Swimmers...goals?

[thebulldog]

I finished eight weeks of swim class last night (level 3) and did 1/2 mile. I can not flip turn and need to stop and take a very short pause in between laps to catch my breath but i am so much better than before. I need to work on breathing correctly and generally practice strokes.

When I was new to running, I knew finishing a 5k was a good goal. What are some good basic goals for a newbie swimmer? I think at this point I want to focus on endurance and strokes more than speed and time. I realize it might be different for everyone but I am curious where to start.

I want to do a tri at some point but that is far down the line as i have no biking skills at this point.

i be typing from me phone. typos and grammer dont count.

[al320]

For me, my swim goals arent distance or speed related, since, unlike running i dont compete as much (though id like to do a 1.2 and/or 2.4 next year).

My goals:
Improve my shit flip turns
Now that i get fly, get better at it
continue to improve form and comfort level with other non-free strokes
learn to dive
get faster at free

So, you know, just be a better swimmer

[ktzmoh]

I'm just starting out too. I take lessons twice a week and swim on my own once a week. It sounds like I'm right about where you are - I can't flip turn and I just reached my initial goal of swimming 750m.

This Fall, my goal is to swim a mile. I am following this plan given to me by mrs.jacinthe.

After that, I'm going to really push out on my comfort zone and try an open water swim. It will be my first time in the open water since a terrifying and intense asthma attack years ago. Since then I've really been afraid of swimming and open water in particular, but I'm working on it

[mrs.jacinthe]

I need to lose some weight and gain some speed. I'm also working on my cold tolerance - I'm going back to the 24-hour swim relay this year and I want to be able to do more than one lap at a time. There's also a cold-water swim in December I'm considering.

[keweenawlove]

When I first started, I wanted to do a tri that had a half mile swim so for each swim, I had a goal to try and make it farther than my last swim. When I could do that half mile, I'd time a half mile to get it as fast as I could. I'm sure there's a more structured way to do it but it worked for me.

My confession is I still can't flip turn.

[chw57]

I haven't done a stand-alone open water swim yet but that's something I hope to do in the future!

[chw57]

Oct 23, 2014 11:32:13 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

I need to lose some weight and gain some speed. I'm also working on my cold tolerance - I'm going back to the 24-hour swim relay this year and I want to be able to do more than one lap at a time. There's also a cold-water swim in December I'm considering.

You are so impressive! I am a total cold water wimp

[mrs.jacinthe]

Gee, look at all these OWS newbies! We should do an OWS GTG sometime next year! (Vegas, anyone?)

[mrs.jacinthe]

Oct 23, 2014 13:18:48 GMT -5 chw57 said:

Oct 23, 2014 11:32:13 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

I need to lose some weight and gain some speed. I'm also working on my cold tolerance - I'm going back to the 24-hour swim relay this year and I want to be able to do more than one lap at a time. There's also a cold-water swim in December I'm considering.

You are so impressive! I am a total cold water wimp

LOL.  It sucks to start out, that's for sure.  Like, it's actually physically painful at first - and I'm the biggest whiner ever about this stuff.  I'll totally get in and do it, but I need to complain vigorously about it first.  I do, however, have the added benefit of - ahem - quite a bit of extra blubber as insulation.  So there's that.

[Susie]

I confess that I don't have much in the way of goals. I go, do my yards, and get out. Swimming used to be my baby, and I'll never be that good (or put that much time into it) again. It's just cross training now. It would take too much work to get materially faster than I am now, and I can maintain my current level pretty easily. But I have been swimming competitively for about 25 years, so I'm in a different situation than most. I did a 10k OWS this summer, and that was longer than I think I'll do again until/unless I am more into training!

[al320]

Oct 23, 2014 13:44:30 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

Gee, look at all these OWS newbies! We should do an OWS GTG sometime next year! (Vegas, anyone?)

I dream about the st kitts/nevis swim you posted about a few weeks ago!

[mrs.jacinthe]

Oct 23, 2014 15:06:35 GMT -5 al320 said:

Oct 23, 2014 13:44:30 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

Gee, look at all these OWS newbies! We should do an OWS GTG sometime next year! (Vegas, anyone?)

I dream about the st kitts/nevis swim you posted about a few weeks ago!

Well, then.  Also worth consideration.  

[niq]

I am mostly new to OWS. My goal is to swim straighter.

But like Susie I spent a long time (10 years) as a competitive pool swimmer, so I'm already there on the usual "get better".

[mrs.jacinthe]

Also, thebulldog - I totally forgot to answer your actual question. LOL

Good goals for now are to get the strokes consistently correct and then work on adding distance/time/speedwork/etc. Form and style is SO important in swimming - I can't even tell you how many times I've watched a new-ish swimmer churning the water and getting relatively nowhere. Swim smarter, not harder. Additionally, consistent practice of poor form can result in significant repetitive motion injuries if you're using the wrong muscle group(s).

Furthermore, flip/tumble turns are important skills, but they're not the be-all and end-all. It may behoove you to improve your open turns first and get the explosive speed off the wall (from the push) down before you really crack down on perfecting the flip turn. A bad flip turn with a weak push/poor streamline can actually slow you down WAY more than a good open turn. I do open turns in the pool (for a variety of reasons) and I can get off the wall FASTER than the dude in the next lane who flip turns poorly.

[awkwardpenguin]

I'm a swim newbie, so my goal is to go farther with each workout. My first big goal was 500m without stopping (that was my event in high school) and now my goal is a half mile. I can do a flip turn but prefer open turns because my pool is crowded and I have more control.

[katinthehat]

Like MrsJ said, I think flip turns are overrated if you aren't doing competitive pool swimming. If your main goal is tri swimming, focus on form and distance and being comfortable in open water before something like a flip turn.

The link that ktzmoh posted is a great training plan

[memenee]

So many newbie swimmers here I love it!

Do any of the newbs care to share how they started? Do I just jump in and start swimming or is there something more technical to just starting out.

I swam a few laps here and there at the Y a few years ago, but that's about it.

Any and all suggestions welcome! TIA!

[katinthehat]

Oct 26, 2014 9:18:19 GMT -5 memenee said:

So many newbie swimmers here I love it!

Do any of the newbs care to share how they started? Do I just jump in and start swimming or is there something more technical to just starting out.

I swam a few laps here and there at the Y a few years ago, but that's about it.

Any and all suggestions welcome! TIA!

Literally, jump in!  If you're the kind of person that likes to follow a plan, the Ruth K plans linked to above are great beginner plans.  Swimming is pretty technical though so it definitely doesn't hurt to try to find a coach or a group to do some lessons with to learn proper technique.

[memenee]

Oct 27, 2014 8:47:11 GMT -5 katinthehat said:

Oct 26, 2014 9:18:19 GMT -5 memenee said:

So many newbie swimmers here I love it!

Do any of the newbs care to share how they started? Do I just jump in and start swimming or is there something more technical to just starting out.

I swam a few laps here and there at the Y a few years ago, but that's about it.

Any and all suggestions welcome! TIA!

Literally, jump in!  If you're the kind of person that likes to follow a plan, the Ruth K plans linked to above are great beginner plans.  Swimming is pretty technical though so it definitely doesn't hurt to try to find a coach or a group to do some lessons with to learn proper technique.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I'm going to jump back in this weekend! Looking forward to it!