stupid swimming questions

[NadiaMac]

Hello,
I am an injured cyclist (off the bike for ages due to crash) and I've been swimming for exercise. I'm kind of new to swimming. I have some stupid questions. Can someone help (or refer me to a swim group/site where I might find some basic swimmer info).

1) chlorine/skin-- I have pretty sensitive skin and am breaking out like a teenager on my face and neck. Actually, way worse than when I was a teen. Any advice on how I can make my skin happier? I shower after swimming, etc. but haven't been using lotion or anything like that

2) swimsuit care. My suits are stretching and fading like crazy. Am I mistreating them? After swimming, I rinse the suit in fresh, cold water then put it in the water-removal machine, then air dry. I occasionally machine wash the suits on gentle and air dry. How can I extend suit life/shape??

3) masters swimming. I want to start masters swimming, but am greatly intimidated since I've never done organized swim workouts. I occasionally observe the masters workout at my pool and find the instructions kind of incomprehensable, for example. Is there a place where I can learn about workouts/ettiquette/terminology? I think doing a little homework in advance will make me feel more confident going into a scary masters situation.

thx!

[witeowl]

Hmm... I'm far from an expert, but I'll offer this:

1) Maybe invest in some tri-swim body wash? I use the shampoo/conditioner, and I'm fairly impressed with it. But I swim in a low-chlorine pool.

2) Sounds like you're doing your best. Are you buying quality suits? I find that my Speedo suits last much longer than most other suits. Also, what detergent do you wash in? I hear woolite is actually not very good. Maybe invest in some Charlie's Soap or similar gentle fabric wash?

3) All I can offer here is a link. I love GoSwim (http://www.goswim.tv/) (note that it's a dot-tv, not dot-com), and you might find some good info there.

[tribogota]

swimsuits age quickly, chlorine sucks, but here are some websites!
http://www.feelforthewater.com/
http://ruthkazez.com/VeryBasicSwimming.html
www.active.com/swimming

[fatbottomedgurl]

Any suit with lycra will die a quick and untimely death. Buy a suit that is 100% polyester. They are not as stretchy so they take a little more work to put on, but they last a long time. I don't ever wash mine- just rinse when I take it off in the shower and hang to dry. (Actually I really abuse it and more often than not throw it in the hot trunk of my car.) Mine is 1.5 years old and has not stretched out or developed creepy see-through spots.

[pinkychique]

Polyester suits are the way to go - check out the 'grab bags' at swimoutlet.com, they have all kinds of random patterns, but I got what amounts to a $70 swimsuit for $25, worth getting an odd patter, in my opinion.

They make swim shampoo/conditioner and bodywash - I don't use them, but you could give them a try. Also, I've heard that breakouts can be aggravated by dry skin, which chlorine does, so make sure you put a non-pore-clogging lotion on after you shower post-swim (I use gold bond, which doesn't say won't clog pores, but it really helps).

Alternative to the swim shampoo - see if you can find a saltwater pool in your area, they are soo much nicer to swim in.

And DEFINITELY go for a master's program, it's worth it, and the Master's program that I swim with, there's the full range of swimmers, from former All-Americans to novices.

Good luck!

[Mr. Bloom]

1) Maybe invest in some tri-swim body wash? I use the shampoo/conditioner, and I'm fairly impressed with it. But I swim in a low-chlorine pool.


I started swimming last weekend for the first time in my life - did 700 meters today! ...with lots of rest.

Where do you get this wash?

[Alex]

http://www.teamestrogen.com/search.ep?keyWords=triswim&search-form-submit=go

It works very well for me and DH, although we now swim almost exclusively in a saline pool and don't need the Tri-Swim products.

Alex

[NadiaMac]

Thanks for all of the helpful information!! my suits are speedo and tyr mostly-lycra suits, so it sounds like I should try polyester ones when I next buy suits

thanks for the encouragement regarding masters. I'm currently in the middle of some swim lessons to improve my stroke/form, but will definitely try out some masters once I'm done with the series.

[channlluv]

I think your questions are brilliant. I just joined the Y in order to start swimming on a regular basis and I had no idea that chlorine will most likely destroy my suits and my complexion. Notes taken. Thanks!

Roxy

[HillSlugger]

For your skin problem try DermaSwim Pro (http://www.swimoutlet.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=5003&Click=310393). It's a cream you apply before you swim. It's completely fixed the problem I was having on my neck.

[roadie gal]

1+ on the TriSwim products to get chlorine out of your hair and off of your body.

Same goes for the polyester suits. The hold up SO much better. I like the Finis brand suits. They cost about $50-55 instead of the $70+ that Tyr and Speedo suits cost.

[fatbottomedgurl]

Second on Swimoutlet.com

[colby]

Regarding the skin, when it's really dry outside I use a moisturizing body wash AND an in-shower (or after-shower, but in-shower seems to save time) body lotion. Sometimes the moisturizing body wash is enough. At home, I use a soap-free body wash I got from bath & body works which really seems to dry out my skin less than regular soap, and I scrub my face regularly with an apricot scrub (followed by some facial lotion after I get out).

Also, shower and get your hair wet before you put your cap on, it will protect it from drying out (kind of acts as a barrier). Rinse hair with chlorine shampoo (you can find ultra swim in a lot of drugstores, but others are better), then use regular conditioner.

I think you got some good advice with the suits. Sierra Trading Post also has older model suits that I keep an eye out for (I am picky and prefer the Speedo racerback style suits).

I have avoided masters swim, so I'll be interested to see how it goes for you. :) It's taken me a couple of years to figure out that I won't be last out of the water, and masters swim seems to short out that connector in my brain for some reason and I go back to thinking I'll be the slowest person there.

[fatbottomedgurl]

I guess my only question about masters swim for a triathlete is why spend so much time and energy learning so many different strokes and learning to swim anaerobic?

Competition in a pool means swimming a short distance super fast and then resting until the next event- not swimming 1000 meters without stopping.

My neighbor does Masters and he is always "coaching" me to glide underwater to past the flags, swim X/yards on X/minutes, etc. I tell him training for a tri means swimming at a steady pace for a long distance and there aren't any walls in the ocean to do a kick flip and glide.

It's all about return on investment. Who has time to spend on a butterfly stroke when it has nothing to do with an open water swim?

But maybe I'm an idiot.:o

[NadiaMac]

I'm interested in masters swimming to get a hard workout in a group setting, hopefully with some coaching on my form. I find swimming pretty dull and think the group workout will be reinforcing. I'm not a triathlete, but I think that tri folks go for masters for some of these reasons.