The swimming thread

surface said:
In your opinion, what would be the minimum length of the pool required for it to give a lap feeling? 7 meter?
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I have a 9m pool and it still feels too small, but my length should also be taken into account. 7 might be a little short but if you are only going to swim freestyle then I would look into some type of harness around your body hooked to a anchor point against a wall or on the ground next to the pool.

I would say an anchor point higher up against a wall would be better and the rope will not interfere with your kicking.
 
The_Mowgs said:
I have a 9m pool and it still feels too small, but my length should also be taken into account. 7 might be a little short but if you are only going to swim freestyle then I would look into some type of harness around your body hooked to a anchor point against a wall or on the ground next to the pool.

I would say an anchor point higher up against a wall would be better and the rope will not interfere with your kicking.
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heh. Been checking YT and stuff. Sounds interesting concept. Link

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APoc184 said:
So after checking out one or two swim belts in shops I decided to just DIY it. Not going to pay R400+ for something that simple.

Simply got some bungee cord from Builders. Put an eye bolt up high on the lapa. Carabiner clips on both ends of the bungee cord. One on eye bolt and other you just loop around your waist and clip in.

Made two for less than R200. One for myself and one for the daughter who wants to make the swim team this year.

She put in a proper swim this morning and it works like a bomb.

I'm yet to try it out myself because I'm battling a bit of a cold. But sure it will be perfect.

Only complaint from her was that the loop around with the bungee cord causes some skin irritation/chafing after a while.

I'll test it out in this week but easy fix should be using one of my nylon belts and just clipping the carabiner onto that.
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Did you manage to test this for yourself? And what size circular pool you have? 3.66 one? Thanks.
 
surface said:
Did you manage to test this for yourself? And what size circular pool you have? 3.66 one? Thanks.
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Hi.

Yes I have used it myself numerous times now. Works perfectly. Just too fat and lazy at the moment :ROFL:

I actually had to shorten the bungee cord on mine because it stretched quite a bit and I ended up swimming in the shallower end of the pool.

We have a large kidney shaped swimming pool almost 10m in length.

I ended up fixing the eye bolt into one of the trees directly over the deep end. When it was attached to the lapa pole I was swimming more at an angle than in the length of the pool.

See pic attached. My eye bolt is attached to the tree right at the back of the yard. About 1.5m from ground level. So running at a nice angle when the belt is attached to my waist.

When the bungee cord was too long I ended up swimming almost to the steps with all the stretch. Now with it much shorter I get about halfway when swimming at a decent pace. Nice thing is when you are tired you just stop and the bungee simply pulls me back to the side of the deep end where I take a breather and go again when ready.


Screenshot_2022-02-08-14-59-22-121_com.mcu.reolink.jpg
 
Enrolled in a weekend swim class for a month or two. As per trainer, my breast stroke style is half decent and must be because that is the only stroke I learnt as a kid. Other strokes - I was just winging it. :) Now for the big boys club for learning free style prop-ah-ly.

Hoping to join nearest gym for swim practice.
 
surface said:
Enrolled in a weekend swim class for a month or two. As per trainer, my breast stroke style is half decent and must be because that is the only stroke I learnt as a kid. Other strokes - I was just winging it. :) Now for the big boys club for learning free style prop-ah-ly.

Hoping to join nearest gym for swim practice.
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Concur. Breast Strokes are best.
 
surface said:
Enrolled in a weekend swim class for a month or two. As per trainer, my breast stroke style is half decent and must be because that is the only stroke I learnt as a kid. Other strokes - I was just winging it. :) Now for the big boys club for learning free style prop-ah-ly.

Hoping to join nearest gym for swim practice.
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No doggy style experience?
 
For those who are interested, the 2022 Midmar Mile occurred the weekend from 11 to 13 February and the winning time was a fast 18:16 for a 1600m.

Source
 
To guys with decent sized length pools, how do you not swim regularly? I swam almost after a gap of 10 years last weekend and I can't wait for Saturday. :)
 
I really find it hard to maintain stamina while swimming free style, a stroke I learned a month ago. I suspect it is breathing technique issue as on land I am fine with HIIT static cycling sessions that are 30/40 minutes.

Any ideas how to improve apart from "To improve X, you need to do X" ? Will google later of course.
 
surface said:
I really find it hard to maintain stamina while swimming free style, a stroke I learned a month ago. I suspect it is breathing technique issue as on land I am fine with HIIT static cycling sessions that are 30/40 minutes.

Any ideas how to improve apart from "To improve X, you need to do X" ? Will google later of course.
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Swimming will be totally different fitness to dryland, unfortunately you will be starting from scratch :)
Each stroke I would say is different fitness also

Do you breath every 2 strokes (same side breathing)?
3 stroke breathing allows me enough time to get all/most of the air out of my lungs before breathing in, otherwise you are keeping carbon dioxide in your lungs

The first few lengths you almost have to force this, then you get into a rhythm, stopping and starting wont be very efficient
 
Leno said:
Swimming will be totally different fitness to dryland, unfortunately you will be starting from scratch :)
Each stroke I would say is different fitness also
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Thanks, I was afraid of this answer. :) I suppose more time and effort in water then.. Cool.
Do you breath every 2 strokes (same side breathing)?
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Ah - same side breathing but each hand in counts as 1 stroke, right? Then, every 2 strokes. Breathe, left hand in, right hand in, Breathe.
 
surface said:
Thanks, I was afraid of this answer. :) I suppose more time and effort in water then.. Cool.

Ah - same side breathing but each hand in counts as 1 stroke, right? Then, every 2 strokes. Breathe, left hand in, right hand in, Breathe.
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Breath every 3rd stroke. Its going to take time to get swim fit but be careful for the headaches in the beginning.
 
The_Mowgs said:
Breath every 3rd stroke. Its going to take time to get swim fit but be careful for the headaches in the beginning.
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Thanks. You mean breathe alternate side then? I did come across this on YT but it was mentioned as advanced technique and not for beginners.
 
surface said:
Thanks. You mean breathe alternate side then? I did come across this on YT but it was mentioned as advanced technique and not for beginners.
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Its not really an advanced technique I would say and yes, alternate side for each breath. When I was in school I would practice 10km a day and that's where you start breathing every second stroke due to headaches and fatigue.
 
The_Mowgs said:
Its not really an advanced technique I would say and yes, alternate side for each breath. When I was in school I would practice 10km a day and that's where you start breathing every second stroke due to headaches and fatigue.
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yoh. 10km a day. Wow. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Got long way to go. I did 25 laps the other weekend and was moerse tired, hardly 625 meters with many breaks in between. LOL.
 
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