ! I thought they were Olympic swimmers and was feeling very slow. I cheered up a bit when I saw the accessories!

I'm knackered. I want to go to bed.

Hi all

I found this thread last night and I just wanted to say that I tried the total immersion method (well, what I thought was total immersion method) and instead of doing 4L front crawl and coming up gasping for breath, I ended up doing 40!

I got taught to swim to use my arms more as a windmill with the usual arm bent etc as you enter, straighten and then bent again as you pull through. It took about 2 lengths to get the hang of doing the 'reach' and holding my arm there until the other arm was ready to enter the water, but once I got the hang of it, it was great.

My timings were much better I think, by going on the pool clock. When I go swimming on tuesday I will wear my watch and time myself properly.