I will try to be as brief as possible.
Bi-lateral breathing: I have read a lot and understand that it may be hard to only breath on oneside for many reasons, one of which is doing it over a long distance event. Presently I breath to one side, and practice going to the other on occasion. In the pool for short periods its not too difficult. In open water, escpecially in the dark water of the lake I primarily swim in here in Alaska, when I go to my non-dominant side I start to get a vertigo feeling and sometimes get sick to my stomach. I am getting enough air on either side, but this effect happens often. I find I can spot and navigate quite well breathing on one side, and when needed, not breathing but spotting on the opposite side. I have read that people that breath on one side alot, often do not swim straight and/or do not get good rotation in their body for balanced strokes. I seem to go straight quite well and feel pretty balanced when swimming.
I have lofty goals and intend to attend a TI course to help my skills. I plan to attempt a 8 plus mile open water swim summer of 2011 here in Alaska around an island and in the next couple of years hope to participate in other marathon swim events, even the coveted Catalina channel, English Channel, and Manhatten Island some day.
I am not a bragging person, just a fairly new open water swimmer looking for some encouragement and guidance.
I am 45, have been actively lap and/or open water swimming for 10 months. I average 30 to 35,000 yards a week and I know just doing a lot of yards is not the answer, but I have watched TI videos and spend all my time in the pool focusing very intently on technique. Some older folks that lap swim where I do have told me that my stroke is very clean and I create very little or no splash. Currently my lap swimming allows for 1.5 hours and I typically do 5000 yards. I have done 3 hours open water without much trouble. Am I on the right track? What advice can someone who is into marathon distance swimming give me to help me meet my goal?
Thank you
Former Member
It is good to be able to breathe on either side, I am not in favor of bilateral breathing during a long distance swim, but that is me. I do like to switch breathing sides and found that it is almost like taking a rest to switch sides for a while.
I will try to be as brief as possible.
Bi-lateral breathing: I have read a lot and understand that it may be hard to only breath on oneside for many reasons, one of which is doing it over a long distance event. Presently I breath to one side, and practice going to the other on occasion. In the pool for short periods its not too difficult. In open water, escpecially in the dark water of the lake I primarily swim in here in Alaska, when I go to my non-dominant side I start to get a vertigo feeling and sometimes get sick to my stomach. I am getting enough air on either side, but this effect happens often. I find I can spot and navigate quite well breathing on one side, and when needed, not breathing but spotting on the opposite side. I have read that people that breath on one side alot, often do not swim straight and/or do not get good rotation in their body for balanced strokes. I seem to go straight quite well and feel pretty balanced when swimming.
I have lofty goals and intend to attend a TI course to help my skills. I plan to attempt a 8 plus mile open water swim summer of 2011 here in Alaska around an island and in the next couple of years hope to participate in other marathon swim events, even the coveted Catalina channel, English Channel, and Manhatten Island some day.
I am not a bragging person, just a fairly new open water swimmer looking for some encouragement and guidance.
I am 45, have been actively lap and/or open water swimming for 10 months. I average 30 to 35,000 yards a week and I know just doing a lot of yards is not the answer, but I have watched TI videos and spend all my time in the pool focusing very intently on technique. Some older folks that lap swim where I do have told me that my stroke is very clean and I create very little or no splash. Currently my lap swimming allows for 1.5 hours and I typically do 5000 yards. I have done 3 hours open water without much trouble. Am I on the right track? What advice can someone who is into marathon distance swimming give me to help me meet my goal?
Thank you
Thank you for the insight.
Other than slowly continuing to build long distance endurance, I need advice on building more speed. I have read so much about the TI method and swimming very smoothly, efficiently, relaxed. I feel I am progressing in those areas every day. But, what else will contribute to improving my speed? I am working in decreasing strokes per lap and increasing my stroke length. Are those the keys to swimming faster in a long distance event? I currently average around 15-16 strokes per length, in a 25 yard pool.
Thanks
Reduce your swim golf score by taking less strokes and also reduce your time, by swimming 50s.
16 strokes X2 = 32 lower this amount of strokes by 2 = 30
swim 50 in 40 seconds you combine the 2=72 lower time for 50 by 4 = makes 66 your score.
I have in the past done 10 or 11 strokes for 25 meters. but I always tried to keep my swim time as close to 30 seconds for a 50 as I could, never did.
