Experienced runner / cyclist struggling to learn to swim

[Kev Draper]

Why is it that so many strong, fit athletes find it so hard to learn to swim?

I'm writing an article about why experienced athletes who can run or bike fast and / or long distances can't go beyond 25, 50 or 100m without collapsing on the side of the pool completely out of breath. I've come across so many over the years who just wont even try any more or who just really struggle with it. I've recently been coaching an elite, record-holding ultra runner who has found the transition of learning to swim steady, continuous front crawl SO frustrating! It's taken nearly a year but we are finally getting to the point where she can do it. The 'journey' has been interesting for her and for me!

My hypothesis is that it is down to a combination of 5 or 6 factors the most significant of which are

breathing (specifically exhaling sufficiently),

anxiety due to lack of experience in the water,

sinking legs / bad body position due to runner's body composition,

stiff inflexible ankles causing unpropulsive kick

overall a sub-optimal technique causing the athlete to "fight the water"

perhaps also a driven mindset which says I MUST be able to do this!

The article is coming together - I'm happy to share it when completed but I'd be interested if any of you have experienced this as an athlete or a coach and what you think causes it. 

[Michael569]

I think there is also a neurological component as well.  
Swimming incorporates nearly all skeletal muscles of the body in a perfect harmony, quite uncommon for majority of endurance sports. Usually, there is focus on lower or upper body primarily like cycling or running that is very repetitive (biathlon being one of the exceptions). So because of this, the synapses in the brain that involve a perfect cooperation of all muscles haven't been created yet..we simply do not have the neuron connections. All that comes with practice as you learn to breathe more effectively, avoid taking too long or too short strokes, stop thinking about having to use legs during crawl style etc...your brain becomes adjusted to the new activities but only to a certain degree unless you are very young. 

Also the older you are when trying to learn something, the more difficult it is because you already have massive amounts of created neuron connections where various muscle groups have been taught to perform in a certain way. Take a boxer for example,they will tend to hunch their shoulders, do a lot of spontaneous traps movement, walk a bit leaned right or left depending on their side preference. That gets all very automatised and is difficult to change or get rid of in favour of other new motion combinations. Gymnastics is another case where a persona above certain age simply cannot compete with the younger anymore (there may be exceptions though)

but absolutely also the things you mentioned such as fear of water, different mindset, stiff joints etc..all that comes along. 

[outlandish]

Swimming has a steeper learning curve than running and cycling, it's just a harder skill to learn.

The fastest way to swim is the front crawl, radically different from the default mammalian doggy-paddle that we're probably wired for. Compare this to running, where even if you've never run a mile in your life, you're gonna have the basic idea off the couch. So I think it boils down to this:

16 hours ago, Kev Draper said:

overall a sub-optimal technique causing the athlete to "fight the water"

I like what @Michael569 said about needing all this muscular harmony - I don't think it comes instinctively at first, and a good amount of practice (and feedback) to dial in.

I swam a lot as a kid and am lucky to still have good technique. When I go to the pool it's pretty rare that anyone swims faster than me, and it's not because I'm training at it or putting in a big effort, it's just the residual muscle memory from years of practice.

[Kev Draper]

thanks @outlandish and @Michael569 

Good to hear your thoughts. I'm sure it varies from swimmer to swimmer but these key themes help to discern where to start.

I was speaking to a triathlete last night who couldn't get over the fact that his heart rate was in the 130s when he swims but he felt his "perceived effort" was at almost maximum. He thought his hr was going to be into the 180s when he compared it to how he feels when he runs.

There's a lot of hardwired fear for those not accustomed to being in the water and like you both say tricky to learn the new skills and muscle memory when not imprinted from the formative years. "Muscle harmony" is a lovely phrase - I shall be using that!

Hopefully that makes it a skill worth trying to master for the athletes I'm working with and I can encourage them to relax and allow the gradual improvement to come to them. 

thanks again for the responses. 

Kev.