Swimming for fitness (part 2). Jump in!

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We've filled up the first Swimming for fitness thread, so here is the new one.

Everyone welcome.

rights I'm with you there, running = put on trainers, run, take trainers off again, repeat. Swimming properly is so hard!!!

Rights
this explains it, same for back stroke
we do a similar drill, but do 6 kicks on side, 6 kicks on back then 6 kicks on the other side.

No, running isn't this complicated! Well, it can be, but the gains from really good form are less immediate in running.

Core - think about what you are doing as you alternate arms. It you want to recover over the water and push the other arm forward you need to rotate your upper body, right? But you want your head to stay still, and for your hips downward to not rotate (otherwise you kick sideways). So by engaging your core you can do all of those things as well as keeping your spine aligned along your direction of travel so you minimise your profile to the water.

I have to think about my core a lot more than a 'normal' swimmer as I only have one functioning arm, so the lack of symmetry does show up everything! And changes in head position or whatever will send me off course too

running, one foot in front of the other, repeat

nope, no danger of drowning whatsoever :-)

We were taught to rotate slightly so that our body/hips go to either the 5 o'clock or 7 o'clock hour positions away from the 6pm flat starter position

Yes head stays relaxed completely and supported by the water and in the same down position until you want to breathe

CMOT - that is interesting (although sorry to hear about your arm problem!) I have one arm with reduced muscle tone and which I can't straighten and it does tend to send me off course - and then I overcompensate and go the other way.

1K done in medium busy pool. Everyone behaving though.
Tried to think of my core. Don't think I'm engaging it really, I'm all arms.

Try doing a couple of lengths every time with a pull buoy then - focus on the feeling of up, straight and high for your spine, bum staying still while your core controls the rotation. Then the next lengths, try and capture that feeling again.
Doing legs only with a float in front of you (my pull buoy is shaped to do that as well which is handy) makes you focus on your legs, but also not over rotating to breathe.

If you've read 'Born to run', they talk about the mantra of 'up, light, easy' (or something along that line) and rechecking yourself all the time, I feel a bit like that with swimming. I didn't do club swimming as a child, so things aren't drilled into my muscle memory. I therefore run through my head/body/arm/hand/leg checklist all the time and then try and concentrate on really good form for whatever is lacking for the next length, recheck and repeat for the next thing. It passes the time, and since I started doing that more it has really paid off. Wish I could do more coached sessions, but I can't afford it tbh

Thanks CMOT.
I actually alternate 4 lengths (25m pool) with and 4 w/o the pull buoy anyway - it helps me to keep count. Should my bum poke out of the water?
OK, so basically rotate from the shoulders using my core?

I really would love to have just a few coached lessons. I actually know a few people who would be willing (in exchange for coffee) to give me some tips, but my swim time is so much about my mental health as well right now that I am loathe to lose that alone time.

Hi there, sorry to just drop in and ask a question straight off. I need to get a wetsuit and I was wondering if any of you knew of any that had a particularly low cut neck but we're still effective? I have entered a couple of open water swims (I am crapping myself) and the only other time I have had to wear a wetsuit was for a triathlon yonks ago. It was a hire suit and was really uncomfortable on the neck.

No recommendations I'm afraid raaah but can I ask where you hired your wetsuit for the triathlon? I need to hire one in the next few weeks and have no idea who is good or not!

You might find it cheaper to buy one on ebay Igottastart - the hire companies charge a lot on postage etc, and I've only paid £50 for my wetsuits so its really cost effective.

Raah, they are all pretty high necked tbh. Was it the tightness, or was it rubbing? Rubbing just needs more BodyGlide

Ok thanks CMOT. I'll check out eBay, although I don't really know what I'm looking for! Wetsuits suitable for proper swimming v surfing are quite different aren't they? I've found a hire company that charges £40 for 4 weeks hire. And it's a brand new suit so I though that was ok. I'll look at eBay anyway though, hadn't even considered that. And I'll get myself some body glide lube presumably!!

If you search triathlon wetsuit, you'll get the ones suitable for swimming in. Then just google 'wetsuit brand sizing chart' to see if that one will fit you.

