6 Beginner Swimming Tips Every Triathlete Should Know

[@gtn]

Which tip did you find most useful? Let us know 👇

[@lisapet160]

Relax & take your time!

[@kcdiazWTV]

Drills.

[@luisdelacruz8027]

Breathing

[@RandyArellano]

"Little and often" ... I needed to hear that. I'll be restarting my training for an Xterra later this summer, so that will be my new mantra.

[@trbeyond]

Get feedback. So many people I work with have never seen themselves swim before. So easy to Use a phone and get some video!

[@stug45]

I come from a swimming background and the number one too I have for beginners is to relax! Also listen and ask for feedback from others who can watch you is probably the best tip

[@gtn]

stug45 Certainly are good tips!

[@zmojofoot76]

How does one relax I mean I don’t think I don’t relax.

[@alicecgong]

Two years of swimming and 3 sprint triathlons later...I was pretty proud of my 2min/100m pace 😂 and I laughed so hard when he said “beep, 5 secs later, beep, and other swimmers are like what are you doing???”

[@demacherius1]

I wold like to see a video about drills . What, when and why

[@markthrelfall3577]

Miky Schuster we do already have a number of drills videos, but there are more coming. Keep an eye out

[@robscherer]

Can't put into words how good this channel is and how good these videos are, thank you for making them!!!

[@adrianburton6477]

Outstanding video with valuable information for beginners like myself. I don't plan on competing in a half Ironman or Ironman I would just like to do a Sprint or possibly after some time an Olympic. I feel comfortable with the run and biking even while I'm losing weight but the swimming is challenging and I find the breathing part to be the most difficult. So I will at these advice into my workouts especially what he said about quality and not quantity. Once again thanks a lot and I really enjoy all of your videos especially the ones that are design for beginning triathletes.

[@rbmanb]

Love this video. Brilliant. I'll just add my 2 cents. Quantity is also very important at beginners level. It really takes a person into the next level of swimming and building up some endurance, which is so very important to get things going.

[@leopers9225]

I am now training for my first triathlon. I used to swim in school, 3 years ago. But now my I can hardly swim one length(50mtrs) it’s not my technique, well it’s not that bad, it’s my endurance in the pool. I’m still fairly fast for the beginning, at 50 seconds for 50 mtrs. I have very good cardiovascular endurance, such as a Vo2Max of 72. Yet in the pool I can only slowly feel my power coming back. I really have the upmost respect for people that can swim well.

[@jelle191]

You mention that it is better to swim more frequent rather than swimming long sessions. The thing I noticed that my technique got better the more tired I got during a long session. As if I was too weak to use any unnessecary forces.

[@ianpovey6331]

2min per 100 at the start!!!.....ive been at this game for three years and I can only do 2min per 100....

[@timetwister15]

ian povey Phew! Thought I was the only one who thought that 2:00/100m is already pretty good for a beginner!

[@boollyboolly]

I know! I lolled at that. If I EVER manage 2mins for 100 I'll want a ticker tape parade!!

[@Iceleesnow]

Exactly what I thought... :)

[@kajet666]

Same here. But perhaps he meant 2 minutes per 100 sprinting, not over a 70.3 swim?

[@khannsteel2]

Nah what's really crazy is that I am a 16 year old swimmer and my coach had a way that I could use my swimming to get points for my schooling (I'm in New zealand and here we get NA, A, M and E - from lowest to highest grade, E being highest) and The assignment was to swim 400m. Easy right? For the top mark you had to swim it in under 4:40 and I'm like really? That isn't very easy...

[@1mforest]

all mark was thinking through this was "yeah, this guy won Outlaw... didn't beat my course record though"

[@svdb2981]

1 tip if you are a starter don't Worry about going fast ore that you stop somme times, Just focus on techniek and getting comfortable, Getting comfortable in the wather is prioty number 1 Techniek 2 Speed like number 10 have fun is the most important thing and after somme time you can go faster somme idees: Let other people film you right at the start, you can always see your progresion and others can give featback. Olso from the otherside of the world You can olso get a GoPro and set hun down on the botem of the pool Get somme earbuds to cancel all the noise a bit so you can focus more on your own. And with music, you can get a rithem to hold on wile swimming

[@MattDion]

I strongly 2nd the video analysis, especially with a GoPro or similar where you can get an underwater view. It is so easy to compare to a great swimmer’s video and identify weaknesses. I was video’d for the first time last year and it really showed me how much I suck. I mean.... all the areas where I can improve.

