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 :)

Pavlov - I too am a one sided breather - the thing that has helped me most is watching this video (posted by Kaizen:

It has really made me think about how I am swimming & has made me slow down my whole stroke etc. I end up covering more distance with less effort.

I'm doing 36 - 40 lengths 3 times a week. I've been back to that routine for six weeks & to start with could only manage about 14/16 lengths. I'm pushing the big six O - so am quite pleased.

(25 metre pool)

oh wow that looks so graceful! I could do with taking my laptop to the poolside and check I am doing it right each length!

I haven't got a laptop so I look at it before I go & swim. I learnt front crawl 50 years ago (very young!) & it is hard to slow down to that glide & keep that arm ahead of me until the other arm hits the water again, but I am very slowly getting there & it has helped my swimming & enjoyment so much. Am still one sided breathing! And the lack of constant kicking is also great!

This is my new favourite video from the re-vampt Total Immersion site - this woman is amazing and where she swims looks gorgeous. I think she's a Swedish TI coach. I think i've been watching it everyday to cheer me up in this grim weather

www.totalimmersion.co.uk

vamped not vampt - not sure they were thinking of temptresses......

That's lovely & looked like amazing sea - I can't wait for summer & sea swimming! I won't give up pool swimming as the sea near me only gets to about 18C (at best) & it's too cold to stay in too long & also can be very choppy. But I love swimming in the sea & we are going to Turkey again later in the year where the swimming is amazing.

100 lengths today. My right arm was aching a bit throughout the session and I wonder if I was reaching a bit too far with it esp. as I breathe to the left every 2 strokes

I would love to be able to swim like that! I have learnt lots already, like actually swimming to the side, and the leg kick, I don't pay enough attention to coordinating the leg kicks, I just sort of do a free for all with them, but I am going tomorrow so I shall give these tips a try, thank you everyone!

I have been swimming again tonight and managed the 22 lengths I was hoping for .

I really need to work on tidying up my swimming strokes though - backstroke was always my strength but very difficult to do in a busy public swimming session. I kind of need to see where I'm going .

I have been watching YouTube videos on how to improve my breaststroke legs, as they do go all wonky after a length or two!

So pleased to have found this thread - may I join? :)

I have been harbouring a secret wish to try open water swimming and have finally taken the 'plunge' (after a few years of procrastinating) and booked myself onto the the Big Cotswold Swim in July.

I am only doing a mile but it's the kick-start I need to get back into the pool. Haven't swam for year and only managed a few lengths of breast stroke so I'm just focussing on improving my fitness and learning how to front-crawl with bilateral breathing.

Managed 40 lengths today (yippee!) and have some 1 to 1 sessions coming up at the end of the month with a swimming coach. Then need to book some open-water coaching.

I'm getting so comfortable in the pool however that I'm now doubting whether I have the resolve to venture into open-water.

My dream is to swim the Solent, then maybe train up to do the Dart 10K, maybe a Channel relay. I'm 43 though, very unfit and overweight so not sure whether any of this is entirely achievable.

Can I have some inspiring stories please?

Welcome forgiveme, !
I have neglected the thread due to a nasty injury, made me REALLY want to go to the pool, but had to wait :)
I don't swim in open water, I am gathering courage to do so, but the other ladies on the thread can help, I am sure!
Such a nice feeling getting back into it, isn't it?

Welcome forgiveme! You've got some great goals there, just keep chipping away at them. Try the open water when it gets warmer, but the idea is to get your stroke consistent in the pool first and then (in theory!!) you can rely on it when it gets trickier in open water.
You'll get fit quick, and weight helps to float and keeps you warm so don't lose too much . Try and find an open water/wild swimming group near you as they are really friendly and inspirational and normally have some channel relayers etc in them. My last advice would be to work on your core strength too if you fancy tidal swims, as it's invaluable to have whole body strength when it gets tough. I'm off now as up early to get in the pool

Thank you for the welcome

Dildalli - sorry to hear about your injury - hope you enjoy your swims again soon.