Bodyglide looks like a deodorant stick and then you rub it anywhere things might rub - round your neck for starters, but also anywhere a wet tri suit and bra may rub (all the edges round the arm and bra band for me). I also do round my ankle as the timing chip gives me blisters. Its also a good waterproof chamois cream

Alpkit... £99 for a neutral 3/3 suit, they're very good!

Arghh just looked at alpkit, small wetsuits sold out.

Good morning. Very impressed with all the wet suits / open water discussions. Still don't feel brave enough to do that. We were at a sailing club at a reservoir on the weekend and they had a sign about swimming there one late afternoon a week. Not tempted (yet?).

Good swim today. 2km in 39min which is a pb.

A dad brings his daughter swimming (secondary school age) because she doesn't get to do swimming at school. They are a bit slow but good about letting people get past and most of us think it is great that they are going swimming together. But today someone in the free swimming lane told me she had suggested they go there to get out of people's way. The dad said to her that nobody had complained and everyone seemed pleased they were there and encouraged them. Anyway, somehow the daughter did move to the free lane and apparently ended up in tears. The person who'd spoken to them felt bad. I'm really hoping it hasn't put them off.

So they were in a lane and someone actually had the balls to interfere and tell them to get into the mixed rotating lane?

what business was it of the free lane swimmer? poor thing, she's bound to feel a little put off

Hmm, I'm not sure they did the wrong thing though. Our pool is set up to have a large area that isn't lanes (I guess the width of 3 lanes) that you can do as you like in. There are then only 3 lanes, so some people will do lengths in the free area (usually head up breaststroke, but lane people go in there to do backstroke or slow stuff). If someone was in the slow lane but not largely keeping up then one might suggest that they should go in the free area till they are a bit faster.

Really, its the dads issue for not keeping an eye on the number of time they are passed and moving down if necessary. I do find people are loathe to say anything - recently I have spoken to 5 people seething about the same swimmer in our middle lane, but no one had tackled her about it - and it sounds like she was trying to be kind

Bother. Turned up for first swim and there's something wrong with my swimming goggles. I've got another pair at home. Might try without but I don't like the chlorine and I'm blind as a bat.

I did it!!

I feel a bit of a fraud on this thread though. I only managed 20/22 lengths (lost count!) and found it much harder than I remembered (I was half the size and fit then, not obese and inactive!!)

I loved it. It felt so good!! I found front crawl really odd and I panicked with the breathing (I used to swim, what happened to me :() but decided to do every second stroke instead of third and went slower and calmed down and managed some.

I'm a bit achey while I do it so I alternated strokes at whim. Will work out a plan at some point but just wanted to enjoy :)

I have prescription goggles but they're not as strong as my actual prescription so may need some proper ones. They will be expensive though!

Thanks for the encouragement. Hopefully Ill improve!!

Very well done Caterpillar. You aren't a fraud at all. You are a swimmer! Every length counts and how great that you managed to enjoy it. There will be no stopping you now!

Well done! Calm and slower is the way to go.

I have the AquaSphere Eagle goggles from Prescription Goggles and they are brilliant and only £35. My first pair are now relegated to my travel bag as they have discoloured on the soft parts - I keep meaning to try and pick up some on ebay to just swap the lenses into but forget
I had the Blick ones from there first and didn't like them as much but am now toying with the idea of having some cool Swan ones.

Thanks cmot. Those only go up to (down to?) -6
I have -8 ones that specsavers sold me which "do" so I can at least not hit people but my actual prescription is -10 in one eye with astigmatism so was wondering about buying the custom ones in the future.

These do the job for now though!! Once I'm in the water it's actually fine but it's not clear seeing where people actually are.

Oh it was so nice to swim!!!

Theres an option on the side of the page to filter by dioptres - so the Suttons go to -10, but there is a few

Ooooh so they do!!! And you can contact them with a prescription to get a recommendation which I might do with my weird prescription. And so much cheaper than the custom ones I was looking at.
Oh you are wonderful, Thankyou :)