Swimmer anyone??

[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!