Swimmer anyone??

[luv2ride94]

Are there any swimmer on here? I am a competitive swimmer and was just wondering if theres any swimmers who have done triathlons? How fast are the faster swimmers in them? I can swim and bike great for a triathlon but guess I need to learn to run.. ~ KT

[Nanci]

Look up the results from any triathlon you are interested in participating in. You can see what the fastest (and slowest) swimmers are.

[NJBikeGal]

I'm a former competitive swimmer who also does tris...generally, my experience with smaller, sprint tris in my area (NJ) is that people are pretty weak in the swim. Even without major training for the past couple of years, I'm usually one of the top 3 out of the water in my age group. But, this may not be the case everywhere, I second what Nanci said about looking up races.

[KnottedYet]

I'm a sucky swimmer (even with a wetsuit). I took 25 minutes to swim 1/2 mile in my tri this year. But I still came in around #3000 out of 4000 or so in the swim part.

[KSH]

I was a competitive swimmer in H.S... and graduated in 1991. After that I swam off/on after that. Joined Masters swimming, etc.

I started doing tri's in 2005... and I use to train at least once a week for the swim portion on the sprints. I would come out in the top 4 of my age group... and typically 2nd out of the water.

This year... for my last tri... I basically trained around uuummm... 6 times in 2-3 months for the swim... and here were my results:

Swim:
10:03/500 yards/2 minute 01 second per 100 yards
Age Group: 4/24

Times that beat mine:
7:23
9:25
9:37

And this was a championship race.

Moral of the story... if you are a fast, strong swimmer... you will be the girls and most of the guys out of the water. Most triathletes can's swim worth a darn.

BUT... a tri isn't won on the swim... you have to be a FAST cyclist and runner to place.

I went from 4th on the swim...dropped to 14th on the bike (and I kept a 18 mph average)... and then went to 21/24 with the run (ran a 11 minute mile).

Good luck!

[luv2ride94]

Thanks! I looked up some results and between that and what you all said I think I'd be competitive in a pool I can go 5:58 in the 500 yard free and have done a few 2 mile open water swims so I can't wait to find a good triathlon that will let me compete before I'm older!