I sometimes get cramps while kicking, too. It invariably occurs when I ignore this simple fact: you get very little forward propulsion from your kick; especially in a wetsuit. Ease up on your kicking --- you'll lose little or no speed, and on race day your legs will be fresher on the bike.

thehitman

When you say angle your feet inward do you mean as in the big toes toward each other,
or up toward your knees?

I had a swim coach tell me to point my toes down like I would be on my tippy toes, nbut to keep them relaxed.

I agree with hitman about easy on the legs to keep them rested for the bike and the run.

Ok you guys, I am working really hard, so hard I haven't been posting. Now I am getting cramps in my calves instead of my feet. It has nothing to do with Electrolyte deficiency. Could it be that my muscular condition is too weak for the burden I'm putting on it?

I'm swimming with a team now and the coach thinks my form is okay.

I have noticed that if I "try" too much to point my toes while swimming that I can get a temporary cramp in the foot. When this happens, I just flex the foot for a bit and it goes away.

It's key to work on your ankle flexibility outside the pool so that the muscles don't tire and cramp when you are in it. Best stretch is to sit on your feet, Indian-style (bare-footed). This wills stretch the front of the ankle and is really good for your quads, too. I sit this way with my arms relaxed on my knees for one minute, then I stretch each triceps muscle (bend one arm at the elbow and try and touch between your shoulder blades on your back; use the other hand to put pressure on the elbow of the arm being stretched to push it further back) for 30 seconds, then I stretch the back of each delt (put arm to be stretched straight out in front parallel to floor; with opposite hand grab the stretching arm's elbow and pull towards your body) for 30 seconds, then stretch the front of the delts/pecs by reaching both arms behind your back and twining your fingers together (as if you were about to pray), straighten your arms out as best you can and hold for 30 seconds, and finally put your hands on the floor next to or slightly behind your feet and lean back to increase the stretch on your rectus femoris, which is one of the hip flexors, for 30 seconds.

So there, you've just stretched your ankles and quads for 4 minutes, and you also hit your triceps, pecs and delts. To round out the stretches for swimming, bend over at the waist and put your straight arms out in front of you (this is called "Child's Pose" in yoga), palms on the floor, and you'll feel a good upper/mid-back stretch. I like to hold that for a full minute, and so in 5' you've stretched most of the swim-specific muscles, improved your ankle flexibility and centered yourself. Add a little calf and hamstring stretching, and this is a good, basic 10-minute routine that will feel good and enhance not only your swimming, but running and biking as well.

I'll occasionally get cramps in my feet from pushing off the wall hard or when sprinting. Ideally, when swimming for any distance, you shouldn't be kicking a whole lot though. The more of your propulsion comes from your kick, the more oxygen you'll be sucking down because your leg muscles are big and take more fuel than arm muscles. Many distance swimmers go with a 2-beat kick or modified 6-beat where only two beats are strong. With that kind of kick, you should hopefully not get any cramping as your feet won't be working very hard, just enough to keep them on the surface of the water.

Additionally, I've found that eating a banana a day helps keep any kinds of cramps or side-aches away. Stretching your feet as Kona_expat suggested is also a good idea. For a great kick, you need good foot and ankle flexibility.