[@SIMMEGA1]

Great vid! Really spot on with the struggle of swim beginners. A video of those specific swim drills in tip #5 would be fantastic!

[@gtn]

Nice idea for a video! We recently made one on front crawl drills here - gtn.io/3SwimDrills

[@rpx1979]

Great vid! The guest presenter was brilliant.

[@ljk5708]

Not going to the pool and smashing out a strait 45 minute front crawl session to see how long you can resist...done that one quite often for sure!

[@IMcr1.s]

Thank you for this video. I just started back swimming laps for health reasons. I stopped last year gained weight and now I'm back at it again As of 10.06.2022. I understand not getting out of breath surviving so I'm going to challenge myself again and be consistent with it.

[@SunPower33]

Sam, you must be kidding me when complaining about starting at 2:00min/100m. I do 3:03min/100m with foam between my legs so I do not sink like a rock. My best so far was 2:40 with wetsuit on.

[@TheNuttymare]

Thank goodness you said this ! I`ve been trying to get better at swimming for 2 yrs and same as you i do 100 in 3mins !

[@zzzxzz8564]

@@TheNuttymare pretty sure he means a 100m sprint, 2 mins is quite slow for that

[@novasentia2307]

The foam between your legs is called a pull buoy. It’s made to not kick with

[@respectablebogan3276]

you don't kick with a pullbuoy

[@leesanghwa8175]

Wow... great advice for beginners. Can I translate it into Korean and make Korean subtitle? Maybe you can publish Korean subtitle with your video and I can share this video with Korean triathletes. Thx.

[@flip110119]

Such great tips and info! I love this channel..

[@SwimmingwithYousofandHamza]

Thanks Which camera and case do you use? Could you send me a purchasing or specs link?

[@CelticFan]

Great vid guys. Everything stated is so relevant and v good advise. As for breathing , again v good advice here. I would always say to someone, swim to your breathing rhythm . Go as fast as your relaxed breathing rhythm is telling you. Also, breath out though your nose, not your mouth . Would you agree ?

[@Slowhand871]

As a good swimmer I agree with his tips. Do yourself a favor and join a masters swim team. It will seam intimidating but the coach will help you more than anything and the team will welcome you.

[@nicksmith3084]

Great Video. When can we expect a drills video?

[@jackhammer40k_]

This is all great but could you do some actual crawl technique videos please?

[@markthrelfall3577]

EatRideGrow we have a number of drill videos already, but keep an eye out for a breakdown of the front crawl stroke 😊

[@jackhammer40k_]

Cheers!

[@adrianmacabuhay9002]

I think you should be in every ironman event and give advices before race day 👍

[@pup1008]

I've got the opposite problem. I was a county level swimmer as a kid but in the UK, where most triathlon swims are indoors, I'm caught up with the great & slow unwashed! Probably my one big advantage is lost catching up & being held up by people!

[@_ninja_nic]

Thank you!!!

[@user-tv5dz4uy6f]

I found the more regular swimming instead of smashing it out once a week very helpful...I am guilty of just once a week, smash it out and be done in the bank haha. Also I have heard it already but take it easy, do not go all out, all the time. Also I need to do more technique workouts instead of just swimming up and down in front crawl for the whole session.

[@Iviking11]

This video is so helpful. Thank you soooooo much.

[@gtn]

Very welcome 🙂

[@lmnts-wildswimming9922]

Great tips thanks for posting 🙏

[@lovetowntv]

"If you've got the time, and space...and friends! Lol.

[@jamesstark2437]

This was an awesome video. Thank you soo much! Thank ou for sharing your starting notes. Really makes us normal people a little better. LOL Thank you again!

[@matteo.ceriotti]

Cool dude!

[@ODYSSEYOpenWater]

Make sure to train in the open water. The conditions you will face will be much different than if training in a pool. We get a lot of triathletes training with us here in San Francisco.

[@SeanPeffa]

Good comment on the breathing and relaxing. I found I tried to swim too fast, got anxious then out of breath and was panting after 25m-50m. I now slowed it down and a lot less anxious of sinking, enjoying it more but still struggle to do more than 50m with out taking a 10second breather in between. How do I work on building that stamina. come race day I resort to breast stroke as I'm out of breath.

[@respectablebogan3276]

how many times a week do you swim?

[@mugiyati1111]

Wow!!!i want my swimming teacher like yoy guys!!!i dunno how to overcome my fear yet in the deep water.But i think if you guys be my private teacher it would be make me fast learner.Cheers

[@RickMartinYouTube]

helpful, thanks

[@justalurkr]

I have a different issue. I can swim and bike til the cows come home, but running get a full body veto. I'm walking it off at the moment, but I'm working up to running.

