Triathletes

Why do you suppose the swim portion of a tri is the shortest segment and always comes first?

Apparantly some can not take a little joke, all in fun. Our small master's team has limited room, so flip turns and passing our important. We have passed on information on passing. As for having a coach make sure people swim with like abilities, kidn of tough with limited space and even when faster swimmers are together, a good amount of passing still exisits. I would love to be able to have an 8 lane long course pool, but that is never going to happen, we are lucky to get two lanes long course. Oh yeah... Why do tri's complain when a work out is not all freestyle? Doing all four strokes will not only work more muscles, but will also get you in swimming shape faster. As for adults not knowing how to spell, that is why Microsoft invented spell checker (F7)

George- you are correct when swimmer is in distance mode; however don't ever block the door to the toilet before men's 50 free event at SCNats...you'll get trampled!

I will add another observation about the order and why swimming is first. Tom H is correct in everying he stated and the big concerns of safety. You would not want to have swimming last or in the middle because athletes could be tired and the risks are higher for danager. There are dangers in the other two disciplines but medical attention could be done quicker on land than at sea. The reason the triathlon distances are set the way they are is the person that invented the Iron Man triathlon combined the 3 toughest races that were held in Hawaii and sought to see if anyone would be of interest to do this. This was back in the 1979 and the fields back then were nothing like they are today. When triathlons really started to grow the other distances were figured out by what the % were in the Iron Man. Because there was only a 2.5 swim race, the bike race was 112 miles, and then the standard marathon running race, it was never ever meant to be any other way than it was. Obviously the swimming gets the lower end and maybe that is the attraction to non swimmers that get into the event. I am not sure how they figured the Olympic distance but the swimming portion is still low compared to the others.

Frank you have it all wrong. The reason swimming is first is that any one can swim 2.5 and not have to go to the bathroom. It is much easier to go to the bathroom when you are cycling or running you just have to stop at the first bush.

Originally posted by TomH A couple of reasons. The first is the one you were after. Triathletes as a whole are not great swimmers, particularly in the sprint distance races. As you might imagine, many have a background in just one sport, mostly runners who are picking up cycling and swimming. For most of them, a 500 to 800 yard swim is more than enough of a challenge. Well, Bingo! When they swim their 800 yards and then with TI book in hand act like it was some huge feat, and like they know all there is to know about swimming but yet complain about the basics that a good coach tries to teach them because it's different then what they may have read in some book and continue to swim against the grain, they tend to look a bit ridiculous who do 3000 and 4000 yard workouts 4-6 times a week. And they fall for and buy just about every swimming related gimmick out there in hopes to shortcut a way to good technique. They tend to spend hours and hours a week biking and running, and the least abmount of time on the sport that really takes the biggest time investment (of the threee) to get good at. Ever watch that movie The Tin Cup When the doctor chick comes to her fist lesson, and has all these golf related gimmicks and gadgets that she won't let go of, but doesn't know the very basics of golf. This seems so much more prevalent in tri-swimmer then any other swimming subgroup. Also, many of them have the attitude of not really wanting to learn to swim properly, but they act like the 800 Yard swim is cutting into their biking and running, as a necessary evil.. Many of them come to us saying, I have 8 weeks before the race, I need to learn how to swim and make good time, and they think a 6-pack of lessons and a 100 yard workout once a week will get them there, cause after biking and running that's all the time they have left. I'm sure if they whined about biking or running as much as they do about the swimming, bikers and runners would make fun of them as well.

Originally posted by Peter Cruise Gee Mary,...you could get over here in a series of distance swims, yeah, that's it...oh the Atlantic, well, how about we rent a yacht, you swim behind during the day, climb aboard at night & party wildly while the Captain makes sure we stay at the same spot, then the Panama Canal, piece of cake, up the Pacific Coast & you could pick up an escort of swimmers at La Jolla & before you know it, you're at Vancouver Island with George waiting to hand you a low-fat latte at your arrival! Yeah! It could be an international fundraiser for...that's it triathlete- master swimmers understanding. That way we could fund a permanent home at John Smith's house for TI-debriefing, triathlete stroke clinics & masters swimmer thread-posters empathy enhancement. do I get to draft off the yacht? :D I'm waitin' for my latte, George! Get ready, here I come!!

Originally posted by geochuck So they only swim freestyle and don't want to swim breaststroke, backstroke or fly. I am with them I refuse to swim breaststroke and backstroke, I don't mind a little fly. They read a book and think they are swimmers but I have yet to meet a tri-person who does not listen when I work on their strokes. I went to the local masters club and the workouts comprised entirely of stuff that I did not want to do, Breaststroke, breaststroke drills backstroke, backstroke drills, buterfly drills freestyle drills no actual freesyle. I remember my freestyle times magically improving when I started trying to get good at all four strokes, rather than just one. It's pretty amazing how some breaststroke or backstroke or fly can give you a different perspective on , among many other thingsm your balance in water (pay attention here leg sinkers).

Conniekat8 Are you sure it was the four strokes or just that you spent more time in the water.

Connie, your post hit the mark. I teach an advanced adult swimming class where I work. This last session I had a triathlete who came in and signed up for both session (MW and TTh), said he could only do free because of various injuries, but wanted significant improvement for an event 2 weeks hence. He had been putting in lots of yards, but his stroke was such that he was killing his shoulders (e.g., lots of crossing over, no hip rotation). Kick was poor. Used a pull bouy ALL the time. Since he wasn't the only one in the class I did teach the other strokes, and turns, and I somehow managed to get him to play along. Wouldn't let him use a pull buoy unless I had everyone using one. He said he went from 10x100 on 1:45 to 10x100 on 1:30 in the 2 weeks (doesn't that sound like a triathlete). I could see a big improvement, he was willing to change, and despite the few problems at the beginning, he let me teach (sometimes difficult for a Caltech professor to do, which he is). Better get going, still have to eat, get stuff together, and drive down to Mission Viejo for my last 50.