Triathletes

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. Warm ups were breaststroke drills. The coach at the club was a Canadian breaststroke champion, needless to say I will not go back to swim with the Masters club. I did forget to tell you that I just moved to this new town. My next step is to go to the city hall and try to rent the pool for 3 hrs a week and set up pool time to teach freestyle swimming to Master swimmers and Triathletes who want to be able to swim freestyle.

Originally posted by geochuck My next step is to go to the city hall and try to rent the pool for 3 hrs a week and set up pool time to teach freestyle swimming to Master swimmers and Triathletes who want to be able to swim freestyle. I'd come! The commute is just a liiiiiitttttllllle toooooo far, but it's tempting! ;)

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.

And after having the latte with me it is just a short swim to Nanaimo and you can have an afternoon book reading with Peter.

Originally posted by geochuck Conniekat8 Are you sure it was the four strokes or just that you spent more time in the water. I'm very sure. I didn't spend any more time in the water. I used to do freestyle when coach called for other strokes, just because I didn't know them at the time. As I stareted to learn them and do them more, instead of substituting those laps with freestyle, I found myself progressing faster - in freestyle. Seems like it helped balance my body, and hit some of the muscles from different angles and improve my overall strength... which in turn helped my freestyle too. I had shared that observation with my coach after I started noticing it, and he agreed, and commented, that's the way it;s supposed to work. Even though on the surface they look different, there are a lot of small components that are shared among the strokes, that benefit from hitting them from a different angle. Gives you different areas of strength, and it gives you a different perspective as far as having the feel for the water.

Originally posted by geochuck We get faster just by swimming it really does not matter how many of the four strokes we swim if I get in the pool and swim dog paddle every day my crawl will get faster, not because of swimming dog paddle but because time in water adds to your swimming ability. As long as you swim dog paddle correctly and streamline your dog paddle. That's simply just your opinion and not true at all. Think of four strokes as cross training, if you will. Benefits of cross training have been proven long time ago. For example, fly and *** stroke (short axis strokes) will improve your core body strength much faster than just freestyle will, as it targes some of those muscles harder. In turn, that gained strenght helps you with freestyle. *** stroke and fly are also great for improving one;s sense of rythm, which is also imprtan in freestyle. Backstroke, especially the drills will help people strengthen the small shoulder muscles and rotator cuff instability, also it will improve your long axis balance in water, and give you a better feel for leg flotation, which in turn also benefits your freestyle. The list of mutual benefits goes on and on. Saying that practicing all four strokes doesn't improve your freestyle too is doing a great deal of disservice to those who are trying to improve.

Your perception is your realty... I agree with Geochuck but if iit works for you keep doing it... I does'nt work for me

I prefer not to be called a liar, (not your words), Connie but I know if you swim lots and are consistent you will get better. Even if your stoke sucks. Hey any time in the water doing any stroke improves your core strength. I have twenty land drills that will improve your core strength. I can get a video exercise program that will improve my core strength, then I wont have to swim to get faster.

We get faster just by swimming it really does not matter how many of the four strokes we swim if I get in the pool and swim dog paddle every day my crawl will get faster, not because of swimming dog paddle but because time in water adds to your swimming ability. As long as you swim dog paddle correctly and streamline your dog paddle.

Originally posted by geochuck We get faster just by swimming it really does not matter how many of the four strokes we swim if I get in the pool and swim dog paddle every day my crawl will get faster, not because of swimming dog paddle but because time in water adds to your swimming ability. As long as you swim dog paddle correctly and streamline your dog paddle. This is interesting. All this whining about triathletes in this thread and yet I can get better advice on swimming than this on the triathlon forums! :D