Various and assorted Newbie SWIM q's

Triathlon Forum
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OK, so it has been well documented that I suck at swimming. I am trying to work on it, but I have some (probably very basic) q’s for all the fishies out there:

1 - What’s the best way to get chlorine stink offa ya? Regular showering w/ regular shampoo just don’t seem to cut it.

2 - How come my Tyr jammers that I just bought in 2/05 are already see-thru? I don’t swim more than maybe 2-3x / wk max (and often less, he says sheepishly), and yet these things have gone from Navy Blue to PG-13 in under 6 months. That’s lame if ya ask me. What if I swam 4-5x / wk, they woulda only lasted a coupla months. Are there any other training swim suits you could recommend that last longer? Any tips for post-swim care to keep them in better shape?

3 - So, I got one of those swim towels, the small chamois thingies. Why are they so stupid-small? And, what do you do with it after you dry off? Mine turns to cardboard every time, and I hafta soak it in the sink prior to the next useage, or it’s like drying off, well, with a piece of cardboard.

4 - Flippers - I’ve had a pair of Aqua Sphere Zip fins for a while, used 'em for the first time today. OK, so zipping along on kick sets was fun, but otherwise, they seem pretty pointless. Is there a point? I already have decent ankle flexibility, so other than giving me a reason to spend another 5-10 mins in the pool, they didn’t really seem to be helping me w/ my actual stroke.

5 - Paddles - don’t have any yet, worried about possible shoulder problems. (I occasionally get achy shoulders after swim workouts as is). Can they help w/ the stroke of a noob like me, or are they for experienced/fast users only?

6 - Dryland training - any suggestions for stretch cord or other workouts I could do to supplement the swimming I’m doing? I realize that I probably need to JFS a lot more, but if I could do that and also get in some training/drills that would help supplement it, I’m hoping I might see a bit more improvement.

Sorry for all the basic q’s, and thx in advance,

-M

2005 Worst Swimmer on the Forum Champion :wink:

2
  1. I can answer this because I was a diver up through college: nothing you can do about it getting like cardboard. if you keep it moist it will start to stink a lot, and that smell is almost impossible to get rid of. it’s small because that’s more convenient to carry around, but if you want a bigger one, they sometimes sell them for use on cars - check out your local car wash.
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1 - UltraSwim shampoo & conditioner. Sold at WRR and other fine stores. They make a soap, too, I believe. But at some level, you just have to face up to the fact that you will smell like chlorine

2 - Because you aren’t supposed to swim regular suits all the time. You are supposed to train in a training suit, made of polyester. Speedo’s square-leg poly training suit is good. Tyr makes a similar one. These will last a LOOOONG time… Wash them in cold water after every swim

3 - They are small because it makes them easier to carry. It should have come with a little case. If you threw that away, shame on you. You keep it in there. That keeps it from becoming cardboard dry. But yes, you usually still want to wet it first with clean water. And rinse this towel out regularly too.

4 - Flippers help build ankle flexibility. But if you really want to get better at propulsion from kicking, you need to kick without them. Most people like flippers because it makes it so that doing kicking sets doesn’t take forever. Grab a kickboard, lose the fins, start kicking. It is hard. Much harder than with fins. And much better for you. Learn to do it.

5 - Paddles are good. Go small. Smaller is better. I use the Tyr Catalyst. They recommend the “mediums” for triathletes. Those things will tear up your shoulders. I use the XS and I have a pair of XXS’s coming. Don’t use the wrist strap either. They are very good for teaching you to engage your lats and pull and finish. Best single tool you can buy, IMO.

6 - Stretch cordz are great for warming up. Practice your pulling technique. Catch, pull, finish. Groove this motion on dry land. Great way to warm-up at a race as well, where the swim start may be a bit hectic.

Enjoy. Love the water…

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Also on number 3. they sell larger ones at camping stores as well (I have seen them at Scheel’s for sure). I’ve seen them as large as a normal towel.

5

I’m a big fan of paddles. (I think this discussion came up yesterday - look for the thread) My shoulders acutally feel better when I am using them. I use small ones. It must be something about stroking correctly when I use them.

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Mike,

Good questions. Being in a similar boat (so to speak), I’m looking forward to the input you get. As for #2, I’ve had similar experience with my Speedo jammers that I bought about the same time. My guess is that it just happens but might happen less with better rinsing/washing afterward.