[@iamshubhamjain]

Awesome Vid.. 👍🏻

[@rawesome1000]

Right on its long swim day!!

[@gtn]

🏊‍♂️

[@run4cmt]

I would kill to have an outdoor pool like that to swim in .

[@XxjoelispxX]

7:16 "Not me"

[@chrisandrade5122]

How much does body fat/weight affect swim times? My brother, 5’8” (173cm?), 165 lb swam for the first time after ACL surgery and was 15s faster per 100 compared to me at 5’5” (165cm), 180 lb. I KNOW my form is better and our strength is relatively the same.

[@Blakenwhyte]

Love ye guys

[@gtn]

Thanks H I N E K I

[@SeanPeffa]

Great advice on doing small sessions often, warm ups and drills. I've found these are useful when I did some group classes. When I've searched online for drills most of what I find are plans for Ironman distance and too long for beginners. What are suitable training sessions for sprint distance and where can one find drills to follow?

[@atlosass]

Ok, thrashing/sinking when I started swimming, check. Then getting to 2:00/100m, check (ok, actually 4 years later!). Now how the heck do I go from here to 1:15/100m?!

[@respectablebogan3276]

how often do you swim?

[@respectablebogan3276]

Is that 1:10 - 1:15 maximal effort for Sam or steady 100s

[@recat22]

Hi guys. Might be funny, but I can't jump into the water and keep my goggles on... Any tips?

[@user-un1xq3yy3y]

I have rubber goggles and they stick really well. If you have these then press them kind of hard so you can feel the rubber sticking onto you. If you wanna see if it actually sticks then it should make you tug on the goggles to get them off. Or go underwater with your goggles on and move your head in the water as fast as you can and see if it falls off. It might be because of the weakness of the rubber but I'm not too sure. Unless when you jump in the force of the water pushes against your goggles and makes them come off. You should make yourself really thin if you jump into the water or just press harder on your goggles so they stick.

[@recat22]

Thank you so much, I will try it!

[@user-un1xq3yy3y]

@@recat22 Tell me if my method works! ^♢^

[@respectablebogan3276]

tighten them ofc

[@33Jenesis]

No wonder swimmers hit the pool daily be them recreational or competitive. One or two days off is ok. More I feel I am regressing. I am new to swimming. I have to not feel guilty by not ‘swimming’ because I devote most my daily pool time doing practice drills.

[@calebbrown6858]

Thanks guys!

[@guitarvoicing]

They forgot the main tip. If you want to swim fast you need to practice fast. The key point is to do regular sessions of interval training targeting your max swim heart rate. Interval training will increase your pulmonary capacity, your flotation and your brain will naturally train your body to be more efficient because you will be in a lot of pain. To sum up, if you don't squeeze hard weekly sessions on your training hitting the wall feeling like vomiting due to the lack of oxygen, then drills and iconsistency will NOT be enough. You need to build muscle power, pulmonary capacity and tolerance to pain. None of them can be built without hard interval sessions.

[@33Jenesis]

This is for newbie swimmers, not someone who can swim well now wants to swim fast.

[@orijit]

if my triathlon is approaching, should I still be focused on drills? Or should I be doing more time just doing the distance?

[@kevinholden1012]

Start with drills mate, as drills gives you proper form and technique. Doing distance without proper form is very inefficient and wastes a lot of energy

[@katherinehinz1037]

I get so bored with the back and forth of swimming. Anyone have any tips for me to fight that boredom.

[@WillCL1994]

Where does one find these "quiet pools"

[@yellowman4337]

Morning , 6 am.

[@brett9717]

I know this is a late comment but did anyone notice around 2:22 how much the swimmer crossed their arm over their body? Ideally you don't want your forearm coming parallel to the bottom of the pool like that as you don't get as much per pull and it's bad for your shoulders :/

[@brett9717]

3:38-3:39 was a much better demonstration of a proper pull while swimming freestyle

[@richhines5723]

@@brett9717 I bet you're fun at parties.

[@respectablebogan3276]

@@richhines5723 I bet you have shoulder issues if you swim like that. It's awful technique to look at

[@linuxguru27]

Looks like i am sooooo very very far away from becoming a swimmer like Sam , i take 3mins to swim 100 m doing freestyle :( . I dont know how to improvise .

[@mikemeachem3445]

Cheers. This meant so much . Good for thought but I'm still a little scared 😨

[@dilaverm5609]

when i swim water is always getting inside my nose why? what am i doıng wrong?

