(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best swimming equipment

I'm not a triathlete (yet!), but I am a nationally ranked college swimmer. If you have 57 days, that gives you just under two months of swimming. I don't know how you're currently training for the swimming piece, could you elaborate?

Some of this advice probably won't be helpful in two months, but I hope it can help you in the long term.

(If this comes across as too basic, I sincerely apologize. I just don't know your swimming experience).

Swimming needs to come from all parts of your body. Running and cycling use your legs, but swimming will need to focus on a bunch of different muscles, as I'm sure you already know.

The forumla for speed in swimming is (distance per cycle) x (tempo). The farther you go with each stroke and the faster you take them will determine how fast you go. We'll focus on the first half of the equation first.

The front crawl emphasizes a six beat kick per one cycle. A cycle is two arm strokes. So every you pull your left arm and then your right arm, you need to have kicked six times (optimally). Some high quality swimmers can use a four-beat kick, but let's not do that. To raise your distance-per-cycle (DPC) you're going to have to work on your kicking and your arm strength. As I'm sure you know, the swimming kick is a straight leg press from the hip. Keep your core engaged and tight throughout the entire kick. Swimming is completely centered around the core and the kick. If you want to be a successful swimmer, you need to have a strong core. This will keep the muscular connection between each cycle, meaning you won't lose energy as you recover your arms.

To strengthen your core:

Grab a med ball of 8-12 pounds. Do each exercise for 50 seconds on, 10 off for 2-4 (whatever you're comfortable with) rounds.

Russian Twists w/ ball

Flutter kick toss ups (lay on your back, kick your legs in a flutter kick pattern, and toss the med ball up vertically from your chest)

Bikes w/o ball

Plank on front

Plank on left and right sides, holding ball in off arms

Seated rows w/o ball

Then do leg lifts. Lift to 6in off the ground, hold for 20 seconds, Then lift to 90 degrees, break for five, back to 6in to hold for twenty. Repeat.

Crunches w/o ball

Full sit ups w/ ball.

Bridges w/ ball (basically a sit-up where you lift the ball over your head)

We will do these exercises before every swim practice without fail. They suck, I know, but your six-pack abs will thank you for it.

Now kick-ass abs are great, but how do they help swimming? Swimming is primarily a core-driven sport, which is something a lot of people don't realize. You need to have a tense core (my coach likes to say engaged) through the entire swim. You cannot falter in this. The tense core allows you to rotate your hips on each arm pull (which you absolutely should be doing!) As your arm enters the water, your corresponding hip should be down towards the bottom of the pool/lake/whatever. To elaborate: say your right arm is entering the water above your head. At that same moment, your right hip should be down towards the bottom. As your right arm pulls down along your body, you need to snap your hips. This will involve pushing your left hip down towards the bottom as your left arm begins to enter. How does one do this? Well with an engaged core of course!!

Now this is all a lot, I know. But bear with me. If I'm rambling, tell me, and I can give some more succinct advice!

You'll need to strengthen your legs and your arms. Buy yourself a kickboard and a pull bouy. (I don't know where you're training, but for simplicity's sake, I'm going to assume it's a 25 meter pool). You'll want to use that gear by itself in order to strengthen your individual body parts. Paddles will help, but are certainly optional.

Now two months certainly isn't long enough for you to become Phelps, but you can greatly improve! I'm going to assume that a 150 meter distance is difficult for you. Well, you're going to have to get over that obstacle simply by swimming more. I don't know how else to do. I know that swimming at times just sucks, but I promise you that it does get easier!!


Try this: (If this is too hard, tell me)

(focus on good technique and feeling the water)

3x50 m swim on 2:00.

2x25 m swim on :45 (try to swim these faster, work up your aerobic base. You should not be at an anaerobic pace)

2:00 break to grab your kickboard and grab some water.

3x25 m kick on 1:30 (focus on keeping your toes pointed, your core engaged, and make sure you're kicking from the hips)

1x50m swim on 2:00. (focus on adding what you worked on during the kick back into the swim)

2:00 break to grab your bouy (optional: and paddles)

3x25 m pull on 1:15 (focus on high elbows, smooth entry of your hands, and good hip rotation! )

1x100 m swim on 3:00 (add everything together)

1x200 m swim on 6:00 (Just keep your head down, and push through this. It'll be over soon)

2:00 break.

(Go back to the top and repeat all of that three times, or as many as you're comfortable with).

1x50 m swim ALL OUT on no interval. Just finish and be breathing hard.