I do have paddles that I use occasionally use, but not as much lately. Also have the blue zoomer fins that I use no more than 1xWeek to help with my abysmal kick and ankle inflexibility.

Having swam exceptionally slow in my first ocean swim last Sunday (and far slower than my times in the pool), I may be challenging you for the 2005 title. My right shoulder has also been pretty sore in one particular spot since that swim, plus playing tennis with my 8yr old son later that day, so I’m hoping it starts to feel better in the next few days. I still need to build endurance and get a lot more ocean swim time in before the LA Tri on Sept 11.

Good luck,

Steve

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  1. scented shampoo and bodywash

  2. swim suits don’t last long. rinsing it after to get chlorine out helps, a little.

  3. Never tried a chamois towle - I like my big fluffy cloth ones!

  4. paddles - yes they can cause shoulder injuries if you don’t use them correctly. Wait until you have really good technique.

  5. flippers - help with ankle flexibility, but from what I’ve learned today, most triathletes don’t care about kicking anyway.

  6. dryland - do core strengthening work.

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  1. swimming keeps kids clean. no suggestions for this one, but if you wet your hair and put some conditioner in your hair prior to swimming it’ll help quite a bit.

  2. like another poster said, buy a drag suit. these things are tough. also they come in two-ply, some call them diaper suits b/c of this. girls tell me they look nice on guys butts too.

  3. soak the chamois in the pool before/during/after your workout then wring it out before using.

  4. i swam for 18 yrs competitively (sp?) and never used zip fins. when i coach other triathletes in swimming the main thing i see that fins do is help keep their kick narrower, which often is pretty important for crazy legged runners and bikers.

  5. hold off on the paddles for now, and focus on technique would be my suggestion. paddles can screw up your shoulders in a hurry w/ improper technique.

  6. work on a lot of shoulder stretching would be my primary suggestion. lots of runners bikers have tight upper bodies, and the flexibility necessary for good technique can’t be achieved. also if your gym has a vasa trainer then those are great for dryland work.

good luck!

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Rappstar,

Re kicking, I’ve heard not to use the fins too much, like you suggest. But I’ve also heard that using a kickboard isn’t too good, either, because you don’t have the right body position, that you’re only learning to kick with a kickboard and not while swimming, etc. So I haven’t used a kickboard much at all, and not at all in a few months. But maybe I should… It’s all so confusing for us newbies sometimes.

At least I know, without even posting a picture, that the saddle on my bike must be either too high or too low :wink:

Thanks for helping us newbies out.

  • Steve
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  1. Chlorine eats lycra. If you don’t like the polyesther suits, then you end up doubling up and layering a couple of older suits atop each other to maintain modesty.

  2. Although they’re billed as water removal devices, sammys really only exist as outlets for nervous energy for divers. Any water removal they actually accomplish is a happy coincidence.

  3. If you’ve already got decent ankle flexibility, the flippers are to either add a bit of fun to an otherwise boring workout or to give you a bit of a feel of faster speed. They’re fun, but not really necessary if you’ve got limited practice time.

  4. If you’ve already got shoulder problems, skip the paddles. Just not worth possibly making that problem worse, and you really do want to use them under the direction of a good coach unless you’ve got a lot of pool experience.

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  1. you cannot get rid of chlorine smell, but I do recommend a chlorine removal shampoo like ultra swim for your hair.
  2. swim suits deteriorate really nothing you can do about it except rinse it out with cold water to get some of the chlorine out. I make my living in a pool so I replace my suit about every 2 months.
  3. chami’s are meant for divers.
  4. fins are good for fast paced kicks sets on little rest, the only stroke they can help with is butterfly to propel your upper body out of the water.
  5. paddles build shoulder strength. If you want to try a pair I recommend the smallest pair you can find to begin with.
  6. anything really, push ups etc…

hope some of this helps.

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Thanks J- You the man.

Shoulda just PM’d ya :wink:

3 - Yeah, I saved the case, just didn’t know if I should use it for storage or not.

Looks like I have some shopping to do.

PS - any suggestions on the resistance of the Stretch Cordz I should get? I have a strong upper body, but that obviously doesn’t help me all that much in the water w/o good stroke mechanics.

