I freely admit that I am a much better sidestroker than freestyler. How much more energy do you expend with this stroke than freestyle? During the swim in my race this past weekend, I was much more confident and comfortable this way, but I loathe to give up speed. So I did a bit of both and I don’t think it worked that well. Yes, I am a newbie and am still getting used to open water swims also. Unfortunately, time is not on my side as far as getting in the car, driving somewhere where open water swimming exists and practicing. I’m not copping out, but this is the reality.
Thoughts and experiences please? I need educating.
Swim side stroke now if you have to to get by. Learn to swim freestyle in the pool. Learn it well, gain confidence, it will transfer to open water with time and experience without necessarily practicing in open water–I rarely swim in open water in training and routinely exit the water at the front of my wave and I do not come from a swimming background.
You do need to learn freestyle. Take some lessons. Swimming is probably the discipline that requires the most correct technique. Just riding or just running will take you pretty far regaradless of technique, but just swimming, if your form sucks enough, will drown you!
Sidestroke is usually thought of as an old lady stroke. But I prefer to call it a comfort stroke. It is also an emergency stroke if you start to panic in the water during a swim.
It is a much slower than freestyle.
You can keep your head out of the water and breath easily without expending the energy you would keeping your head out of the water trying to swim freestyle or breast stroke.
When I question whether an athlete is capable of finishing a swim of any distance, I try to teach them to swim sidestroke. It is a last resort, but an option for those with certain health/medical conditions or handicaps.
when I was in prescreen and most of dive school in the military, the sidestroke was the only stroke we were allowed to use. its a bit more efficient than freestyle. hell, if its good enough for the AMRY, Airforce and Navy, why not use it in a tri? (except it may be a bit slower than your full potential)
I have issues with anyone who uses the frog kick or scissor kick in a triathlon.
So I suppose you were never new to triathlon, got in the water, freestyled the whole time, never had a break in confidence? I’m not talking about sidestroke the whole time, just about how much more of an effort it is than freestyle and will it hurt more than help with the other parts of race as far as expended effort.
I seemed to me that it was easier and/or faster than breastroke for us greenhorn weaklings
If that’s what get’s you there then go for it. I ended up side-stroking 800 of 1000m at my first tri when I realized that I had no chance of swimming freestlye without completely exhausting myself. It wasn’t the fastest option but I got out of the water and was able to have a decent ride and run.
Whaddyaknow, a swimming technique question I can actually speak to with some semblance of knowledge and understanding… :-p
Sidestroke is slower than freestyle, and takes more leg effort. You will feel the effects on the bike and run. (at least I did, YMMV) As I have never done comparisons to breaststroke, I dunno which is the slower/more tiring - I only ever breaststroke sometimes when sighting, or at turn bouys, if at all. (the best defense is a good offense
I did an embarrassing amount of sidestroke and backstroke for my first few tri swims, and it was very slow, and tiring, but it got me thru, and I could at least breathe the whole time. Sometimes you do what you have to do…
Do yourself a favor, and get comfy doing freestyle, ASAP. Even tho my free is still pretty weak, I knocked over 4 mins offa my HIM swim time by doing 99% free vs. some much lesser % of free mixed w/ sidestroke for the previous race, and exited the water feeling better.
Can’t say I ever used those strokes in any of my races. If that’s what will get you through the swim then do what you got to do. You mention just doing side stroke for a short period of time and that’s where the problem is. When your swimming next to someone who is doing a freestsyle two-beat kick, for example, you know how close you can safely swim next to them without taking a stroke to the head or impeading their stroke, and this is because the kicking motion hapens WITHIN the body line. Scissor kicks, and especially the godforsaken frog kick (whip kick) extend your legs out far PAST you body line (in both directions!) and into the body line of other swimmers around you. I have been kicked in the ribs once and took a direct kick to the shoulder recently(nearly missing my face) while passing another swimmer who decided it was time to take a rest and crank out a few whip kicks while they sited (you would think they would see someone is right next to them) and got some air. If you want to conserve energy, swim freestyle slower, save the scissor kick for an emergency.
You mention Frog, airplane, soldier. My son has a book where the characters are talking about learning to swim, “Bubble bubble toot toot chicken airplane soldier” What are they talking about? How do you learn to swim with that?
I don’t know about any bubble, bubble, toot, toot stuff. Elementary backstroke is as folows: 1)the kid floats on his back. 2)Frog (or chicken) position is arms pulled up with hands in the arm pits, legs are also folded up feet sort of together up near the butt. 3) Airplane is arms and legs straight out vitruvian style, then for 4) soldier arms thrust to the kids sidesand legs thrust straight together. This propels them forward. Kind of like a frog swimming on its back.
First, you really really need to learn to swim. Sidestroke is so much slower than backstroke or even breaststroke. I really am not concerned how fast or slow you go, but it isn’t a private race and there will be people following you unless you are in the last wave.So there is a potential that you may cause harm or serious injury to some one that is swimming/passing you in a normal stroke. I do think passing swimmers also share some responsibility in safe conduct, but imagine wave number 3 of 20 with 45 out of 100 swimmers doing side and breast stroke at about the same pace. What a mess we would have with the log jam of swimmers trying to pass during the event.
If you are not comfortable in deep open water, are you sure you are ready for doing triathlons? I am worried about your safety if you panic because someone kicks you in the head or rips your goggles off. That is everyones worse nightmare, to have 999 swimmers make it out of the water in a 1000 person race.
“So there is a potential that you may cause harm or serious injury to some one that is swimming/passing you in a normal stroke”
This is crux of the issue, and why I have a problem with anyone that uses these strokes. Learn freestyle and bang out a few sprint races and you will be good to go.
Don’t worry, Gimpy. Lots of assholes on this forum, most of whom are not as fast as they think they are. Keep up the work. Get comfortable. Use whatever strokes you need to. The FS will come around with time and practice. I seriously doubt that you’re going to endanger anyone in the water. Especially compared to these hotshots who like to take people under instead of swimming around them. FYI, if you want to get some good responses without the bullshit, go to Gordo’s forum.
If that’s what get’s you there then go for it. I ended up side-stroking 800 of 1000m at my first tri when I realized that I had no chance of swimming freestlye without completely exhausting myself. It wasn’t the fastest option but I got out of the water and was able to have a decent ride and run.
I did the same thing, after about 100 meters and holding onto the rescue kayak, I side stroked the rest of the swim. And it took me about 40 minutes. Embarrasing? Yes… but I finished that first race and now I can swim freestyle =)