2x50 m swim on 2:00 to warm down.


Repeat all of this at least three times a week. Feel free to adjust the intervals to fit your ability level. If you give me more information on what you can do, I can taylor this more accurately to you.

Now that will help your arm and leg strength, and get you more comfortable with swimming for longer distances. If there is something you don't like tell me, and I can work with it.

Now there's one more thing you should get to address the second half of the swimming equation. You should pick up a tempo trainer. It'll beep on an interval. You should be breathing on every third arm pull, and you should be taking roughly 1.3-1.5 seconds per cycle. Set the beep to that time, and just swim with it in. Wear a cap, and let it beep over and over. It's terrible, I hate them, but they work and that's what makes them good. You can time your pulls with them, time your kicks with them, whatever. But the main point is to get consistent . You need to maintain a constant tempo throughout the swim. As you get better and stronger, you can increase this tempo. I'm a short distance sprinter, and I pull at about .9-1.1. You shouldn't be that fast, it'll only serve to tire you out earlier than you need to.


Alright I know that was a wall of text, and since it's one in the morning, it might be a bit difficult to sort through. I hope that it helps! Best of luck to you in your first triathlon!! If you have any more swimming questions, I probably can answer them, and I would be more than happy to help! Cheers!

I WANT TO CHECK THEM ALL OUT!! My darling is sleeping beside me. And took the earbuds. I will definitely give them a listen soon!

My favorite music truly depends on my mood and what I'm doing. I love jazz, but the cool kind, the mellow, and the hot kind, rich with sax. Not Dixieland, bleh. Fun to dance to, but I can only take so much. When I'm writing, sometimes I like classical - the robust, epic composers like Beethoven and Wagner. I don't care for the pastoral ones like Bach. The operas that I've seen, I have certainly enjoyed. When I need to be physically motivated or pumped up, the best 70's and 80's hits get me going (great for cleaning house). Katy Perry's "Roar" is similarly effective (don't judge! Also, Ke$ha's "Timber" - who'd have thought a country/hip hop crossover could even be a thing, much less that I would like it in a million years). Usually, when I hear music, I never find out who did it or what it's called. I just like it or don't. I usually do.

Green is so beautiful! Clear, pure emerald especially. I found this gorgeous swimsuit yesterday.

Lol, people used to call me "too pensive," and my mom always accused me of having an "over-active imagination." Now, I think of these traits in a positive light. I'd hate to go through life unthinkingly, just being swept here and there by circumstance and other people's desires. Lack of imagination would be death to all of the activities I love the most.

And no, just because you're the most bothered by a mess doesn't mean you should always be the one cleaning it up. Unless, of course, there is reciprocation. Like, "I agree to always keep the kitchen and living room clean if you always keep my favorite items in the fridge/cook that thing I love/take all the laundry to the laundromat every week (whatever suits everyone involved)." I have known people to seek out "neat freaks" as roomies for that quality alone, and sometimes give them a break in rent, especially if they also cook.

Hey! So first things first I want to recommend avoiding Nike. They make some great looking stuff but for how expensive it is it doesn't hold up.

If I were you I would just start with the suit and paddles. Check online first, and find a site that will ship to you and just look for their bargain suit sales. I don't mean the cheap stuff, I mean the grab-bag style sales like these from SwimOutlet, where you don't get to pick the color, just the brand. And I would stick to Speedo or Tyr (Not Nike). After that goggles are easy, I recommend Speedo Vanquishers or similar. They are comfortable for almost everyone, do well in competition, and affordable.

After that, I would hold off until you go to your first practice and see what you actually need. Most pools/teams provide kickboards(planks) and pull bouys, so then, if you need them of course, all you need to pick up are fins(zoomers?) and pull paddles. Now if you do need to buy these, I tell my team to buy short blade fins, as they don't change your kick style too much and help with mimicking kick style for your stroke. And for paddles I recommend the Finis Agility Paddles, because they are easier to put on, force correct stroke/catch, and most importantly fall off if you're swimming incorrectly. The type that have the strap over your wrist allow you to pull incorrectly. As an aside, whatever size paddles you get, get the mediums, nearly everyone is a medium.

Now more important than both of those for new swimmers, in my opinion, is a good snorkel. The hardest part of building technique is learning how to breathe correctly while learning how to rotate, where to place your arms, where to put your head and chest, how to keep your hips on top of the water. The moment you add the extra need to breathe constantly, it becomes overwhelming. So get yourself a snorkel and use that until you are good enough to make it across the pool without making mistakes, and then learn to breathe properly to the side! As for these you really can't go wrong with any of the snorkels that sit in front of your face/head.

