Triathletes

.... I would love to learn Fly, but can't find a coach in Atlanta.... i taught myself fly. took some time, but it was worth the effort. mostly read stuff online for instruction, and did a lot of analysis and study. i've gotten enough compliments that i know i'm doing it mostly correct. i probably need to update this info, but a lot of what i learned about fly is currently summarized on this page: kb4u.net/.../fly.html again, this is just my take on the subject, and should not be considered gospel. i believe the swim.ee vids are no longer available, but i have copies and will e-mail them to you if you want them. most of the really useful "links" still work. hth

Fly - easy. Just do two arm freestlyle using the keyhole stroke and hold your legs together and let them go up and down 2 x for each full arm cycle.

.... As to magazines, that's a strange comment. It's about advertising. I can take a non swimmer and they are good to go for $40. $40 won't even buy you a pedal or a half pair of decent running shoes.... that may be true for initial equipment, but i believe swimming is a rich persons sport. everywhere i've lived so far i was not able to get regular (annual) access to a decent pool for less than $60/mo. if i wanted to swim in coached sessions then my monthly cost immediately doubles. once you get past the equipment purchase (a years swimming fees should take care of that nicely) for running and biking all you have to do is step outside your front door and you are ready to go (in most cases anyway). if you consider the environmental impact of all the chemicals and energy used to maintain pools (especially in heating the water and environmentally controlling indoor pool areas) then the cost of swimming goes through the roof compared to running and biking. swimming may look inexpensive at first, but i believe it to be very costly.

Aha! Galloswimming! I knew I had brought something over from my running days. Not into pool swimming, but into Open Water swimming. Every so often, to get your bearings and breath back, do that ever easy style, the ***...for anyone who doesn't swim the evil style on purpose, who just does it as part of the I.M., then when you go to ***, it's rest time. I guess the race walker, or power walker would say that walking is hard to do, but it is the way we runners take a break, as we swimmers take a break when do the *** style....billy (recently even entered a 50 *** to know how it felt) fanstone

As of tomorrow, I will be swimming with a group of triathletes in a lake here in Texas 3xweek. September is Roatan's hottest month and I had to get outta there. So far from emails, they are eager for someone to work with them in their swimming portion of the tri. I just to hope to contribute if they need me to regarding technique. It will be my pleasure. Like they say in the triathlete world: one Swims for Show but Runs for the Money.

He's called Mr. Freestyle. It's not a compliment. Ouch. I fall into that same classification quite often. :mooning:

I too enjoy swimming my own workouts most of the time. When I do swim with the senior team the coach and I have an understanding that I will modify the workout to suit me..and everybody is happy. Of course, I rarely have to share a lane and circle swimming is even more rare so timing of intervals is practically a non-issue.

There was actually an article in the NYT a few weeks back (I'm pretty sure it was NYT) that talked about how the custom bike industry is going gangbusters with folks spending $20K+ on bikes. I could swim in FSPROs for life for that. Heck, for $20K, we could even get Stud a backstroke lesson or two. Get yourself a haircut while you're at it. ;) But to compete in a Triathlon do you really need thousands of dollars in cycling gear? I am inclined to think that it is similar to swimming. Throwing money at high end equipment will only get you so far. Lance Armstrong on a Sears Ten Speed versus the average Joe on a 10 grand Trek...you know the story.

BTW: does anyone other than the swimmers waiting to swim and parents even watch swimming? Um, yes. Swimming was THE BIGGEST thing in the last Olympics, will be THE BIGGEST thing in the next Olympics. Most people with any knowledge of sports still rank Spitz's accomplishments 30+ years ago as one of the greatest feats of all time and that may soon be undone. As much as I enjoy the other two disciplines (there you go, Smiths), lets face it, anyone can run or bike, not saying they do it well. It's the swimming that is the gatekeeper to the sport, except for the 1% of us that can actually swim good and then get punked out of the water. I should start counting the number of tris that tell me "if I could only swim good, I'd be much better at tris." As far as kids go, check out kids swim meets versus kids tris, the ratio is like 100:1, if you are lucky. Oh, and triathloning is a new Olympic sport, not one of the originals. As to magazines, that's a strange comment. It's about advertising. I can take a non swimmer and they are good to go for $40. $40 won't even buy you a pedal or a half pair of decent running shoes.

Beth: You live toward Lake Lanier. But as I said earlier, swimming seems to be like gymnastics. Great for kids, but then they forget it. You live in the blessed area. I'm asking for help, I live in Mableton GA (west Cobb), someone find a coach/team within 20 miles and I'll do a 200 Fly (gauntlet thrown down). Dynamo is in Dekalb and Gwinnett counties. Rainbow Trout only have evening practices. I've called the (770) clubs they are on the other side or closed (mostly southside of Atlanta). I (like most -athletes) want to be a swimmer. I'm serious. I've been asking for help. Pony up! Where in Mableton are you? Are you near Dobbins Air Force base? If so....what about the Marietta Marlins (LINS) or Stingrays Swimming (RAYS)? Go to the Georgia USS website. These are USS teams but, they may have a Masters team also. I know of one Masters swimmer that swims with the RAYS. Its worth looking into. Good luck. I hope to see you do the 200 fly at a Masters meet! :)