swimming...is there hope?

:( the only things that stands between me and my hope to enter into a tri sprint is my swimming abilities...which are literally non existend. I can doggy paddle..that is about it and at the moment i am alittle concerned how to get over this! I want to learn a proper stroke and i hope to learn quick and well enough to be able to get out there next summer (09)! Is this possible?? How and where do is start?? I was thinking of taking an adult swim lesson (bowing my head with an embaressed red face) ... how do i get over this???? sigh!

KG did private lessons earlier this year & she rocked on her recent tri!

Perhaps ask Kg?

YES you can learn! That's plenty of time!

You should, however, find someone who can give you some lessons, unless you're the type of person who can read a book, listen to a lecture, or watch a DVD and translate that to the pool. Even then, I'd still recommend some lessons to help you do it better.

Good luck! You can do it.

Well, I could actually do an impression of breaststroke and freestyle but I basically started from scratch 2 yrs ago, just around the same time of the year, so you can do it.

But you need to be dilligent to the point of obsession about technique work and have yourself be checked as often as possible by someone knowledgeable. Too many practice struggle instead of front crawl.

In fact I would do technique work almost exclusively. The first sprint won't be easy but it is just the beginning of a long friendship, right?

Yes, absolutely, you should take swimming lessons. I took my first lesson, in my life, at age 59 just last January so I could learn proper breathing doing the freestyle. There was another woman in my class who had taken lessons for a year who was doing the Danskin Triathlon. Don't ever let age prevent you from doing what you want to do! Good luck!

Ditto the previous posts. :)

I would like to add that you've got the advantage of learning good form from the start instead of having to correct years of bad habits like I ended up doing this season when I started training for tris.

You can definitely do this, be brave!

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Originally Posted by Nia

:( I want to learn a proper stroke and i hope to learn quick and well enough to be able to get out there next summer (09)! Is this possible?? How and where do is start?? I was thinking of taking an adult swim lesson (bowing my head with an embaressed red face) ... how do i get over this???? sigh!

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Nia, absolutely you can learn for next summer.
Like others, I would strongly recommend lessons - private ones if you can.
I learned to swim at age 40 - 10 years ago - and it took three sets of lessons :D before I was able to swim. Had to get over all kinds of fears of water, deep end, etc. etc. In fact, it took three different instructors before the coaching of one of them just connected.

Don't be embarrassed - in fact, you should be proud of what you want to, and can, accomplish!!

Thank you so much for all the encouraging messages everyone!! I am very determined to learn and am looking forward to it when i think about tkaing that first run into the water on my first tri! :) ...I will look for some private lessons...othersie i will join the adult swim at the local community centre when it opens again...ughh! It is good hear that so many have done this and made it through!! I think i just need to get over my own fear/embarresment (boy, that is a lethal mix isn't it??) :o

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Originally Posted by Nia

Thank you so much for all the encouraging messages everyone!! I am very determined to learn and am looking forward to it when i think about tkaing that first run into the water on my first tri! :) ...I will look for some private lessons...othersie i will join the adult swim at the local community centre when it opens again...ughh! It is good hear that so many have done this and made it through!! I think i just need to get over my own fear/embarresment (boy, that is a lethal mix isn't it??) :o

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Yeah, fear and embarrassment can be a powerful combination but you are even stronger!

I grew up at the water and in the water but when I decided I wanted to do triathlon I discovered that I really didn't know how to swim. Sure, I could get myself across the pool, but it was an absolute mess. I did private lessons once a week, starting with learning how to kick properly. I remember being really nervous and embarrassed the first time I went to do lap swimming. I felt like everyone was better than I was and that they'd see how bad I was. Not true! That was almost two years ago. I'm still only a middle-of-pack swimmer but I know that I can do a triathlon swim and then rock the ride and finish the run.

If I can do it, you can do it!

Nia, you can do it!! Don't feel embarrassed. Get private lessons - I strongly recommend them.

I know someone in my gym (a woman in her 40's) who could not swim at all (not even doggy paddle) go on to finish an Ironman!! No doubt, she worked very very hard, but she got into the best shape of her life and completed the race! It took her one full year of training, but that's pretty darn good if you ask me considering she couldn't swim at all!!

You can do it! If there's a will there's a way right? :)

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Originally Posted by luvmypwds

Nia, you can do it!! Don't feel embarrassed. Get private lessons - I strongly recommend them.

I know someone in my gym (a woman in her 40's) who could not swim at all (not even doggy paddle) go on to finish an Ironman!! No doubt, she worked very very hard, but she got into the best shape of her life and completed the race! It took her one full year of training, but that's pretty darn good if you ask me considering she couldn't swim at all!!

You can do it! If there's a will there's a way right? :)

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:) Thank you so much for your post! That is very true! the will is there...going to find tha path!! :) will keep you guys posted....the local pool happens to be closed until the end of the month (sigh) but i'll check out the nearby areas as well in the meantime! Thanks againf for all the encouragement!!!

At the pool I swim at I see the adult classes that have people in them from about 35-80, and I see them everyday during the year, it is amazing how quickly they learn, in only 6 months they are swimming, and these are not "athletic" types. On my tri team we have 3 people who swim poorly, but as soon as they get out of the water and on to the bike they pass everyone, so...it certainly won't hold you back in a tri. I swim well, but bike and run slow, and all the slow swimmers pass me within 30 minutes.

It will be important to find a swim instructor who you feel comfortable with . . . when I was a kid taking swimming lessongs, my mother, who never had a chance to learn to swim, would spend the time learning to float. When I visited her last month she told me she tried taking lessons again and she could float but she still couldn't swim. I'm convinced she just needs to find the right teacher, who can explain the technique to her without getting her all confused. I hope I can convince her to keep pursuing it.

Today I took a swim technique clinic and they gave me a LOT of things to work on. It's probably been 25+ years since I took a swim class, so even those of us who have been able to do this for a long time have a lot to work to do!

You can do it!
Good luck!

"I'm convinced she just needs to find the right teacher, who can explain the technique to her without getting her all confused."

SO true. Girl, its all about finding a coach who you connect with. My first coach at the Y was good and helpful but moved away. Then I hired a life guard who had been watching me struggle for months in the pool and just started giving me pointers. WOW, what a difference! Even though he's just a high school kid he makes me feel so comfortable and so far I have taken 4 minutes off my sprint swim time!

Don't be embarassed to try different coaches. Eventually one of them will connect with your learning style. Different strokes, different folks:p Plus, at the Y private lessons are cheap (mine are 4/$80)....