Swimming --- stamina

[liamklenk]

hi guys

i need some good advice about getting in shape for swimming...

i must add here that i have always loved water, but mostly i do well underwater and never got the hang of surface water activities like swimming... skipped classes a lot as a kid, too... so since last year i decided to do something about it and get better knowledge of breast stroke and crawl techniques and took several classes.

at the moment i go swimming 3 times a week.
additionally i guess i need to mention that i am in overall very good shape.
i walk to work and back 1 hour every day, and about 3 times a week i go on long 2-3 hour walks in very hilly terrain. plus i do about 300 crunches every day and do some weight exercises to help strengthen my shoulders and chest for swimming.

i am still a novice at crawl swimming, but i've gotten pretty good at regular breat stroke swimming... BUT:
i seem to have no stamina whatsoever. after roughly 100 m i need to pause because i feel really out of breath and exhausted... (whereas i can walk up the steepest hill at a very brisk pace and can do that for hours without tiring much at all).

it puzzles me to no end. can any of you give me some pointers?
i am wondering if maybe my breathing is all screwed up?
i broke my nose twice and can breathe through it, but probably the nasal airways aren't completly open... it has been like this for years, and i think i tend to breathe mostly through my mouth. with diving that's great =) and when snorkeling, no problem, i can keep going forever... with swimming though i think it might prevent me from getting enough air out AND also getting enough air in...

thanks in advance for any suggestions!
liam

 

[lorien]

First let me tell you that I am not a great swimmer by any means. However I had to start working on my swimming for my DM swim tests and therefore started taking lessons. A few things come to mind. The exercises you do, hiking, etc are lower body exercises. While I see you do some upper body work as well, swimming is probably using a whole bunch of different muscles/groups in different ways than you are used to so you need to get accostomed to that. Then actually how you are swimming makes a world of difference. Taking lessons I learned that there is a whole lot more to it than I realized and there are many things you can do to reduce drag, increase your efficiency and decrease your work load. Simple things like body & head position in the water, how you use your arms and hands, how much you relax your rams between actual strokes or tense them, etc. If you can sign up for a lesson or two and see if perhaps there are some things that you can do in your form to reduce your work load. May be as simple as kicking less and improving your arm stroke. I am sure some of the stronger more experienced swimmers can comment as well

 

[hermosadive]

You need to work on breathing technique and pacing. I use to have similar problems with trying to swim long distances without stopping. I went to the book store and checked out the swimming sections of some triathlon books. It really helped. I use to breath every 3-4 stroke, now I breath on every full stroke..breathing from the same side of my body each time (right side). Also, streamline by not lifting you head out of the water and just roll and look towards your back to breath. Your body is pushing the water away and you will find it easy to grab a full breath. Now swimming a mile is no problem...I don't really train, but I'm going for a 2 mile fun race next month so some training will be needed.

 

[Queen]

I've been a swimming instructor for 30 years so (and without seeing your stroke) I can probably shed a little light on some common reasons why people experience similar diffuculties:
- As Lorien said, body position in the water. You can expend tremendous energy if your body position isn't neutral.

- If you're tense through the upper body you'll use up a ton of oxygen.

- Hand postion as it enters the water/follow through stroke/recovery...

- As hermosadive said, breathing cadence and control.

Swimming is such an easy thing to do but very difficult to do well, I'll second the others and suggest a coach. One of the easiest ways to do this (if you don't want to take lessons) is to look up your local Masters swim team and see about joining, you'll get coaching, pool time, and LOTS of practice.

 

[CameronMartz]

Just to add my voice to the chorus, it's probably not your conditioning but your technique that is leaving you winded. My experience was the same as yours when I started training for triathlons, though I had several years of 40+ miles/wk of running behind me. There was no question whatsoever that I had a problem that was not going to be solved just by *more* swimming. I needed a coach, and got one.

Beginners are very consistent with the errors to their form that make swimming so much harder than it needs to be. What this means, though, is that coaching is usually extremely helpful in the beginning to get to where you can make it through a standard workout without hanging on the wall.

Two websites you should visit:
http://www.usms.org/ will tell you about masters swimming and help you find a team and coach near you. Don't let the label "swim team" scare you off- though most require members to be able to swim a certain distance before joining, every one that I've ever seen will jump through hoops to get you the help you need to join their ranks.

http://totalimmersion.net/ is a great supplement to a coach, and a fair substitute if you can't find one that works with your schedule.

