Swimming, very tough to learn.

Welcome!  I know it seems like you won't learn, but it will happen!  Take it from someone who knows how to swim, and has been swimming her whole life.  

When I decided to do my first tri, I kept thinking, "Oh piece of cake, I swim in open water all the time."  I got to the pool for my first workout and swam 50m and was completely out of breath.  I realized that it wasn't just about the technique, but about building up my endurance.  

Stick with it, you will see improvements.  I am glad you are working with a coach.  It is nice to have someone help you, and point out where you can be more efficient.  

Thank you for your input. I too am new at this whole tri thing. My first will be in Sept. I can barely swim the 40 foot pool 4x without being exhausted. But I need to remember that two years go I couldn't run a 1/2 mile either, and now I have completed to 1/2's. Baby steps. It now begins all over in the water.

Jo

I too, am training for my first tri.  Lucky enough to have run x-country and swim team for years, but that was 24 years ago!  The technique is there but the endurance - not yet.

For just learning to swim, a lot of advice has pointed to swim a little more each time, and don't give up.  Great advice!

If I could add a little more...break your stroke down and practice.  Use a kickboard stretched out in front of you, flutter kick and practice breathing, both sides.  Try to turn your head only enough to breath, chin towards your shoulder.  Roll your shoulders gently when your head turns, but not much!  Head turns, not whole body.

Then, put a pull buoy between your legs and concentrate on your arm strokes only.  Again, turn your head just enough to grab a breath, then back into the water.  Concentrate on not allowing your arms to cross your body underwater as you turn to breath.

Technique is so important to learn in swimming.  Practicing it will also work on your endurance at the same time.  Good technique saves energy.  Efficiency!  Most important, which you already know, is don't give up!  Keep at it.  When I learned to swim, I was deathly afraid of the water.  It goes away.  Good luck!

As a former swimmer myself I could not agree more with evroutdrs.  You can muscle your way through the swim but the amount of energy you will burn will kill you.  When learning to swim technique is king.  The kickboard & pull buoy will help a lot.  Also, slow down and think about form not speed.  Finally keep your head down and work on rolling to the side to breath.  Carrying your head too high is another time and energy killer.  As your form improves you will be able to swim much farther while expending less energy. 

Keep at it and you will be fine.

I grew up knowing how to swim but never anything with any sort of good form.  Basically freestyle with my head above water.

On April 30th this year I started really learning to swim for a triathlon.  I basically could swim the length of the pool freestyle 25 meters and was out of breath.  (panting)  I was out of breath even though I was blowing out when my face was in the water and breathing in at the side.

I swam every day that first week and 2 to 3 times every week since.  At first I was out of breath every lap and then I would swim back on my back so I could catch my breath.  As of last week I had slowly increased the laps I could make until I was up to 3-4 laps freestyle and then one length on my back. 

Then suddenly Monday this week it just CLICKED!!  I don't know what it was but I suddenly went from 3-4 laps and taking a break to swimming 8 laps freestyle taking a 20 second breather and swimming another 8 laps freestyle.  Swam a mile this Monday (6/18) with three short breaks and this morning I swam the whole mile without any breaks.

Check out this website.  I read everything there and it helped.

http://www.swimsmooth.com/

Big key point that no one has mentioned:

You must learn how to relax in the water - the more you can relax, the easier everything else becomes (especially the breathlessness).  Don't rush.  Don't be in a hurry.  Do whatever you need to do to have a calm presence in the water.

This, says the woman who had a lifetime fear of the water who learned to swim for triathlon 2 years ago!

I went through the same thing you are going through.  I just did it at 6 years old instead of in my 20's.  My point is everyone learning to swim goes through it.  If you have a  good coach, they will help you and even use training items like fins, etc. to help you work on technique while your muscles are catching up. 

Even though I swam competitively my whole life, every time I quit for a while (last gap was 10 years), I feel like I'm starting over.   The good news is it only takes a little while to get back in the swing once you learn it the first time.

Oh, and after 35 years swimming off and on, my coach is still correcting my technique.  You will probably never perfect swimming.

Yes!  I see so many people in the pool working WAY harder than they need to.  I would spend some time before or after your workout just floating in the pool.  Learn how to lay on your back and relax.  Learn how to tread water so you stay upright without much effort.  Then do the same thing on your stomach, relaxing and holding your breath for as long as possible.  Try to learn how to just enjoy being in the water and floating around. 

I'm in a similar boat, except with biking.  I love running, adore swimming... and biking scares me.  So many cars, pedestrians, other bikes, children, squirrels in the way that I have trouble even trying to pedal quickly.  I'm just trying to log hours on the bike now to relax before I start worrying about my speed and specific training. (Last week I learned how to balance on my bike while reaching down for a drink of water and that was a big step for me).

I can't wait to read your race report at the end of the summer!

Congrats on taking on the new challenge!  Swimming is VERY technique driven and takes a long time and lots of practice to get it right.  You have the right attitude to get there though.  Like others mentioned you have the tools you need (pool, coach, desire) but you will need to learn to relax.  This is the hardest part to get!  Keep at it and one day it will finally click and off you go! 

Wow, we're in totally different boats.  I've been a swimmer for a very long time, and the swim part of a triathlon is the bit that seems really doable.  I'm 42, M.  When I consider actually running a marathon... on purpose?  I have never done this.  On the other hand, I have done 10-mile open water swims.  I am training now for my first triathlon and the running bit has me most nervous.

Swimming is something that can be very sustainable, provided you take the care to develop an efficient stroke.  This is best done with someone willing to look at you swim and give you feedback in the pool.  Here's the good news: once you can drill an efficient stroke with good body position into your muscle memory, you'll be able to swim comfortably as long as you have calories to burn.  It really does get easier.

BTW, the advice about finding a way to relax given earlier in the thread is excellent.  An efficient stroke with good body position will set you free in this regard.  'good body position' keeps your hips and legs high, waterline high on your forehead, gets you reaching long on each stroke, accentuating the glide phase.