THX!!! See ya at T-man. First post-race round is on me.

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  1. Learn to love that chlorine smell.

  2. Rinse out and wash your skivies every time you use them. leaving them wet in your swim bag will destroy them in a hurry

  3. they are small because they can be, and not take up room in your bag. Store it in a plastic bag (rung out) or in the plastic container that it came in.

      1. Just swim. It is the best for you. I use drills and kick boards just to break the boredome.
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4 - Flippers - I’ve had a pair of Aqua Sphere Zip fins for a while, used 'em for the first time today. OK, so zipping along on kick sets was fun, but otherwise, they seem pretty pointless. Is there a point? I already have decent ankle flexibility, so other than giving me a reason to spend another 5-10 mins in the pool, they didn’t really seem to be helping me w/ my actual stroke.

Fins are definitely good for ankle flexibility but are used for a number of things in the pool. Namely to help with balance for newbie swimmers with weak kicks; stroke drills where they can help to elevate your hips and legs and let you focus on your stroke; fly kick sets on your back, side or front with no board; recovery sets between harder sets to help you take a nice easy stroke. You never really want to use them for more than 50% or your drill sets and not too often on your main sets since they can easily give you a false sense of security when it comes to balance, etc. best bet is to go without and just use for recovery sets or focused stroke drills.

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4 - The only good use of Flippers I know of it for overspeed training and drilling. For overspeed training do sets of sprint 50’s with a short time interval and work on keeping your stoke smooth. For drilling they are good to check your body position. Try some skating on your side with various arm/head/body positions. The extra speed from the fippers will give you a better feel for your best position.

5 - I find little use for them. Better off trying to swim with hands closed (fists). This will force you to focus on keeping a high elbow and grabbing the water with your whole arm.

6 - Run and bike :slight_smile: General strength training will help, but the best way to improve swimming is by swimming.

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Lighter is better. I use yellow, but I’m pretty scrawny. Remember, it is the motion you are grooving. Yellow or green is my suggestion. If they have them at your gym, give both colors a try. You can also just buy the surgical tubing from TheraBand in those colors. Probably much cheaper than the cordz, but they won’t have the nice handles. But then you could have both colors… Probably doesn’t matter too much, as you are just drilling.

17

Yeah, I guess if you have balance issues, kicking with a board is not so good. But kicking on your back is even more boring than kicking with a board. At least with the board, you can take your goggles off for a bit and see where you’re going. But kicking on your back without a board isn’t any worse than kicking with one, whereas kicking with a board if you are inexperienced may be a little bad. For myself, kicking with the board makes it slightly more tolerable, and that helps when you are relly committing to doing extra kick work… As far as I know, there is no physiological benefit to kicking with a board, just a mental one (at least for me).

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  1. I just live with the smell. It isn’t nearly as bad swimming 4,000 to 6,000 yards per week as it was when I swam 10,000 yards per day, six days a week.

  2. Buy a basic Speedo nylon training suit. They should last for years. You probably don’t even need to do more than wear it in the shower after practice to clean it off.

  3. You wasted your money with one of those swim towels. When I swam, they were just for divers, who keep diving in and out of the pool and then have to stand around for a long time between dives during a competition. Just use a regular towel after practice.

  4. Fins are nice to save time on kick sets, but I don’t seem much other point to them.

  5. Just hearing the word paddles makes my shoulders hurt.

  6. Anything that works your tricepts or your lats is going to help your swimming. So, simple tricept presses with a bar, pressing the lat bar down on a lat machine with your hands close together or lat pulldowns behind the head or kind of pressing with your hands really wide are good. So do dips, but they can hurt your shoulders. Your goal should not be to max the amount of weight in a single rep, but doing multiple sets of 10 to 15 reps.

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To help prolong the life of your swim suit, when you’re showering after your swim, take some of the UltraSwim shampoo that everyone has recommended for getting the chlorine out of your hair and use it to hand wash your swim suit to get the chlorine out of it. Works well and keeps your suit smelling nice to boot.

John

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Malibu Shampoo is the answer. I used Ultra Swim in high school and wasn’t impressed. Not only does Malibu get rid of the smell (or at least most of it), I don’t get dry and itchy skin like I used to. I buy the 32oz bottles online, I’m sure most online tri stores have it.