How much do triathlete need to learn about swimming?
Former Member
I do not mean this as a heartless criticism of triathletes. I actually enjoy the sport. But many of them start doing triathlons with almost no knowledge or experience in swimming. Here are a couple of choice comments to the thread I linked below. Thank goodness I knew how to ride a bike and run before I started doing tris - but not well. Give them credit for taking it on, but I do think they should learn to swim before entering one.
"The swim is short ( 150 yards ), and I can make it..not without stopping a couple of times at the end of the pool."
"A lot of pool sprints are so newbie friendly that they let you get through the water any way you can. I have seen people water walk the 300 meters in a pool swim in my area."
"My wife did an indoor tri a few months ago and I think 1/4 of the people walked the swim."
I recommended that the person do breaststroke.
www.beginnertriathlete.com/.../thread-view.asp
Parents
Former Member
If they are part of the 2% that really want to take their competition to the next level, the answer is "quite a lot."
You might be surprised to find that there a good number of MOP & BOP that take it very seriously. Even the old farts like me train & race so hard we are completely blown at the end of the race. I joke about going for a nice bike ride and a bit of a jog after the swim, but I can assure you that racing the swim is easy part. I always had to spend the rest of the race trying hold my place. It takes a lot of mental toughness to continue to push the pain limit as people pass you. Thankfully, the field in my AG is relatively small.
If they are part of the 2% that really want to take their competition to the next level, the answer is "quite a lot."
You might be surprised to find that there a good number of MOP & BOP that take it very seriously. Even the old farts like me train & race so hard we are completely blown at the end of the race. I joke about going for a nice bike ride and a bit of a jog after the swim, but I can assure you that racing the swim is easy part. I always had to spend the rest of the race trying hold my place. It takes a lot of mental toughness to continue to push the pain limit as people pass you. Thankfully, the field in my AG is relatively small.