Cameron

 

[liamklenk]

thanks so much for all your replies!
i actually did take swimming lessons this year... breast stroke and crawl, but it was a big group each time with not much time at all to look at each student's technique.
i think i'll see if i can find a coach, like you suggested!
your answers helped me a lot!
if any of you know any more websites where i might find good detailed information for free, please tell me.
have a great day
liam

 

[Queen]

if any of you know any more websites where i might find good detailed information for free, please tell me.
have a great day
liam

Just like this board for diving there are boards dedicated to swimming. Here are a couple that might help:

Masters Swimming Forum

General Swimming Forum

 

[andre14]

i actually did take swimming lessons this year... breast stroke and crawl, but it was a big group each time with not much time at all to look at each student's technique.
i think i'll see if i can find a coach, like you suggested!

I'll add my voice to the chorus. If you already took lessons, then I suggest that you go at a bookstore or a public library to check out recent books on swimming. If you've already taken lessons, it'll be easier to grasp the concepts that are presented in those books ans improve your stroke.

As with diving, doing it right matters. I find that when I rush trying to go fast, I quickly get tired. OTOH, when I make slower moves in a conscious, deliberate manner, I'm not spending as much energy and I end up swimming faster.

Having the right gear also matters:

• Goggles: don't be afraid to fork $15 to $20 on a pair of goggles, and get a spare pair too. Goggles will protect your eyes from the sting of chloring and will also help prevent eye infections (chlorine kills most germs, but there's always the odd chlorine-resistant strain out there). Also, with a good pair of goggles, you won't spend your time worrying about the strap snapping on you, hence one less thing distracting you from concetrating on your stroke.
  
• Swimsuits: everything has been said about Speedos. However, if you're serious about swimming, get a real swimsuit. Trunks are okay for lounging on the side of the pool but not much else. Speaking for myself, I got a few pairs of knee-length, square-cuts swimsuits that look like biking shorts. At first, I was a little embarassed to show up on the pool deck wearing those. However, when I noticed how comfy I was in the water, there was no way I'd go back to trunks. Even the lifeguards who giggled at me are now saying "Oh, he can swim!".

if any of you know any more websites where i might find good detailed information for free, please tell me.

Regarding websites, try Go Swim. They cover every swim strokes and they include video footages demonstrating the strokes. Their advice helped me improving my crawl strokes.

Hope this will be of some help.

-André in Fredericton

 

[scuba-punk]

Technique, technique, technique. Body position is practically everything for efficient swimming, especially with regards to the crawl-stroke or freestyle. I'm also a big fan of the Total Immersion drills. If you do go that way, just remember that they are drills. The whole point of them is for you to improve your technique when you actually swim by being mindful of "where you are" in the water. Buying a pair of proper swim trunks (not board shorts) will also go a long way to helping you swim faster - in fact, when I really want to have a hard workout, I'll wear my baggie trunks because they have more drag. Other than that, I wear jammers (the aforementioned bike short style speedos) at the lake or pool. While they won't drop 30 seconds from your 100 yard time, they do help.

I've never been much of a freestyle swimmer, but by worrying more about my technique and body position in the water, I've picked up a lot of speed with much less effort. Compared to when I started to learn freestyle about 10 months ago, I've gone from over 100 strokes and over 3 minutes for 100 yards and now I'm well under 70 strokes and two and a half minutes for 100 yards. And, I'm continuing to improve by being mindful of my swimming technique every time I go. Granted, my breaststroke is still faster (only because I've been doing it since I learned how to swim 30 years ago), but in the long run I can see how freestyle will be better for distance swimming so I'll keep working on that.

Also keep in mind that physical fitness tends to be very specific to the type of physical activity that you've gained fitness in. Don't be disappointed (or surprised) that while you might be strong at trekking, you find swimming to be a challenge. When asked what it takes to be a great cyclist, Eddie Merckx replied "Ride Lots!" While that couldn't be truer, I'll add one qualification. When you start to add volume, your technique has to be down. "Dead to rights" down pat. It's way too easy to injure yourself if you don't increase your volume realistically and if you continue to do it with bad technique. That holds true for swimming the same as it does running, cycling, etc. Best of luck!

-Frank