Kaizen - I have joined an open water group on Facebook. Not met anyone yet but they do all seem lovely and very friendly.

In terms of weight-loss - I understand that a bit of buoyancy isn't a bad thing but I have a LOT of weight to loose (could easily lose 4 stone). I'm really hoping that the swimming will help me to achieve that.

Has anyone else used swimming as an aid to weight-loss?

Forgive - I too am hoping that more regular swimming will help reduce my ample curves! (and I could easily double what you state)

100 lengths done today but feeling it in the back of my arms tonight.

Does anybody else have trouble with water up their nose? For the last couple of weeks, every Monday evening I have what feels like a runny nose, but blocked sinuses at the same time, plus an itchy nose and sneezing too! In all my years of swimming I've never had my nose feel like this. It will be back to normal tomorrow but this evening it is driving me bonkers

Hello. Loving the swimming chat!

I just wanted to say that I got a waterproof MP3 player for Christmas. It took me a few attempts to get it to work for me because the earphones kept falling out , and wearing a swim hat (which I hate) didn't really help as it just rode up over my ears.

I bought an ear band-it (I'm in the US, so apologies if they are impossible to find in the UK). It's a neoprene head band basically that covers your ears and stops the earphones falling out. I love it and now I can listen to music the whole time and no itchy hat!

Happy swimming

looking forward to swimming in the sunshine tomorrow

Wow- swimming in the sun!! Good to know that somewhere it's sunny.

I tried to focus on one technique point this morning for 20 lengths- so 20 on kick, 20 on arms, 20 on early breath etc. I realised I had the attention span of a flea so would change focus every half a length. So all my "focused practice" was actually about 20 seconds on each. I'll try again tomorrow I think. Had the lane to myself, which was nice

Hello MN swimmers, been AWOL for a bit, how are you all?

aristo got your pool back yet?

kaizen how is your long distance training going - I can't image being able to swim for 3 hours. Good luck.

We did an interesting thing in our swim class yesterday, swam for 9 minutes three times with 1 min rest in between, the aim was to swim at least 1 length more each time. I managed about half a one!

Hoping for a swim in the sunshine soon too - our local outdoor pool is open for another few weeks only (sigh) where are you TalkinPeace?

Also to add to the thread, another cap wearer here - my head gets cold now if I don't wear one. All the girls in my swim class wear them. I only ever see a cap on a bloke for open water swims

Hi. I am here too but reading and not posting

My pool is open again but my plans to restart yesterday were dashed with an ill DS. He is almost 12 and hardly ever not well but felt sick and looked pale.
He must be bad ....... hasn't asked to play his games LOL. So for the last 2 days I have been with him instead of swimming! He seems a little better tonight so my cossie will be on soon.

Hampshire : its heated!

Hello. I haven't been swimming for ages, but tonight I am quite literally taking the plunge with a new fitness membership and sheer determination to start a regular habit. I used to swim long distance as a young teen, and would love to get back into it. I am very unfit and very overweight, so here we go. Marking place to try and keep up motivation!

Love the idea of waterproof MP3! That would be amazing.

Strange question but is there any chance swimming could make you actually store fat? I've always been somebody who doesn't put weight on easily and to be honest taken advantage of it by doing no exercise. I've recently joined a gym and started swimming, I'd say I'm doing about half a mile three times a week at a moderate pace, and I swear I have actually put a little fat on my tummy . It's not like I'm eating more as a result of exercising more either as I'm actually trying to save money at the moment too and snacks have been the easiest thing to stop buying! Any ideas? I really love swimming but I don't want to change what was a good arrangement I had with my body!!

I found this article www.burnthefatinnercircle.com/members/341.cfm
Which seems to suggest there is tendency for swimmers to store more fat, but mainly due to swimming in cold water. I'm not sure it would matter in a heated pool so much. I've read other things on the tendency to store more 'brown fat' (which is a type of muscle) rather than white fat.

Apparently top class swimmers do a lot of gym work, and running too to keep in shape.

I like the use of the term "fat floats" though.....