From Never Swimming To Ironman 70.3: How I did it and you can too.

Many people are intrigued to sign up for the elusive Ironman triathlon. Running and cycling are pretty simple (not easy, but simple) feats most people have the ability to do. But then there’s swimming. Swimming requires a greater learning curve on technique in comparison to the other two events.

If you have no experience swimming but have the desire to complete an Ironman, I am here to tell you that it is totally possible. If I can do it, so can you.

I signed up for the inaugural 2023 Jones Beach 70.3 race about six months prior to race day, with absolutely no clue how to swim, how to learn, or even where to go to practice.

My swimming journey first began at a YMCA with a friend of mine who had experience in the water as a youth athlete. She brought me as a guest for the day so she could show me the basics.

She went over the basics of freestyle swimming, such as keeping your head facing down, how to take a forward stroke, kick your feet, and how to position your head as you come up for air every couple strokes. It all sounds simple until you get in the water and actually try to coordinate so many movements at once.

When I tell you I could not move forward in the water, I mean it. As expected, my technique was not good whatsoever. That first day we spent about 30–40 minutes at the pool and it was humbling to say the least. As my counterpart effortlessly flowed down & back lane 1 over and over, it took a huge effort for me to make it one length of the pool.

Everything about it that first day felt unnatural — which is funny, because as infants we are actually natural-born swimmers. But for anyone who doesn’t swim regularly in their youth, it becomes a lost art. This day was the only time I received any technique help from someone; the rest of my training until the race was self-guided.

So from that point on, I dedicated myself to getting to the pool once a week, (yes just once a week) for almost the whole duration of my training, with a couple weeks of two sessions as the race got closer. Earlier on, the majority of pool sessions were only 30 minutes long. All I did was put myself in the water and try getting myself down and back as many times as I could.

I made slow, incremental progress for a little bit, but starting to develop a rhythm as I would take three strokes and then breathe, and repeat. I started to get the hang of peddling my feet as my arms performed a completely different motion. This was one of the hardest parts. It was similar to when you’re asked as a kid to try and pat the top of your head and rub your stomach at the same time, it just confuses your body. Anyways, with intentional focus to separate the two, I slowly began to acquire a peddling motion with my feet. I never did any specific drills or used any equipment like a buoy or flippers. My training was completely unstructured — and it got the job done.

Now I am not saying this is the best approach by any means. Surely anyone including myself would make much faster progress and reach a much higher level with some form of coach. I am a trainer and coach myself, so I understand the value of coaching, programming, accountability, and everything else that a coach provides. But my point here is to demonstrate that having a coach or even structured training is not at all necessary to simply become competent at swimming for the demands of Ironman 70.3. By just getting into the water consistently, you can and will become better.

After maybe 4–5 solo sessions in the pool, my inefficient breathing pattern seemed to be the biggest thing holding me back. I felt like I had developed a consistent stroke pattern, however, I could only make it a couple laps down and back before I would run out of breath and have to stop.

What I did to end this frustration was simply to relax my mind and slow down. I think there was still a bit of a fight-or-flight response going on in my body from being in the water. Even though I didn’t consider myself “afraid” of the water, I think were was still a subconscious timidness within me. All I remember doing was taking a couple minutes to breathe deeply and slowly and just calm my mind. I started to realize that every time I got in the water I was doing everything too fast, and I couldn’t keep up. After a few minutes of deep breathing, I got back in and slowed myself down. This was not easy. It took a ton of attention to my form to keep doing what I was doing before, but slower. This was a big breakthrough for me, as it allowed me to take in enough air each time I brought my head above water. Similar to running, slowing down allows you to accumulate more volume and aerobic adaptations. But if you want to slow down running, you simply… slow down; with swimming, it requires a base of technique and comfort in the water to be able to do so. If you can’t do this right away, don’t worry, because the more exposure you get to the water the more comfortable you will become.

I only swam in open water three times during training. The difference between a pool and open water can be staggering. I had been swimming in the pool for a couple months prior to my first open water swim in Lake Placid, New York. At this point I was feeling pretty confident in my swimming ability, until I got into the Au Sable River. The water was freezing cold, the current against me, and I couldn’t see anything underwater. I was not able to utilize the technique I had built up over previous months whatsoever. If you haven’t touched open water yet, be prepared for this.

Just two more times I swam in open water (aside from the pre-race swim held the day before) prior to the race, but at a different location. I ended up finding a state park out in the middle of nowhere in central New York that was quiet and had few to no motorboats (something to be weary of anywhere you go swimming). The water was warmer, and I was better prepared mentally after my first open water experience. Both of those swim sessions felt better; I was able to keep the same technique that I had in the pool and it felt easier to maintain a rhythm since I wasn’t turning around every twenty-five yards. In addition to better water conditions, I also had my tri-suit at this point. If you haven’t yet worn a tri-suit to swim, it will make a massive difference. The buoyancy of the suit makes for no issue of staying at the surface of the water, which allows you to relax and focus in on good technique.

So that is an insight on how I was able to swim in my first Ironman 70.3 without experience. I hope this was helpful to anyone reading and may be hesitant to sign up for their first race due to a lack of experience swimming. I did it, so you can too!

Thanks for reading.