Swimming Tips

[Selkie]

Yesterday was my first real swim since I was a teenager. Let's just say it's been more than 20 years. I did ok but I was really having problems w/breathing when doing freestyle. Do any of you swimmers have some tips you can share?
I signed up for an intermediate level swimming class that starts in late September, which is going to help. But I need to be able to swim 25 yards freestyle before the class (a pre-requisite). There's a nice rec facility near the building where I'm going to be assigned in mid-Sept, so I'm hoping to start swimming regularly at either lunch or after work. In the meantime, I'll hit the local public pool---I don't want my lack of stamina/skills to annoy others with whom I'm going to be sharing the slow lane in the lap pool, though.
As an aside, I can't believe how sore my shoulders are today and I didn't even do that many laps yesterday! And I lift weights, so I have what I thought were strong arms/shoulders/back/chest too! haha. How humbling. My husband and I are doing a metric century today, too, so I'm going to pack some advil, just in case.

[LynneK]

Hi Suzanne,

Welcome back to the pool! I've often found that even with weights and yoga, when I have had a hiatus from swimming the first few dips in the pool make my arms and shoulders sore. It must be from using the muscles differently and/or the different way that the water provides resistance to your body relative to the more concentrated way that the weights do.

Here's what I find works for me breathing-wise: I breathe every other side, every third stroke, unless I'm sprinting. I'm naturally a right-breather, so it's

-breathe right with left arm extended while right arm is stroking down the midline of the body
-stroke right
-stroke left
-breathe left with right arm extended while left arm is stroking down the midline of the body

over and over and over ... When I'm in really good shape I'll stretch it out so there's a stroke right-left-right-left in between breaths. But that doesn't happen very often .

If you are not accustomed to breathing on both sides yet, I'd suggest starting with just breathing to your natural side, every other stroke on that side. I say every other stroke because it's good practice to get used to having your face in the water and not breathing every stroke. Then you can work toward breathing to both sides.

Some general recommendations:

-make sure you are not holding your breath in between breaths; once you have taken your inhale, then try to exhale smoothly over the next several strokes until you inhale again. You'll probably find that you are exhaling most on the stroke right before you inhale again, which is OK, but you want to make sure you've exhaled fully before you take another inhale. Any time your face is above water you want to be inhaling, not exhaling and then inhaling.

-Think of there being two wires strung through your head: (1) one through your ears and (2) one along the midline of your body, down the middle of your nose. When you turn your head to breathe, you are rotating your head along the (2) axis, so that wire (1) would be perpindicular to the floor of the pool. IOW, rotate on the axis of your head (and your shoulders, but not your hips) until your ears are on top of each other. Don't twist your head and look back over your shoulder, because that's less ergonomic and wastes energy. I have to do drills on this every time I swim, because to my not-natural side I look over my shoulder unless I train myself to do otherwise.

-As you get more comfortable with the breathing, you can develop your ability to breathe out of the side of your mouth that's out of the water; that way you don't have to rotate your head as far, and that should improve your ergonomics and swimming efficiency (and time!).

I hope this helps; it sure helped me to think through what I do in response to your question!

Lynne

[betagirl]

Lynne gave some great advice. I just wanted to emphasize the not holding your breath bit. Nothing will make you run out of gas faster than not maintaining normal breathing over the long term. Good luck!

[Running Mommy]

Hey Mick-
Yeah, you just have to get what I call your "water lungs". I was humbled when I first started as well! I could run a marathon but couldn't do 25m without feeling like I was gonna cough up a lung! Just keep at it and over the next couple of weeks I'll bet your water lungs will appear.
And yeah, the shoulders.. Yeah.. Been there!!
Keep going!!
Denise

[Selkie]

I was holding my breath, so I think that was one of the big problems. I'll try out these great tips and let you know.

My hair stylist is going to have a crow when she sees me. I definitely don't think I'll be keeping red hair since I intend to keep swimming.

[Lise]

Lynne, thanks for those tips. I love being in the water, but I hate swimming in competition. I am so slow. I only breathe off the left. Yesterday, in my tri, that meant I couldn't sight off the bouys (all to the right) unless I breast stroked. Oh, that was a tough swim. I have a hard time staying on course in open water. It feels like I'm swimming in a straight line to me! I'm going to practice that bilateral breathing drill in the pool. I've got to learn that one. Remarkably, my shoulders are not that sore today, after a 1 mile swim, 28 mile bike, and 6 mile run.

[LynneK]

That must mean you are in very good condition, be proud of that!

