Best Swimming Style - Triathlon Week

Jburchill · 03-28-2008, 07:26 AM

Hello, I am going to be entering my first triathalon. The race I'm in is only 450 yards. I've been swimming in the college pool and it took my 15 minutes to do the first time. The second time it only took me 9 minutes. The first time i did it I used a lot of the front crawl style and that really tired me out. The second time i did more side strokes and breast strokes and I cut my time down and wasn't as tired.

For competition what is the best to do? To conserver energy and have a fast time?

sfricks · 03-28-2008, 01:03 PM

The front crawl is by far the fastest way to swim any distance. It may take some time to become efficient but you'll appreciate the advantage. If your race is soon however, get through it whichever way works best for you. Good luck!

Jburchill · 03-28-2008, 02:32 PM

thanks. i'll keep practicing the front crawl. when doing the front crawl you want to kick as less as possible right? To save your legs for biking and running...right?

tortasinqueso · 03-28-2008, 05:57 PM

If your stroke with your arms is strong, then you can back off with your legs a bit. You don't want to sacrifice time too much though, especially since it's only a 450.

sfricks · 03-29-2008, 05:06 AM

Most triathletes use a simple 1-2 kick rather than a full flutter kick. The idea behind this is to keep the body as horizontal as possible on the swim while preserving the legs for the bike and run.

I've heard from other athletes that they kick hard in the last 100 meters to get blood flowing in their legs before they have to stand. I haven't ever had a problem with this, even in Ironman distance swims.

tortasinqueso · 03-29-2008, 09:37 AM

I joked with my mom telling her I was going to swim our .5 mile using fly. LOL!

Yeah right! I can barely do a 25 of that anymore, can't believe I used to swim the 100 fly and 200 im in high school.