Those ambivalent to swimming

Triathlon Forum
1

per the thread where i’m SHOCKED at the poll.

i don’t mean to give offense and i hope i don’t spark defensive reactions, but i suspect that there’s a high correlation between people ambivalent about the swim and a lack of prowess in the water. i wonder how many of you who are swim-ambivalent would enjoy swimming more if, after a few months of doing something different than what you’re doing, you were to become much faster, better, technically adept in the water?

in other words, would those of you who talk about the hassle of driving to and from the pool, or the boredom, would that hassle and boredom be less of a negative if you were killing in the pool, and vanquishing your lanemates in workouts?

2

Not for me, for sure.

The hassle and annoyance of swimming >>> feelings of wanting to get out there and kill it on the swim.

Plenty of D1 and other collegiate swimmers posting on this forum that swim <1x/week before race day and fully embrace that change despite them crushing the swim.

3

I absolutely would. My dislike of swimming is directly related to my lack of prowess. Unfortunately right now time and finances don’t permit me to hire a coach, and I train alone so I don’t even have video of me to show people.

Maybe this winter will be different and I’ll hire a coach/join masters. Until then, I approach the pool like I approach Mondays… a necessary evil I must get through.

4

… would that hassle and boredom be less of a negative if you were killing in the pool, and vanquishing your lanemates in workouts?

Only if I got to hear the lamentations of their women

5

in other words, would those of you who talk about the hassle of driving to and from the pool, or the boredom, would that hassle and boredom be less of a negative if you were killing in the pool, and vanquishing your lanemates in workouts?

No, still a hassle. I used to be jealous of people who were good runners because they could just walk out the door, run and be home in a reasonable time. Actually, any runner for that matter. Once I got into multisport and forced myself to learn to run because I hated the activity I realized I was correct. It’s so much easier and more likely to get done just walking out my front door and being able to immediately start a workout. The better I got at it the more I realized how much of a hassle it is going swimming. If I had a free 30 mins I can get a run in. It takes a minimum of an hour for me to make swimming worthwhile which includes travel and changing time.
Oh I don’t have to be worried about idiotic lap schedules to run.

6

One of the big reasons I don’t hate swimming is that my pool has lane swim and masters at reasonable hours and is pretty convenient

I’m lucky in hat regard
.

7

Nope I spent around 4 years of my life pursuing swimming prowess with coaches, masters swimming and even help from other swimmers . I was just not progressing. I could never get below 2:00 per 100 and I just decided it was not worth it anymore and I gave up swimming and became a duathlete. I am much happier with the decision to bag swimming and move on. I do not miss swimming at all.

Joel

8

I really don’t mind “sucking”. I mean I do—in that I’m a type-A always have to be “improving” kind of person. It just doesn’t affect my “enjoyment” in the moment. I enjoyed biking even when my FTP was about 160 watts, and running at 11 min/mile. The air, the sights, the sounds…the occasional strange denizen.

I enjoy swimming in clear ocean water atop fish, coral, and other marine life on a warm, sunny, summer day. The yards just disappear when doing that (just like running and cycling). But, I live a VERY long way from any of that. So, that’s a less than 10x in a lifetime experience for me (so far I’ve done it twice).

But, the black line? the wall tag? the fucking kickboard? The 5am 20 min drive to the pool, and 1 hour drive to work? Not so much. The only strange denizen at my pool is the guy in lane4 who takes about 1000 strokes per length—I swear half the time he’s going backwards.

9

I could not run for many years due to an injury.
Every time I saw a runner on the side of the road I was so jealous.
Every time I pass a cyclist or car with MTB’s on top I am jealous that they are riding.
Every time I see a surfski on the roof I just want to get out there.

I busted my shoulder and it took 2 years to heal to a point where I could swim again.
Never missed it, I just new that I was missing the upper body body range of motion that swimming gives me.
I missed the outcomes but never the action.

Might be different if I couldn’t paddle though.
But every time I see a group of surfskis heading out for a downwind paddle as I drive past the local put in point to go home, I rush to try and get myself down there to go with them.

I drive past the pool everyday and all I can think of is the huge traffic problem it is just after school hours.

I still do enjoy a swim every now and again, but only because somebody has told me of a pool with open lanes at times I can get to, so I start swimming again until the pool management manages to jam in another post baby pool aerobics or get off your ass fat mothers well paying class.

Adult swimmers are the poorest catered for group at pools and it shows.
Triathletes get the new or worst coaches and masters snobbery really only caters for those who were in swim club as kids.

Learn to swim was much the same until pools started to actually cater for it and all of a sudden the cash cow was awakened.
Special pools are built and these things carry the whole pool complex.

Adult swimming could be the same, there should be dedicated coaches who are not just the leftovers, on deck to help out and pools laned up accordingly.

Once a culture is established it will pay for itself, but at the moment limited lane space means that known cash cows are milked before the wild brumbies running around the back paddock are even considered.

Swimming is a great aging sport and it will hopefully soon be encouraged to become what it can.

So for me, as a good swimmer, it is nothing to do with my capabilities, just a sucky pool environment.