One drill that helps with bilateral breathing is single-arm swimming: swim one length with only one arm, holding the other one extended in front. You're supposed to use a pull-buoy with it, but I do it with extra-super kicking to make sure I am getting a cardio and leg workout (because, you know, the cycling and running aren't enough leg-ercise !). I do it one length breathing right-one length free-one length breathing left-one length free, and repeat as much as I feel I need (usually twice). When I'm doing stroke drills I breathe every stroke, even though in regular swimming I try to breathe every 3-6 strokes, because the focus in on the mechanics and not on the rhythm.

[Lise]

Is a pull bouy a floaty thing with a handle that you hold out in front of you? I will most certainly use this drill. Breathing left is such a habit for me, but I can learn new ways! L.

[LynneK]

I may be using the wrong name, but I think of a pull buoy as that hourglass-shaped foam thing that goes between your legs when you are doing arm work. It gives you buoyancy and focuses your work on your arms. I just don't use it because I want to keep working the core and the legs while I'm doing my stroke drills. But if you want to focus on arms, it's hugely valuable.

LK

[Lise]

Thanks, Lynne--I just don't know the names for these things. I know my Y has a number of floaty things on the side of the pool. I can ask the life guard which is the pull bouy, the one that goes between your legs.

[Running Mommy]

yep, that's the name alright... There are a couple of different styles, and I think some have mor4e bouyancy than others if I remember correctly.

So one arm drills ehh?? I'm in Lise's boat and was going to do a post about trying to become "BI"
Yesterday I did ok, but I can feel that I lift my head too much and my hips sink like stones, it's not the smooth turn like on my left. I suppose with practice I'll get there, but MAN... I just wanna swim!!!

[LynneK]

Yesterday I did ok, but I can feel that I lift my head too much and my hips sink like stones, it's not the smooth turn like on my left. I suppose with practice I'll get there, but MAN... I just wanna swim!!!

Yep, lifting head and sinking hips are sure-fire triggers for being discouraged with your swimming! I generally think of the body as a set of planes, and I try to apply some general rules to those planes:

-head rotates on neck, so ears only move on that plane/wire going through them
-hip bones stay in a plane (roughly), facing the bottom of the pool; they NEVER rotate with the head; one drill that can help with this is using a pull buoy but not kicking, so your legs are deadweight, and focus on pulling and breathing while twisting from your core and not your hips
-I think of there being two planes, one on either side of my body in the water (like big panes of glass), and my arms never go outside of those planes; they also never cross the plane that goes down the center line of the body when you are pulling
-shoulders are on an independent plane that rotates in the direction that you're breathing on the strokes on which you are breathing, but are always rotating around the plane down the midline of the body. But the rotation starts in the core, not the hips.

I'm a mathematically-spatially-visually inclined person, so this geometric visual works for me; your mileage may vary. But thinking through this has even improved my swimming: I just got back from a 1500-yd swim in 29:40 that was the longest/fastest swim I've done in eons!

LK

[DebW]

Is the alternate breathing supposed to help you go straighter or help you see where you're going or just equalize the effort? I've always been a left-only breather but can swim pretty straight regardless. For open water swims, is it considered proper form to occassionally look forward to see where you're going?

[Lise]

Is the alternate breathing supposed to help you go straighter or help you see where you're going or just equalize the effort? I've always been a left-only breather but can swim pretty straight regardless. For open water swims, is it considered proper form to occassionally look forward to see where you're going?

My swim was in a triangle. Ideally, I was to swim between the rafts with lifeguards and the 4 or 5 orange bouys. I am a notoriously crooked swimmer. I always *feel* like I'm swimming straight; I almost never am. So I need to look up pretty often and check my bearings. I was supposed to keep the bouys on my right. As a left breather, this meant I was never looking at them when I came up for air. I had to breast stroke to see the bouys. The longest leg of the swim was directly into the rising sun. It was hard to see the bouys at all; I just aimed for the rafts. If I'd been comfortable freestyle swimming and breathing bilaterally, it would've been easier. Oh, the things you learn in triathlon!

In the Int'l tri I've done before, they have tons of bouys, held together with a rope. I can just swim from bouy to bouy and stay on course. Much harder to do yesterday. Fewer bouys, no rope.

[DebW]

I am a notoriously crooked swimmer. I always *feel* like I'm swimming straight; I almost never am.

My dh was doing a triathlon once about 20 years ago, and he swims so crooked that he got turned around 180 degrees, and when he stopped to look up, all the other swimmers were coming straight towards him! He had a fairly short triathlon career. I can usually manage to breathe left and then every so often swing my head forward, eyes just above the water, to stay on course. This works for our usual across-the-lake swim with a kayak leading the way (to ward off power boats). It could be alot tougher in a triathlon.