Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

Former Member — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 08:01:39 GMT

Triathletes. Yep. I pretty much only swim freestyle because (1) I am learning how to swim, (2) in pursuit of my goal of doing an Ironman some day.

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

orca1946 — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 03:03:41 GMT

Even if you are a tri person, a team & coach will still help you a lot in learning the other strokes !

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

Former Member — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:50:52 GMT

If I tell my OW swimming buddy that I swam 5000 yards in a workout, he'll ask if it was all freestyle -with the implication that if it wasn't, then somehow I didn't really swim 5000 yards. Since he's much faster than me in a our annual 4000 yard race, nothing I say changes his attitude.

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

Former Member — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:52:13 GMT

... but in swimming freestyle you only see the bottom of the pool... You mean, you've never looked underwater at that girl in the next lane? (Of course if you are a woman, then no.... or maybe? After all this is 2010).

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

Former Member — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 06:03:21 GMT

The difference between swimming freestyle and running: when you run 5000m, you can see many scenaries, but in swimming freestyle you only see the bottom of the pool. If it's another style, say backstroke, it would seem to me less boring. I remember reading that when Ian Thorpe retired he said he's glad he no longer had to see only the black lines at the pool bottom. ;)

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

Rykno — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 01:40:20 GMT

OK, in the history of Olympic athletics competition how many people have one gold medals in more than one of the following: running, hurdles, steeplechase, racewalking? not sure of the source, but didn't Gail Devers win a silver in the 100 hurdles at the world games in 92 and later that summer win gold in the 100 dash. Only to follow it up with the WR in the 100 hurdles later in 93 as well as the 100 dash. as far as swimming different strokes there are swimmers with WR in multiple strokes.

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

Former Member — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:52:06 GMT

Triathletes.

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

Former Member — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 15:54:41 GMT

Don't forget trail running, my personal favorite. I did a 90 minute amphibious trail run yesterday and it was pure enjoyment. 2700 feet of elevation gain, pouring rain, and not a human being in sight. I'm a triathlete and I can't stand the monotony of freestyle-only swimming in practice. My challenge is trying to find the time to fit in all the different types of exercise that I enjoy. Between running, biking, weights, and the 4 swim strokes (well, 3.. I hate backstroke), I have plenty of variety to keep things interesting. I can understand the sentiment of the original poster. Swimming nothing but freestyle in a pool would drive me nuts with boredom. Now open water is a different matter entirely. That never gets boring for me.

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

Former Member — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:50:29 GMT

It's also easy to get injury if you swim only one style for long term. This I don't agree with. I swim crawl in all my workouts because it's all I compete in. During my warmup though, I do about 2-3 lengths of slow backstroke to warm up the shoulders a little.

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

Former Member — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:24:30 GMT

I can go one step further. Not only do I swim front crawl during a 5,000m session every day, but I use a pullbuoy all the time. The reason is, I enjoy it.

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

orca1946 — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 11:57:40 GMT

They must not have a coach !!!! At the gym, I use different equipment !!

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

knelson — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 10:26:19 GMT

Some regulars swim it continuously for more than an hour, nothing else, day after day. Unless they are preparing for some coming race, I wonder why they don't get bored? If you think about it, swimming is somewhat unique in having different strokes. Think about runners. They don't decide to run a mile backwards every so often just so they don't get bored! So, in that sense, I don't think it's strange at all that lots of people swim freestyle exclusively.

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

Former Member — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 10:18:04 GMT

Freestyle, mostly because it's efficient. I'm not strong on the other strokes, which I should work on ... but to make the workout count I stick to freestyle. This is something I would fix if I joined a team, without coaching I'm just struggling and not getting in the yrds.

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

rtodd — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 08:49:15 GMT

Running workouts include running backwards starts plyometrics box jumps overspeed hills drills (high knees, skips, bounding, kareoke) bleachers sled racewalking?....no. from my perspective, there are alot of things that go into running and a fair amount of a workout is things other than straight running. When I started swimming, I figured freestyle was all I was interested in. I found out the other strokes would make me a better freestyler. I thought of the other strokes as drills that taught skulling and feeling the water which help in freestyle. Just like running, there is alot that goes into training freestyle.

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

That Guy — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 04:28:05 GMT

OK, in the history of Olympic athletics competition how many people have one gold medals in more than one of the following: running, hurdles, steeplechase, racewalking? That question makes my brain hurt.

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

knelson — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 04:12:35 GMT

Hurdles. Steeplechase. Racewalking. OK, in the history of Olympic athletics competition how many people have won gold medals in more than one of the following: running, hurdles, steeplechase, racewalking?

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

That Guy — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 04:06:11 GMT

If you think about it, swimming is somewhat unique in having different strokes. Think about runners. They don't decide to run a mile backwards every so often just so they don't get bored! So, in that sense, I don't think it's strange at all that lots of people swim freestyle exclusively. Hurdles. Steeplechase. Racewalking.

RE: Who swim only freestyle at every workout?

jaadams1 — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 02:53:27 GMT