Swimming anxiety!! - Triathlon Week

dorothy · 07-20-2005, 05:53 PM

Hi, I'm going to swim in a sprint triathlon relay in August. Been swimming since the wintertime, so I feel confident in my endurance...don't think, anyone is ever satisfied about their speed, though, or we wouldn't always be trying to better ourselves, right?
My concern is that two years ago, the water level was shallow in the lake, and people would run and take "dolphin dives" for the entire swim portion of the triathlon. Last year, it was deep and swimming had to be done. Myself, being short, I have no option but to swim, plus that's why i've been training. I'm not a runner!! What I want to know is how do I psyche myself up to swim the race if I am surrounded by people running through the water??

julian · 07-23-2005, 02:49 AM

If your worried about people running in the water I wouldn't bother they are not doing themselves any favours, i'd say they were cheating.
Just swim/bike and run your own race and if you get a chance splash them!
Good luck with the sprint.

Cheers
Julian.

Celia · 07-23-2005, 07:35 PM

Just curious, but not sure what is meant by "dolphin dives" ? Secondly if someone is constantly going from a standing position to diving forward I think a steady swimmer would have an advantage.

dorothy · 07-24-2005, 06:24 PM

Julian, thanks for the encouragement!
Cecelia, what the other athletes were doing would be running for about three steps and then taking dives under the water. Maybe you are right that a steady swimmer would have an advantage. I never thought of it that way; I was just thinking that swimming was definitely more difficult. Thanks!