Doing 'well' in a Oly without training for swimming

I do, because the amount of time to go from 28 mins to 25 mins is huge compared to how much faster the same amount of work would make me on the bike (or run). Course, if you want to win you need to be at least in the top group within a min or so.

I'd rather spend the time and try sub 40 10k run. 

I don't really like swimming either, so I don't.

(I will in the winter)

I focus on the bike and run. I've done 4 Du's (2-2nd, 1-3rd, 1-6th)

And the swim part of the tri definitely hurts my overall time but I still do pretty well. Typically, 10th-15th overall.

I think it's different for everyone, but last year I did my first IM, and only swam 126K total for all of 2010.  For me, that was enough to comfortably swim a 1:10 at my IM, and still come out of the water fresh and with enough in the tank to bike the same pace that I did for a HIM 4 months earlier, but I attribute that more to bike training than swim training.  It sounds like you may find something similar works for you too.

I was getting bored with the swimming as well (even though its my "best" leg) - until I bought an underwater MP3 player. I don't know if you're the type that enjoys music while you train, but for me it made the time go so much faster! They're pretty cheap too (and the one I bought converts to a regular MP3 as well)

Noa

It depends on how much you think you can gain in each area.  The winner at my last Oly swam a 17:55 I think.

I have been run/bike-focused (in that order), and I am currently very run-focused and will remain so until I achieve my goals (or flame out trying).

However, I have already decided that when this run focus is over, I will dedicate myself to the swim.   Why?  Right now, the swim more than anything is holding me back.  Example:  In my last tri, I could have easily been on the podium (overall, not AG) if I was anywhere near the front pack in the swim.  As it was, I was not.  I typically finish around top 30-40% on the swim, but top 5%-2% on the bike and run.  Yes, this leave me near the top of the field by the end, but in order to take it to the next level, I need to learn to swim.

In our local 'series', I moved up to the 'open' division (purely voluntary -- anybody can be 'open' in this series, so it's not necessarily a big deal, though mostly it is faster people).  The open wave always starts first.  The result is that I swim mostly alone (no drafting), then come out of the water alone or with just a few athletes, and the bike and run are then quite lonely affairs.  I'll pick off a few people on the bike and a few more on the run, but basically I'm by myself the entire time.  It is very difficult to put in a top performance under those circumstances.  It's more like time trialing than racing.

It matters differently to different people.  For me, the swim is becoming increasingly important.

You're not alone.

Just so we're fair to OP:  He went 27:xx in his last Oly.  Not uber-fast, but not floating either.

Yes, many things can pose a threat on the swim, even to solid swimmers.  But OP is clearly a solid swimmer, and any danger he may face during a tri swim is not due to lack of ability in the swim.  He is not in the category of "danger to self and others due to lack of ability".

This is not a comment on the other thread, and specifically not on why (or whether) the swim is the most dangerous leg.

See this thread: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=264264&start=1

My take on it: Do at least enough OWS training so you don't die.

MArk B.

^^ This.

As others said, it depends on what you mean by 'well'. In my case, I know that the weakness of my swim makes a big difference to my race experience, pretty much in the same way that Michael describes. My Oly swim splits have been ~28, so no disaster, but also minutes behind the leaders. And if the race is non-wetsuit, then I'm even further behind the good swimmers. My bike is rather stronger, and I generally put in one of the faster run legs in my AG. But I never get to feel like I'm really racing against others, because I'm always working my way through the field after leaving the leaders behind on the swim. I never have the same competitive experience that I would have in an open running event, because my 3 events are so imbalanced. I have decided that if I want to be competitive in tris, then I have to improve my swim to the point where I'm racing against my competitors from the beginning, and not simply doing a time-trial and then looking at the results sheet afterwards to find out who else was out there.

A good thing about the Oly distance is that swim improvements are reasonably well rewarded.