Last but not least, unless your hair is rather long you probably don't need a cap.

All told, you can start swimming for about $40 to $50 USD, and only pick up equipment if you have too. Stick to the big swimming brands Speedo and Tyr for suit and goggles, and look at Finis for the other equipment. I'll update with links as soon as I'm off mobile!

Of course! I didn't start swimming till I was in my 40s. At first I could swim across a 25m pool and that was it. I now do 3 to 5 miles a day. If I can do it, anyone can.
Get good goggles and a swim cap (silicon not latex) and comfy one piece suit. Some swim paddles like these will help with keeping your hands in correct position for freestyle. FINIS Agility Paddles Floating Medium https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NQD7RP9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_4kAUDbCMCP9FQ

Breast stroke is great, but to mix it up a bit try learning freestyle. It's hard at first but it will really get you covering more meters quickly. If you can, get a couple private swim lessons to refine your stroke. It will be hard at first, (keep one goggle in the water when you breathe), but just keep at it. If you only do 5 laps your first time, that's ok, do 10 laps the next time.

Swimming is a pretty solitary sport, which I enjoy, but I sometimes need company. Every swimmer I have ever met has been so nice and so helpful, so reach out to them, they are full of great information!

If there is a Master's Swim club in your area, check them out, even if you are a newbie swimmer. Many clubs take any level swimmer so don't be shy.

Don't worry about being a great swimmer right off the bat. Just do a little more each time. Good luck!!!

I don't know what goggles you wear now but they do make a women's pair of vanquishers. I don't have any experience with women's goggles obviously, but the reviews look good and I'm sure that they work well. I do believe since they are women's they have a smaller socket size.

A great thing about these goggles though is that they come with interchangable nose pieces to fit the size of your nose bridge. It really is nice and this also may be the cause of your leakage. They are a little difficult to change but that's good because then you know it won't randomly pop out or something.

Before you rush out and buy these I just want you to be aware that you absolutely can over tighten your goggles. That will cause those infamous red rings and even cause some leakage. There is definitely a sweet spot for some goggles and loosening those straps may be a fix. But if that's not the case these goggles are in my opinions a great option.

I am very glad that I took the time to learn how to swim as an adult. It's great exercise. I'm quite comfortable in the water now.

>How many adults actually succeed in learning how to swim?

The same strategy applies as in achieving fitness in general, don't quit. I took 7 months of weekly classes before the instructor stopped me from signing up again and suggested Masters swimming if I wanted more practice.

>What are some goggles that I can buy to allow me to get my eyes dry?

I have purchased several pairs of prescription goggles. The View V-500 are by far the best, in terms of comfort, good fit and seal, and clarity. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007DKXFG6/

This calculator will help you choose the closest lens for your prescription. http://www.snorkel-mart.com/optical_lens_calculator.cfm

>What if I have a car accident and get caught in the water?

Being frank, the best way to avoid dying in a vehicle underwater is to drive safely. If this is a serious threat, look into underwater egress training.

Also, look at /r/swimming for more info. Good luck!

This is just a shitty advertisement for their equipment, but it's a good subject to discuss.

Former lifeguard/swim teacher here. Water wings and life vests don't promote good body position. For younger students, I always used floatie blackpacks (like this) and sometimes a noodle under their arms until they had a some confidence and relaxed. The important thing is to strap the backpack tight so it's near their lower back rather than upper back. This will encourage them to swim more horizontally, not vertically.

Honestly, 90% of swimming at that stage is confidence and relaxation. Kids are pretty buoyant on their own. If you take them to the pool on a regular basis (and make it a good experience!), they'll swim. Maybe not with good form, but they'll swim.

1. Increasing both your aerobic and lung capacity. When doing laps in freestype, take set rest intervals. 10 seconds rest after each 25m may be good to start, then string together longer distances (50m with :20). A great way to build lung capacities are touch-and-gos in the deep end - start at the wall, swim down to the bottom of the pool, touch it with your palm then swim up and touch the wall again. Do those a bunch at the end of each workout.
   
   
2. Integrate weight training, definitely. Focus on pulling movements and your core muscles. You use your abs and hips far more than most people realize in swimming.
   
