any swimmers here?

C

corndogggy

0
This may be a long shot, but I remember a few people talking about loving to swim. Anyway, there is an Xterra I want to do, a month and 4 days from now. I'm not a real good swimmer though. Assuming I am in good enough shape to tackle the biking and running and have pretty good upper body strength... is it possible to train enough in the next month to be able to survive a half mile open water swim? I'm just not real efficient. I've been through lifeguard certification though so I'm not a complete newbie. I just want to walk out of the lake alive. Also, are there any goggles that seal much better than others? One of my eye sockets must be a little malformed, can't find any goggles that won't leak in my left eye.
 
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Half mile is 800m, or 32 pool lengths in an Olympics-sized pool (going across the short way). You might be able to do it in a month, but you'll need to learn good technique and swim a lot. It takes a lot of practice to get good rhythm---it did for me, at least. Good luck!
 
many lifetimes ago, the 800m butterfly was my best event and the 800m freestyle was a walk in the park- in a pool - all you needed was a strong kick turn and that was half the battle... Open ocean swim you've got a few things going against you - the current, and the temperature... the colder water makes the swim even more difficult...

You might want to experiment with different strokes, if you're allowed anything but the freestyle... the butterfly is actually best suited for rough water swimming... and is a lot easier than the freestyle (once you get into the rhythm of the stroke.

As for goggles, everyone has a different shaped head -so it's really a matter of exerimenting with different googles.. I personally never liked them and wouod just suffer with chlorinated eyes and visine for a few hours rather than using goggles...
 
I used to love swimming. Sadly, I'm kinda embarrassed to go to thwe pool in my present condition. everything's sorta hanging out ):
 
Corndoggy, I wear contacts. I've tried numerous goggles and finally found a pair that doesnt leak (unless I'm really ruthless when I start out a stroke, but I've really got to be ruthless). They're from Leader. They are not uber expensive, either, but work great.

Mal's right (again), open water will be more diffiult than a pool. I like the breaststroke if I need to conserve energy and for rough water. Is that the same as the butterfly Mal? I taught myself to swim. Last think I learned in lessons was tickle T touch, so I am by no means an expert. And what is freestyle? Is that similar to the front crawl?
 
the breathstroke and the butterfly are similar in that it's an out of water recovery so in open water - especially a rough open water it's a lot easier to go the distance...

Freestle is the front crawl...
 
Everybody I've seen in pictures and video are doing freestyle. I'm just not good at it. It's in open water, but it's not quite the ocean scene, it's in an enclosed lake so there won't be huge swells or anything. If it were in the ocean it would probably be easier, or at least less intimidating. The participants are allowed to use wetsuits there, so between a decent wetsuit and the salty water, you float alot easier. The inland Xterra's make you ditch the wetsuits unless the water is less than 72 degrees, which is rare. It freaks me out to be a quarter mile away from shore, worn out with no form of floatation. Plus, my legs are going to be sinking easier because of my poor technique, my kicking form and rhythm sucks. This wouldn't be an issue in saltwater with a wetsuit.
 
are there rules against doing other strokes - the breathstroke is one of the easiest strokes and once you get into a rythym you can get some speed without killling yourself... breathstroke doesn't require kicking you're making mroe froggy like motions with your legs and if you've got strong legs -which you probably do from biking, you can get a lot of power.

If you've got a pool you can practice in, use a kickboard do some laps with it to work on your kicking and it even helps with rhythm
 
No, there's no stroke rules. You can do whatever you can think of to get through the course. Some people who want to play it safe and just finish actually do the backstroke the entire way. I can breaststroke ok, but I guess what works best for me is the side stroke, but I get tired easier doing that.
 
I Love swimming! :)
 
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