10

Nope I spent around 4 years of my life pursuing swimming prowess with coaches, masters swimming and even help from other swimmers . I was just not progressing. I could never get below 2:00 per 100 and I just decided it was not worth it anymore and I gave up swimming and became a duathlete. I am much happier with the decision to bag swimming and move on. I do not miss swimming at all.

now… wait! my speculation, i think you qualify! let’s say you’d’ve had better luck, chosen more fortuitously those who might help you, and had that help worked? then would you feel the same way?

11

Plenty of D1 and other collegiate swimmers posting on this forum that swim <1x/week before race day and fully embrace that change despite them crushing the swim.

Agree. Ask Tim DeBoom why he hasn’t been in the pool for X number of years yet continues to do lots of B & R. I look at his Instagram account and know why. :slight_smile:

12

One of the big reasons I don’t hate swimming is that my pool has lane swim and masters at reasonable hours and is pretty convenient

I’m lucky in hat regard

That would make a difference for me. You are lucky !
Or at least your hat is.

13

One of the big reasons I don’t hate swimming is that my pool has lane swim and masters at reasonable hours and is pretty convenient

I’m lucky in hat regard

That would make a difference for me. You are lucky !
Or at least your hat is.

I too wish to get one of these lucky hats that magically make pools available, where can I get one?

14

Maybe three years ago when I gave up on swimming but I got married last year and I have very limited training time now (about 5 to 6 hours total a week) and I cannot afford the cost of getting a gym membership to swim at again.

Joel

15

I freely admit that I’m a mediocre swimmer. If my swimming were better, sure, I’d enjoy it more. But, I don’t think that swimming would vault above running or cycling. I happen to enjoy being outside a whole lot more. If it came to swimming versus running on the dreadmill or cycling on the trainer, yeah, I’d probably take swimming.

16

Meh. I have swam since I was 5 and competed and did well all through school. Prowess has nothing to do with it for me. I live and work less than 1 mile from 2 olympic sized pools, one with open lap swim and no crowds from early AM to late PM. Beyond the mile from my doorstep and still within 5 miles are 3 more long-course pools with bulkheads that move at various times, again that have generous lap swim hours. And I don’t live in a big city, so 1 mile is a 3 minute drive and 5 miles is a 10 minute drive, if even. I spend more time changing than I do getting to and from a pool. Access to pools isn’t my barrier either.

This, right here is the #1 reason I skip out on swim sessions:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4327/36150162532_fafa630ae2.jpg

Hence, my recent ditching of the pool in favor of OWS. Not sure if I have the resolve to drill ice holes in Canada or the North East, but resolve enough to deal with sand, neoprene and my newly developed wet suit rash on the back of my neck.

17

per the thread where i’m SHOCKED at the poll.

i don’t mean to give offense and i hope i don’t spark defensive reactions, but i suspect that there’s a high correlation between people ambivalent about the swim and a lack of prowess in the water. i wonder how many of you who are swim-ambivalent would enjoy swimming more if, after a few months of doing something different than what you’re doing, you were to become much faster, better, technically adept in the water?

in other words, would those of you who talk about the hassle of driving to and from the pool, or the boredom, would that hassle and boredom be less of a negative if you were killing in the pool, and vanquishing your lanemates in workouts?

Definitely. Unlike many, I have access to a 6x25y pool at work. I do my workouts at 11:00 when there are one or two (sometimes three, often zero) other people in the pool. It’s right above the cafeteria so I head down to refuel after.

I am a 2:10/100 swimmer and haven’t gotten much better even with video analysis, coaching and drills. I swim because there aren’t many duathlons between June and the end of September. At least not in the Boston area.

18

That’s a much “fairer” comparison. In which case…I’d revise my order of preference to (from highest to lowest):

  1. Swimming
  2. Treadmill
  3. Trainer
19

As an ‘adult onset swimmer’ I fell in love with swimming when I stopped seeing it as a necessary evil for triathlon doing boring relentless freestyle laps. I embraced pool swimming as a sport in it’s own right, taught myself flip turns, underwaters, breakouts, other strokes and started to play in the pool rather than ‘train’.

What not to love? Here in the UK almost all our pools are indoor so they are constantly the same environment all year round. The water and air is the same temperature, the lighting is the same whether it’s day/night, summer or winter. Not even a running track can offer that consistency.

I’m surprised how many triathletes don’t seem to swim other strokes and think you need to record every lap or drill on a small computer on your wrist then block the wall waiting for their interval because they need to make sure their graphs look pretty when they download the workout later… maybe that’s why they don’t enjoy it. They sap all the fun out of it.

20

One of the big reasons I don’t hate swimming is that my pool has lane swim and masters at reasonable hours and is pretty convenient

I’m lucky in hat regard

I think this is certainly part of this. For me I can run or bike anytime I want, but based on my schedule, swimming is either at 6am or 930pm.

Compare vs biking to work and running at lunch for those of us with young kids it becomes easy to see why swim is harder to schedule precisely because we have to schedule it.