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Like yourself this will be my first year to race and i have pretty much the same plan. As for the 500m swim in under 10 min it is well within your reach. I being a non swimmer started swimming about 2 months ago and the other day I swam 500m in 9min 25sec and i did about 100m on my back.

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Hey Matt, good to hear you are starting tri's.

I started tri's last September and I could not swim at all. As long as I was in the pool at least 3 times a week, I noticed huge improvements in my swim. Under 10 minutes for 500m is a decent time, it won't have you at the front of the pack by any means, but you would be around the middle in most tri's I have raced in. Don't worry about time too much right now though, you'll see it fall rapidly over the next few months as you get more comfortable in the pool. IN the one year since I started swimming, I have gotten my 500m time to about 7:30, and will be racing at IMWI next September, so you can definately do it.

One piece of advice to keep in mind, comparing times against similar distances is pretty hard, as terrain and weather play a huge role especially on the bike. I think IMWI this year demonstrated that.

Brian

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Welcome to the sport Matt

I have a diffrent perspective on swimming. I came to the sport as a runner, I could ride a bike, and I knew how to survive in the water. Not swim. I had roughly three months to learn before my first sprint. I read everything I could get my hands on about proper form and technique. I went from having to stop after each 50 to catch my breath to swimming a 1000 meters easily. My first Tri? 500 meter swim. I waited to let the faster swimmers go then started 20 seconds after them. I ran out of gas after 100 meters, I back stroked, side stroked, dog paddled to shore. I finished in 16 minutes. I got ran over by the next age group that started 5 minutes after me. My advice? Get some open water swims in before the event and try not to compare pool time to open water time. Learn from the first expierence and throw your first time out the window. It's just a time to beat at your next Tri.

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I did my first tri last september too and I can give you one piece of advice! PLEASE DO swimm in open waters before race day. The first time you put your head in the water and you don´t see anything I can assure you it will scare the #$%& out of you.

For me i did my first open water swim the day before the race...I felt soooooo scared at first I couldn´t figure out how I was supposed to race the next day. So I tried to relax and convince my self that there where no strange monsters beneath me and kept on practicing. After a few more minutes i felt confident (I think) and kept on going.

Next morning I was calm as a bird and when I put my face in the water I remained calmed. The only thing that scared me on race day was losing my direction to the bouy. So Another good advice is NAVIGATE as often as you like for your first tri. For me I took one side breath and one front (navigating) breath. Sometimes I stoped swimming when I looked forward. But I am almost certain you lose more time if you lose your direction than by stopping often.

It was funny every time I stoped and looked around I could always see a couple of guys swimming totally twisted and headed anywhere but to the bouy.

I wouldn´t focus my first tri on times. Forget about swimming in Xminutes if you haven´t swimmed before. Your goal should be finishing it and enjoying it. If you set your goals to time in this first tri and you don´t achive them it might be a little dissapointing for you. Your goals should be to finish te race and to enjoy it.

I am readind now your first races are in pools..........you are lucky!!! But don´t forget practicing openwater swims before your first openwater race.

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I went for a swim this evening and it went pretty good. I managed to do 20 lengths without stopping(500m). It was a big jump from my previous 6 lengths. The time was a slow 12 minutes, but that will improve I'm sure. I have to work on my kicking as I only do the odd scissor kick to keep them up. I am sure there are many other things that I have to work on as well, but that is one I better straigten out in a hurry. Any kicking drills? Or just use a board?

Matt

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Had a read of your link to swimming made easy. Thanks RV it makes me feel a bit better about not kicking well. I will try to work on the other things more and leave the kick and hope that it develops with the rest of it. Are any of those books worth buying? Do you have to order then or can you get them in a book store? Thanks again.

Matt

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I would certainly agree on getting a few open water swims in before race time. My first race was a sprint with ocean swim. I unfortunately had not had any open water training swims as there is not a convenient place located near me. My time was a back of the pack 19mins. The ocean swim was another world from the comfortable confines of the pool. The waves, cold, and crowds prevented me to get into a comfortable breathing rythm but I made it through and enjoyed the challenge. My second tri was an olympic distance with lake swim...I actually finished the olympic swim with a respectable mid pack 30 mins.

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I had ordered the TI DVD and the book came with it. Probably could find it on e-bay. I used it to get started swimming again. And have since moved on to following the training program put forth by Rich Strauss at TrainingPeaks and I also got his e-book from crucible fitness. It has lots of drills etc. I went this route as with TI I just didn't seem to gain any speed, but it was invaluable for getting me started. Right now I am doing drills and seeing the desired results - a way to go but making progress. :D