jane1996

Hello, I have been talked in to taking part in a triathlon, which I am now looking forward to.


I cycle about 20 miles a week on average already, with occasional rides up to about 50/60 miles.


I haven't been swimming for 25 years since I was at school, where my maximum ever distance was around 25/50m!! Back then, I had zero fitness.


My question please is I'm going swimming for the first time next week, how far (roughly) should I realistically expect to be able to swim based on my current level of fitness?


It would just be good to have a rough idea of what to expect.


Of course, fully expecting to have to take things one step at a time, etc.


Thank you in advance.

brianmcg123

You will be surprised how hard it is.

For me there is no correlation between cycling and swimming. I could ride my bike 100 miles today easy. Put me in a pool and I would have to stop and rest every 50 meters.

Your upper body does nothing on a bike.

_ForceD_

You didn't mention the distance of the race. So I'm going to assume that it's a sprint...because from what you did tell us about your level of fitness...you really just barely have the fitness and conditioning for that...if even. There's not a defined distance for a "sprint triathlon" but I've been in them with swims anywhere from 200 meters up to half a mile/800 meters. Most, however, are in the neighborhood of 400-500 meters (0.25 mile +/- a few yards), with the bike 10-20 miles, and the run 2-5 miles. And since you haven't been swimming in 25 years...and back then you could only swim 25-50 meters...the swim is going to be tough for you. And like 'brian' indicated above...cycling fitness doesn't really equate into swimming too much. If you're swimming good freestyle/crawl stroke...the breathing is so much more rhythmic than in running or cycling. And if you don't have a good rhythm it makes the swim that much more difficult. Now, you can probably dog paddle/founder/struggle through a 400m swim and go on to finish the race (if the swim doesn't take too much out of you). But where it'll be taking you +/- 20:00 minutes to finish this 400m swim...most of the athletes will be doing it in half that time (the frontrunners will be around 6:00 minutes or less). Now...again assuming that the swim will be in open water...that's just another facet that (usually) adds anxiety and stress to a swimmer who is not accustomed to swimming in open water. I've seen the best of h.s. and college team swimmers just freak out in the open water. There's aquatic animal and plant life, can't see the bottom, lots of waves/splashing from dozens of other swimmers in very close proximity. And so the bottom line is that if you can get in some swimming, particularly open water swimming, before the event...that will greatly improve your outcome. Good luck.

Dan

jane1996

Thanks both for those answers, they are a big help mentally.


It is a short course event in March, so I've got about 8 months to get up to speed!


I knew I would be starting completely from scratch in terms of swimming technique, but had (wrongly) assumed there would be some crossover in terms of cardiovascular endurance.

_ForceD_

Well...there is some. I mean if you're exercising and you're in descent aerobic cardio shape...at least your system is atuned to exercising. You're better off than someone who's just getting off the preverbal couch and jumping into the pool to start swimming.

Dan

justin70

Well you have more than enough time to train.

To the original question, if you're going to be swimming in a pool I would aim for somewhere between 500-1000 yards total, broken down into 50-100 yard lengths (keep them short so your form doesn't go to hell). You should have no problem completing this over the course of 45-60 minutes but you will probably be very tired afterward. This will be a good initial workout, and will likely be close to, or longer than, your triathlon swim distance. If you can find a local masters swim class it would be optimal because you will get some basic coaching on swim form.

JetBadger

How did it go? I am guessing you needed a break after 25 yards. If you did, don't sweat it. Your cardiovascular fitness accumulated from cycling will indeed help swimming (eventually), BUT your limiter in swimming is going to be technique, not fitness. You will see a steep learning curve the first few sessions. Stick with it. After 4-5 swim workouts you will be able to swim your 50's and 100's without feeling like you are gonna die.

trsidn 

this

I was a swimmer in HS, and I did a sprint tri a few years back... and my wife was pissed that I wasn't practicing the swim. (she did it too)

So I challenged her to 200m swim. I did it in 3:20. Took her half again as long. She never mentioned it again.
The run is by far the hardest for me.