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.

Big welcome Love51, calabalamuc and NotCitrus. Lovely big group of swimming enthusiasts. Hope your swimming is going well …

Well done Allegretto. Our Lido has opened to the public now but it is 50m so I'm slightly nervous about the transfer from indoor pool. I completed 100 lengths of our 25m pool last night but I think that it's going to be like starting again when I get a wetsuit on and get in the colder, bigger pool.

Notcitrus - wow, that's a bargain! It costs me 7 euros each time!

allegretto - I suspect it's to encourage people with disabilities to swim as a form of exercise which generally alleviates rather than aggravates pain. If I wanted to use the gym or have classes included it would still be £29/month with disabled discount. The agent spent a good while trying to persuade me to take that one - despite the fact that I'd never do more than a class a week and they are about £3.50...

Still sneezing and blowing my nose thanks to yesterday's swim - will try nose clip tomorrow.

That is a great offer. On checking, our centre has a £4 for 6 months offer if you have a 'qualifying disability' though no details as to what that is and no one has ever mentioned it. I swim one armed permanently due to disability.

Raah, I like the extra length of the lido. Though I'm not great at turns, so it is a benefit to me. Is your lido unheated?

Yes it is unheated CMOT. I find it really cold. It will do me good to drop a few push offs. I just feel a bit intimidated as there are lots of good swimmers in there. It is a lovely pool though and it's lovely to be in the open.

2k at the local lido today joined by 2 ducks.
Raaaah there is a speedo youtube video of Kerri Ann Payne (10k open water swimmer) demonstrating sighting. It is very good and she makes it look easy!
2 ways of sighting without stopping. ..crocodile eyes peeking above the water mid stroke or lifting head and doing a waterpolo type stroke for a bit. Find something to aim for like a marker buoy and aim for it.
I always just follow the people in front of me and do a bit of peeking over the water but keep my head down for far longer than I should between sighting. Not recommended!

Thanks cheapmum I will take a look. I think that I might struggle with it as I am so used to tucking my head down and just ploughing on. I am going to order a couple of wetsuits tomorrow and get in the lido this weekend or Monday. Have you had any open water specific lessons or have you picked it up as you've gone along?

SO excited I did 3 yes 3 lengths of front crawl after 40L of other stuff. I've been trying to teach myself the last 2yrs, but I just did one sided breathing virtually no legs just focused on arms & breathing I was super afterwards. Lovely quiet outdoor pool again which really helped only 3 of us in it.

I managed to go back to the aquaaerobics again today. I love the feel of my body in the water (I'm v v u supple and it seems a safe way to stretch :)) I managed 16 lengths after! Only second week at it but seemed easier, I remembered how to breath!!

I managed to go back to the aquaaerobics again today. I love the feel of my body in the water (I'm v v u supple and it seems a safe way to stretch :)) I managed 16 lengths after! Only second week at it but seemed easier, I remembered how to breath!!

Well done caterpillar

Well done skibike I'm aspiring to get past 2 lengths of front crawl. So it's taken 2 years.....triathlon is five weeks away. It's not going to happen in time is it!

Oooh good luck bee it depends on you, I can do a gd really breaststroke (can I do a different stroke?), I just panicked too much with breathing on freestyle as I was trying to do bilateral but just can't turn my head to the left due to stiff neck.

"You" not I on the different stroke grrr

I have found ģoing away from bilateral and breathing on 4 a lot easier.

Nose clip was a success - took a couple goes to make it stay on but then was fine. Did have to make more effort to push air out of my mouth in time to breathe in more, which will take a bit of getting used to. I had a lane to myself which was lovely and meant I could practise my backstroke - my arms are wonky so I never go in a straight line, but only hit a rope once per length!

So far, pretty much no snot nor sneezes, touch wood.

I can do breaststroke skibike but front crawl is obviously faster (when you can do it right!) and more streamlined, so better when swimming amongst loads of others. I think I'll start with front crawl and alternate with breaststroke if I need to. It's 'only' 400m swim (minuscule distance for some of the super swimmers on here!) but when I've only managed 50m consecutively it feels like I've a mountain to climb!

I have been doing mostly bilateral breathing but if I'm struggling or really thinking about my technique (and I forget about the bilateral breathing!) I tend to just breath to the left. Maybe I should do that for now while I work on my stroke and stamina. Can always go back to bilateral when I've improved those bits I guess.

My next plan is to hire a wetsuit and take it to the local lido. Then progress to swimming in a lake. For those of you wanting to try out open water swimming have a look at the GoTri website. I've signed up for a free 'open water swimming for absolute beginners' session. It goes through putting on a wetsuit (they've allowed 30 mins for that bit does it take that long?!?!), entry and exit to the water, sighting, cold water acclimatisation etc. You don't need to be signed up for a triathlon to do it and it's free!

Bee there are plenty of breast strokers who are much faster than my lame front crawl and the bonus is you can see where you are going doing breast stroke.

Agree Raah, i dont like doing front crawl when its crowded because its harder to see where everyone is.
I upset a young bloke last week by passing him while i was doing breast stroke and he was doing front crawl. He kept trying to race me after that.

It's more that everyone will start the race together. So there's less room to swim. Sighting is another key skill with triathlon, I keep reading about learning to 'crocodile eyes' every few strokes so you don't swim off course. I think I'll just have to stop and look properly! The other advantage to front crawl is that it's less leg intensive than breaststroke. The cycle and run are all legs so if I can save my legs some work it'll be better for the rest of the race.

You def need 30 minutes on getting a wetsuit on properly! They are right beggars to put on, and if you don't get it on properly you either damage the suit, or feel lots of resistance round your arms.

Sighting is a matter of practice, just start in the pool bringing your head up slightly every 6 strokes or so on a non breathing bit and looking just above the water. Try and find landmarks around the buoys so you can look at the skyline to sight on

1.3K done. Lane all to myself! Wanted to stay till 10pm but was getting calf cramps.

Went for a swim today. DP took the kids in too so I only had time for 65 lengths before I had to take over childcare. I used my new googles-zoggs predator. They didn't leak but I'm not sure they were any more comfortable than my speedos.

I also got my wetsuit delivered today. So tricky to tell if it is the right fit or not as I find them so claustrophobic. The kids thought that it looked hilarious.
I was thinking of all those who struggle with front crawl today. I always find the first 10 lengths a drag. They feel no easier than when I could barely swim front crawl. Sometimes it takes me 30 lengths to get into my stride and relax into it. I used to feel the same with running. It always took me 10 mins at least to get over the initial hell.

I feel that too Raaah. At first I'm so aware of breathing and every stroke, but then it all settles down and for a length of time (until I'm really tired) it feels beautiful and smooth.

Ds and I went swimming today, so I faced the hell that is splash hour - this runs for an hour and then theres an hour of general swimming. I forgot my goggles which was entertaining as I couldn't see. But faced swimming properly with no goggles which got me over that worry and did lots of crocodile eyes practice.

Got my pack today for my first ever swim only race!