Note to adults learning to swim.

Look, I know triathlon is the in thing to do and I support that. I believe more people we can get involved in sport the better. But I need to ask you to be realistic. You need to understand your skill level and you need to stop worrying about your heart rate or your workout. You can accept that you can't run before you walk but you can't seem to accept that you need to float before you can swim.

Where is this coming from? Coaching. I have coached too many triathletes who want worry about hand placement before they can float and kick. Too many adults that want to go fast without thinking about their stroke. And too many people that want to learn 'how to swim' but refuse to master the basics.

What are the basics you ask? Body position. You must be able to achieve and maintain proper body position. Kick. You must be able to support your own body with just a kick. Rotation. You must be able to rotate you body in the water with ease. Breathing. Maybe this should be first but you must be able to breath naturally without losing or altering the 3 about mentioned basics.

As a coach I can tell you comes after those basics but if you can not master or at least be comfortable performing the basics what comes next will be a waste of time for you. So please, learn to walk. Then I promise you can start to swim.