   
3. Like /u/fiddlestix42, I prefer the Swedish goggles. It's important to note that you shouldn't make these too tight, since they don't have a rubber or foam gasket and can really start to hurt after long sessions. I love them.

I highly recommend these TYR Silicone Ear Plugs:
https://www.amazon.com/TYR-Silicone-Molded-Plugs-Blue/dp/B0018ZWKMW/

I used to use the SurfEars knock-offs you can find on Amazon, but they broke after just a few sessions. Someone else here recommended these TYR earplugs, and I picked them up a few weeks ago.

They are cheap, comfortable, stay in place, and don't completely block the sound. Definitely worth picking up a pair (or two).

I started wearing them last year - aside from the long term protection against surfers ear, I find I feel warmer with them in. I'll even wear them in warm water no to prevent water in my ear, which is annoying.

There are a lot of expensive ones out there but the JBL ones on amazon (or some surf shops) work great and are like 1/4 the cost

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RTKR5TZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$10. I haven't had them out in extreme conditions but they seem pretty secure. And they're not bright yellow or red.

you have to love the speedo vanquishers. i've used them since I was 10. it has three different nose piece sizes so I'm sure one will fit you. http://www.amazon.com/Speedo-Vanquisher-Mirrored-Goggle-Silver/dp/B001GFLSIQ/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?s=sports-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1457102306&sr=1-1-fkmr1&keywords=vanguisher+goggles

I love swimming, but water always gets in my nose and i get MASSIVE headaches. I'd really like this

They're pretty cheap, I'd recommend picking them up to see if they work for you (some people love them, some people hate them).

If you like them, pick up a bungee cord. They'll last a long time and when they do wear, you can just replace the cord.

I usually keep 2 normal pairs and a mirrored in my bag, plus an assortment of extra lenses that I just need to reassemble.

I think I have finally found the perfect goggles for me. I swam in two pairs of Aqua Spheres for a while and every once in a while they would leak in the pool and I am not sure why. I was pissed when they leaked during a race and I had to stop like 5 times to empty them out. I moved to Roka R1s which have a nice mirror lens but they gave me suction cup eyes and they would still leak from time to time.

After reading around reddit and other sites I decided to give the TYR nest a try. They are perfect and have never allowed a single drop of water to get close to my eyes both in the pool and in the open water. I wish they were more tinted for OWS.

It might not help in time for Saturday, but have you tried "long hair" swim caps? They're sort of oblong in the back to accommodate more hair, and I think they're way more comfortable than regular caps.

My hair is super long and thick, I braid it and then put it in a bun and use the Speedo long hair swim cap!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018ZWKMW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I swear by these. Cheaper than the docs pro plugs, stay in much better, and you can still hear (sometimes) depending on the size of your ear canal. Sometimes I have to push them up a little to get normal hearing back. But honestly, I'll trade not hearing well in the lineup with not having ten gallons of water stuck in each ear any day.

You have to keep pressure on it after you drain it, the best ssolution I have found is using a swimmers nose clip like this one

I was looking at this swim cap: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000FGZSNI/ref=aw_cr_image
The reviews are good.

I've always used the Swedish swimming goggles and have never had problems with them.

Original Swedish Goggles Monterbara (Clear) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001QY3YXE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_.faaBbSH6BRZ0

I do. Years of El Porto have gradually made my ears sensitive. I would get slammed by a wall, and nearly every time I went under, it would hurt.

I use these

They stick in the ear pretty well, they stay in in just about everything except the gnarliest sets, and they equalize appropriately if you get pushed to the bottom.

Recently I surfed in Bali without these, and was pleasantly surprised that the pain I was experiencing has gone away after a few seasons of wearing these.

I've had both the Vanquisher 1.0 and 2.0 and hate the way they leave your eyes all raccooned. They are just too tight. Not to mention they start to fog after a few weeks.

I found these on amazon and never looked back. These are so so comfortable and, literally, they have never leaked while I was doing laps. Best part, the fog protection doesn't fade.

Try it on her back hooking your fingers up just slightly to stimulate her G spot. If that doesn't work, flip over to 69 as you have been. Doesn't hurt to add super-sexy accessories either.

I actually prefer the gasketless "Swedish goggle" designs. Bonus: they're dirt cheap.

Original swedish goggle and Speedo Swedish goggle

https://www.amazon.com/Richey-Industries-Original-Swedish-Goggles/dp/B0006NW0Q8

try these and give me a review
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RTKR5TZ/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_5?smid=A1VRAAVND6X6LQ&psc=1