I am beginning to learn swimming isn't a top favorite on the activity list. Particularly where a triathlon is concerned the swim tends to be the last thing people want to do, and in fact triathletes like to get the worst bit out of the way first....which of course is the swim! Me? Nope. Swim is my favorite element of the race. I am not amazingly fast at the moment because I've not been training, but I know my technique is there and that makes me love it. Initially I couldn't even do front crawl back in 2014, but my husband taught me and now it's my strongest stroke due to hard work and good training.
I really do think that by having a good technique people would enjoy the process a lot more. If I didn't I'd just get frustrated. At my first coached swimming session the only thing I flagged up on was my speed, and that will just come with getting my fitness back. Nothing was mentioned about technique... So in celebration of having a good solid swim stroke, here are the items I use for my swim training to hopefully help you get to being a confident, strong swimmer.
Swim Cap - No they don't look attractive at all, but trust me if you swim you need something to protect your hair. Plus you don't need to worry about your hair coming out once you get warmed up.
Goggles - You can swim without goggles but if you want to progress from breast stroke to front crawl, you'll be needing these! I have had cheap pair before but trust me, invest well with goggles and it'll make training far easier!
Swimsuit - Slightly obvious! Get a good supportive one, some even have a built in sports bra and if you are worried about bikini line maintenance you purchase ones with shorts.
Paddles - These are great for helping you get your hand entrance to the water correct. They really help you flatten your hand position, making you stroke more efficient.
Pool Buoy - Is hard to start with but after a while you can really feel the benefits. It slots between your upper thighs and the idea is, when doing front crawl you keep your legs motionless but still do your arms. Your arms work harder and it keeps your body positioning right. You can introduce slight kicks if you wish
Ear Plugs - I hate water in my ears so these are always handy!
Float - This is my favorite bit at the end of the session! I use the float and do 'kicky' legs. Really helps you focus on kicking from your hip rather than your knees.
Flippers - Often use with a float as well, this is the one you can really get a good feel of how hard to kick. I love doing a flipper session sometimes just to work on how effective my kicking is when I do front crawl.
I do have days where I just go and swim to relax and I don't go to train, however I do need a good training plan to get the most out of my sessions. My advice is download one from online and celotape it to your water bottle. If you want to improve your swimming you really do need good training aids to get you there. The items above are very well used and I can't swim without using them now.
In celebration of this post, swimming and my love for swimming - I have teamed up with SimplySwim to give away a mystery swimming goody bag! Hurray! The lovely team over at SimplySwim are putting this mystery goody bag together and will send it out to the lucky winner. Fancy winning? Just enter on Rafflecopter below!
Do you swim? Are you looking to boost your training?
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