That's kinda slow, but you have to start somewhere. When I started out my goal was to be able to swim a lap (50 yds) per minute for the duration of a workout. It took a while to get there and wasn't necessarily the best approach. Don't get frustrated by other people's times. Dig around the web and look for drills and beginner swim sets to work on. Focus on form and endurance, the speed will come. (Just not overnight)

A flip turn and "speedo" won't help your speed too much. (<5 sec/100)

Hand paddles can help you develop more strength by helping you "grab"

more water. They are not required unless you have a lot of spare time on your hands.

Remember, swimming (as with everything) is relative. Are you bad? Don't look at is in those terms. I was 9:56 in the 1000 in college, but the American record is a minute faster, so does that make ME bad? No. You will get better, and if you get to the point where you are consistently 1:30 or so, that will probably put you in the middle of the pack, which is good enough, right? You've been at it for 3 weeks, i'm 27 and I've been swimming since I was 4 years old, so PATIENCE! You'll be fine, just pay attention to technique (watching other swimmers helps, as does a masters program)

Hand paddles help because they give you extra work on your lats (swimming muscles) and also help you maintain a 'perfect stroke.' These drills/sets carry over into regular swimming (we hope) and also give you the feeling of swimming in a wetsuit, which is faster because a wetsuit is buoyant. Most people swim better with wetsuits, just as most people swim better with pull buoys.

If you're looking for a number in terms of your 100m open water split, I can't give it to you, though you can expect to bit a little faster over a 1.5k than you would in the pool, especially with no flip turns. But keep at it, and lose the trunks. Remember, part of performing is 'looking' like you know what you're doing. Get a speedo and a drag suit (i like Nike) and you'll be ready to go.

eee

My theory for faster swimmers is .....I will see you on the bike.....works most of the time....

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I shall never misuse Rex Kwon Do
I shall be a champion of freedom and justice

I started out about where you are. The things that improved my times the most were in descending order of importance: swim instruction/coaching, building up to swimming 5x a week, building swim endurance, doing drills. swim instruction instantly took 10 secs off my 100 time. swimming for shorter sessions more frequently lets you swim with a better stroke the whole session. I think drills are most useful if there is someone there to tell you what you are doing wrong when you start.

how much time you gain or lose in open water depends on how much time you spend turning right now and whether you wear a wetsuit or not in open water.

Dear New Triathlete ("Newbie"),

Welcome to the wonderful world of purposeful swimming! I am confident you have a long, productive career ahead of you, in which you will improve your technique and performance. You'll get a lot of good training advice here, I know.

See, I too was in your place just a few short years ago (seems like yesterday, sometimes). Standing on the pool deck in my clunky-trunks, dipping my foot in the water. I felt like Captain Kirk after beaming down to a bizarre planet in a parallel universe - complete with hairless men and scantily-clad, green-skinned women. It really took me a while to understand exactly how things work. So in an effort to spare you some of that, I'll share a few things I've learned.

1) Keep an eye on your towel. For instance, if you hang it on a certain hook when you start your workout, make sure its on the same hook when you're done. If it's been moved, don't use it. Instead, shower and allow yourself to air dry or dry with paper towels, but don't use that towel! It's not worth repeated trips to the dermatologist.

2) Don't think too much about what might be in that water. And try not to swim right after the kids' swim team. It takes the filtration system a while to do its job.

3) Be thankful for the old folks who swim in your pool early in the morning. Sure, they sort of putter around while you're trying to do intervals, and they like to congregate at the wall where you want to flip turn, and you may simply wonder why retired folks need to get up at 5:30 AM to swim. But the fact is, if it weren't for their constant complaints to your club's management, the water would not be a nice, toasty 93 degrees every day.

4) Finally, if you're looking for other triathletes, they're easy to pick out. They're wearing all the training crap. If you see a guy wearing a Seal mask, hand paddles, kickboard, flippers, pool buoy, and a $200 fastskin suit - all at the same time - he's surely planning to toe the line this summer at some local triathlon. It's sort of like spotting an American while on vacation in Rome - you look for the overweight, sunburned, camera-toting guy in the floral print shirt.

Good luck!

Those paces are like 10-11 min. miles running: Not that bad really and plenty of room for improvement! Through proper form and practice, you will become faster over time. Maybe even a lot faster!

Campguy - althought I wouldn't call your times fast, I wouldn't say they're bruttaly slow either. I know people who've been swimming for 3 years and can't swim that fast. You're aerobic base is probably pretty good, however, how is your form? Sure, lack of flip turns, race suit/wetsuit, adrenaline rush will all allow you to go faster, however, navigating in open water is something that takes many swims to learn. If you're not swimming a straight line, or constantly swimming into people, that will more than negate the things mentioned above, and you will be slower in open water.

As a person who has improved his swimming dramatically, I would hightly recommend the Total Immersion book.....although it's probably not the best thing for improving good swimmer's times, it's great at teaching some of basic principles of swimming, and you finish it likely being more efficient in the water. When you start combining with harder effort swims and more yardage, you likely will become faster. For example, interval swimming and high yardage has made me a faster swimmer, but I wouldn't be able to do the yardage I do without proper technique.

If only swimming for 3 weeks, I wouldn't so much worry about time as your technique and stroke count. Count the number of strokes you can swim, and monitor how that throughout your swim, if your count increases greatly you're using much more energy as the swim goes on (which will leave you less for the bike and run), if you're holding your stroke count pretty consistent - then you're on the right track.

Just my opinion.

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People I've loved, I have no regrets
Some I remember, some I forget
Some of them living, some of them dead
All I want is to be home ".....Foo Fighters, Home

You really, really need to get rid of the baggies. Buy yourself a set of Speedo/Tyr "jammers" if you cannot do the briefs. Swimming with baggies on is like swimming with breadsacks tied to your waist. They will weigh you down and prevent you from being in a proper horizontal plane--thus you cannot work on proper stroke mechanics.