[@ignitedcanvas6729]

Try blowing bubbles with your nose

[@dilaverm5609]

@@ignitedcanvas6729 i do it as you say but when i turn my head to breath than water fills inside my nose, may be i turn my head too much?

[@neilhulse5500]

I love triathlon but swimming is my weakest part I have just started doing lots of training for swimming but every time I go swimming in a pool a get a bad cold stoping other training for 2days what would you advise as I really need to get faster at swimming?

[@MattDion]

neil hulse More punctuation. And coaching.

[@tonymoran767]

Have you tried a thermal cap when swimming to keep your head warm to see if that helps any?

[@dahlia1452]

Late response but I had this. Turns out it was a reaction to some of the chemicals in the water. I now swim with a nose clip and it doesn't happen anymore.

[@spitalhelles3380]

Lmao I can't even swim 100m without dying

[@sjgbrighton]

I can only do breast stroke :( not sure whether to try crawl or improve my breast stroke. I know I can never compete properly doing breast stroke,

[@ahcryz2543]

Breaststroke is hella slow , forget about this bullsh&it, learn how to front crawl

[@33Jenesis]

I used to only able to breast stroke with head above water and got winded just across the smallish pool. I made a resolve to learn front crawl last year. I use pool buoy and swim snorkel for drills. Get your form and technique right and in muscle memory before worrying about breathing. Breathing is a lot easier to achieve and fear overcome when form and technique are firmly in place.

[@amysun6080]

Wow, I can relate to trying to survive in the pool instead of timing myself

[@AaronCCorbin]

Does it damage the wetsuit to wear it in a chlorinated pool?

[@gtn]

Hi Aaron, it can do, it's important to wash it after every swim.

[@AaronCCorbin]

Global Triathlon Network ok! Thank you for the reply!!!!

[@marcusconway4]

Absolutely regardless of washing it afterwards. Don’t do it because it fall apart within a few years, or unless you have to and only can use a chlorine pool then buy a second wetsuit.

[@AaronCCorbin]

Marcus Conway Ok thanks Marcus.

[@lg.studio]

Thanks for the useful tips. I have an other question though. Are you coming to slovakia this weekend to The Championship race?

[@heatherfell_oly]

Hi Gabor, I will be there representing GTN, do say if you see us!

[@lg.studio]

wow, fantastic. I definitely will.

[@tomgriffiths3133]

2min per 100m is not slow?!

[@connerharleybeckett2028]

How often do you breath when swimming? Is there an optimum stroke to breath combination?

[@maikholzhey6167]

Depends on the distance. If you want to go 4k in one go, you should breath every two strokes to keep your muscles working aerobically. I do switch sides to breath every 10-20 strokes to keep the balance up

[@celchapman]

Its common to breath every 3 strokes, which means alternating sides

[@respectablebogan3276]

breathe every 3, push it to every 5 and 7 if you want to improve your lung capacity

[@oreilp25]

2 minutes per 100m is not surviving nor is it slow

[@zzzxzz8564]

pretty sure he means a 100m sprint, that's quite slow

[@haxhxm841]

I get panic attacks when I do open water swimming sometimes in pools too. Is there any way to mitigate it or I just have to face it and swim with the flow😂

[@dextriathlon3642]

Try some mindfullness and some sessions purely focussed on getting acclimated.

[@jamesbearpark3794]

If you can find a local open water swim session go along once a week as one of your swim sessions. It willing help you get used to being in the open water. Also, focus on your breathing, it will help you to relax in the water. Particularly on my long swims, I find that focus on my breathing when I become tried really helps as well.

[@boollyboolly]

There are some hypnotherapy downloads out there that can help. Also if you need to stop, always roll on to your back and keep kicking a little rather than going upright in the water where your lungs and diaphragm are under water pressure. Good luck 👍

[@GreenlightptCoUk]

www.greenlightpt.co.uk/blog/dealing-with-open-water-panics-during-racing

[@gtn]

Hey haxhxm, lots of great suggestions from others in the comments. It can be good to take a friend whilst practising to help keep you calm and focus on your breathing.

[@gerettblouin3083]

team silly nannies

[@leekellyplayle4140]

I swim like a brick lol

[@plantsarelivingthings2559]

R u both twins

[@WimmerJurgen]

quality and not quantity. and frequency of training.

[@respectablebogan3276]

take a good close look at the two clauses in that (sort of) sentence. Yup, they're contradictory

[@user-vz7tj4hq8b]

too much free time

[@lefenec]

"if you've got... friends" :'(