Is it possible to get good at swimming without ever swimming?

no water wrote:

What exercises should I do? Also will my running endurance translate into swimming endurance well?

No, you have to learn to swim. It is not a natural skill.

Swimming helps with running endurance but running really doesn't help much with swimming endurance. Plus swimming efficiency/endurance relies so much on proper technique that you have to have a ton of water time to be good

I mean I took swimming lessons as a kid, and had to swim in high school gym class, but I've never regularly swam or trained for swimming. I know how do the freestyle stroke, but it's probably not very efficient. I haven't been in a pool for ~8 years (high school gym class).

I need to be able to cover at least 500 yards in 12 minutes, so I was wondering if my running training would be enough to just slog it out. I also do a good amount pushups and pull ups, so my upper body is better than most runners I know. I do have that "swimmer look" if that matters.

no water wrote:

I mean I took swimming lessons as a kid, and had to swim in high school gym class, but I've never regularly swam or trained for swimming. I know how do the freestyle stroke, but it's probably not very efficient. I haven't been in a pool for ~8 years (high school gym class).

I need to be able to cover at least 500 yards in 12 minutes, so I was wondering if my running training would be enough to just slog it out. I also do a good amount pushups and pull ups, so my upper body is better than most runners I know. I do have that "swimmer look" if that matters.

500 yards in 12 mins?

That's like a 45 min 5K. You should be able to handle that.

You can do exercises that strengthen swimming muscles but that won't really help with swimming endurance. TRX planks, arm and lat work with trx or exercise bands, pull ups, push-ups, exercise band glute work, medicine ball ab work : Russian twists, goblet squats. Or just google dry land swimming workout to get more ideas.

no water wrote:

What exercises should I do? Also will my running endurance translate into swimming endurance well?

As others have said, swimming is more technique than other endurance sports. Simply being fit won't make you a fast swimmer. Simple endurance, yes, in the sense that if you are used to running volume you will be able to get in the pool and swim slowly for a fairly long time without getting very tired. But not fast.

I remember I had a brief period where I wanted to try triathlon. At the same time I was getting a friend who was a good competitive swimmer into running, and he helped me in the pool. I was a 17:0x / 35:2x runner at the time and even when he started running (initial baseline TT of 20:30 for 5k), he could kick my butt in the pool over any distance, whether it be a lap or 20 of them. And it looked effortless - that was the thing. It was all technique. I'd be thrashing away trying to keep up with him and he swam so smoothly it looked like he was half-asleep.

As an aside, I also learned how much "speedwork" swimmers do compared to runners. It's insane. Daily interval-type stuff that just goes on and on. None of the once/twice a week hard workouts that runners do. For them it's pretty well every day. I guess you can do that when your sport is non load-bearing.

Yes. You should be able to do that. A pretty good 14 year old girl competitive swimmer can do that distance in less than 6 minutes. If you are a distance runner in good shape you could definitely slog it out in 12 minutes. In a pool or open water?

Rowing machine would be another good endurance workout in addition to running if you can't swim.

A lot of runners (me included) get most of their physical exercise in two forms, running and strength training. This combination burns fat and builds muscle which makes the body rather dense. All things aside you'll probably sink like a rock.

Test is done in a pool. I'm assuming/hoping a 25 meter one. I might just look into a gym membership for a couple of months, but is there any other option other than gyms? I live in New England, so I think most lakes are frozen over right now.

Also I'm in the process of cutting down to pretty low body fat, but maybe I'll stop that. Does being fat really help swimmers? I'm at ~12% right now so should I just stay there?

no water wrote:

Test is done in a pool. I'm assuming/hoping a 25 meter one. I might just look into a gym membership for a couple of months, but is there any other option other than gyms? I live in New England, so I think most lakes are frozen over right now.

Also I'm in the process of cutting down to pretty low body fat, but maybe I'll stop that. Does being fat really help swimmers? I'm at ~12% right now so should I just stay there?

Learn an easy stroke like breaststroke. It's slower but easier to breathe.

You will be suprised of how sucky you are in the pool and will likely not make it 50y without having serious problems unless you at least hop in a pool and swim and learn how to make it down and back without touching the bottom or taking a break.

Alan

If you were gifted with a big engine, then you can get pretty far regionally in any endurance sports by doing some light workouts and showing up.

If you aren't, and that's most of us, even a good regional rank requires quite a bit of dedication.

I had to swim 100y in 4:00 in military uniform for the German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge. It wasn't hard but lots of people struggled because they never practiced. Lots of people flew for 50y going freestyle then died hard turning over and going backstroke.

Alan

For someone with adequate technique, this should be easy, but I would have difficulty with this and probably not make it. All out, I can swim maybe 21-22 seconds for 25m, starting in the pool, not diving. I forced myself to learn to swim with my head in the water just last year as an adult and to this point I have gotten no faster and I usually have to stop and rest after each length. Getting the breathing right I find extremely difficult, and this is from someone who runs 100+ mpw. I could probably sustain 30 sec lengths for a number of them, but you're talking about averaging not too much more than 30 seconds per length for 20 lengths. With proper technique, though, I take it that the effort is far lower.

This test is for military too. I'm pretty sure there is a 100 yard swim in uniform in boot camp. The 500 yard swim is for the specific job I want, and has to be done freestyle, but is done in a swim suit. I should say 500 yards is the minimum qualification that I want to be able to do before boot camp. After boot camp I'll hopefully have access to facilities where I can train as I wait to get into the school for my job. Reading other forums it sounds like people improve drastically in just a few months of practicing.

This seems absurd to me. How can a runner with reasonable fitness (forget endurance) NOT be able to swim down and back? I really don't understand.

Get a gym-pool membership. You will NOT be able to swim 500 yard freestyle continuously without pool training. Go to

www.swimsmooth.com

for beginner tips. I am currently in a lifeguarding class. 15 percent of class failed 300 yard swim test and everybody was reasonably fit teenager or early college.

Swim three days a week and focus on learning to breath comfortably. If you get your breathing down and have any sort of decent form sub 10 should be no problem come test time. If you can get time down under 8 minutes you will be one of the faster guys in your class.

There are plenty of YMCA with pool in New England. You can generally get discounted membership based on income or military service.

I used to swim regularly and was in a master's swim group. When I don't swim for a while my breathing, rhythm, and form are poor and I can barely swim 100 meters. It takes me a few days before I get it back. But I'm probably much older than you. My gut feeling is if you don't get in a pool at least a few times you'll be floating on your back and struggle to complete it. Swimmers tend to do interval training, lots of it just to be able to swim shorter distances.

LRC is wuss central wrote:

This seems absurd to me. How can a runner with reasonable fitness (forget endurance) NOT be able to swim down and back? I really don't understand.

Do some swimming and get back to us.

Op, don't go crazy trying to get skinny. Just try to eat well and stay away from fast and easy calories.