Triathlon Dreams: A Swimmers Story

Another one of our swimmers messaged me recently, giving me his swimming and triathlon ‘origin story’. Here it is in all of it’s glory!

Early Days

So, I think my introduction to water started at a very young age. My Dad was a very competent swimmer, on the other hand my Mum could barely swim and was scared of water but there was a combined passion for me to learn to swim – if nothing else, for safety.

Thankfully I seemed to have inherited my Dad’s confidence. Whilst I have always respected water I have never feared it and feel at home in it. I learned to swim what felt like quite a young age compared to others and remember having a great teacher – Mr Sorrell. I went through the different badges pretty quickly, both distance and skills based such as personal survival etc. I then dabbled with swim clubs both in High Wycombe and then in Warrington when we re-located when I was 9, but I never really gelled with “racing”. I was a good swimmer but not a very fast swimmer (something that is still the case!). 

Fast Forward 30 Years …

So regular swimming stopped for me a a fairly young age and apart from a bit here and there when on holiday, there was no serious swimming for about 30+ years. I still over the years had it in my head that swimming was one of my strengths, and I was still a “good” swimmer, but I had a little wake up call when I started Scuba Diving a few years ago and had to complete a swim test.

Assuming it would be fairly easy I decided to pop down to my local pool for a bit of practice and “shake off” 30 years of swim rust … what a wake up call …I could hardly manage 2 lengths without being out of breath. All my childhood technique had gone and it felt like starting from scratch. That triggered the motivation to get back in the pool properly. 

“I Know A Guy …”

At around the same time I had started to think more seriously about doing a triathlon. I had been a triathlon fan for many years (something I will delve into later), and had tried to encourage friends to commit with me but no takers. I committed to some training and it was whilst having my bike fit with Greg at Dr Sprocket and chatting about my training, that he mentioned a great guy who runs a swim squad that would be able to help my swimming – Bryan Riley!

Sounded great … so I had a look online. A swim SQUAD though….sounds quite serious, no way I am ready for that.

Swim Squad … Serious Stuff!

Now, in hindsight I now know I could have turned up there and then and fitted in fine, but lacking that confidence and knowing my swim needed a lot of work I spent several months training in my local pool using Youtube videos until I got to a point after loads of swimming on holiday where I could swim 2km non stop at an average pace of around 2:22m/100.

I bit the bullet and contacted Bryan and started with the Squad in September 22 and everything changed! Now I am a vastly stronger swimmer and way more efficient. On a good day I can consistently swim at a pace sub 2mins per 100 and tend to generally average around the 2 minute mark. Now my progress isn’t as impressive as some but I’m very happy with it and there is still more to come.

I’m proud to be a part of a “Swim Squad” and feel privileged to share the water with amazing people, doing amazing things. However, the impact of swim squad hasn’t just been in the swim and the data. It has been in the support, camaraderie, motivation and encouragement to achieve goals and step out of my comfort zone … which takes me onto triathlon.

Transworld Sport Has A Lot To Answer For!

My love of triathlon as a fan started way back…late 80’s, age 9, Sunday mornings watching Transworld Sport … at that age for me the epitome of endurance sport was a marathon – so imagine my shock when this event called “Ironman” was shown. Swimming, then biking followed by a marathon at the end. I mean how can they?! This is superhuman!

That planted the seed. This sport where you can swim, then ride and run, it just seemed really exciting. I really began to follow triathlon properly late 90’s / early 2000’s with no intention of ever dong one. 

I’m not a natural athlete at all, always been active and enjoyed sports but have to work hard to overcome lack of natural ability! I have dabbled with running over the years and some cycling but it wasn’t until I started swimming again properly that I really thought I could participate in a triathlon.

The Dream

I’ve had a “ridiculous” pipe dream of becoming an Ironman for many years but completely ruled it out as completely unrealistic for me – I’m just not able to achieve that. Then a relative completed Ironman UK twice (he’s one of these annoying natural athletes who can complete a marathon on minimal training…). This triggered a bit of motivation to at least complete a triathlon, which led me to where I am now – three sprint triathlons completed, and with encouragement from within Swim Squad I have committed to a 70.3!

I am absolutely loving the accountability and structure my training plan is providing (not to mention the fitness) to get me ready for Outlaw Half in May. If all goes well, completing a 70.3 will be a HUGE achievement for me. I’m not planning beyond that yet. Maybe more 70.3’s if all goes well, maybe some abroad …

But at the back of my mind, it won’t go away……that ridiculous dream of becoming an Ironman.

Maybe. Just maybe …?

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A Familiar Tale

Another great swim story. Such a familiar tale too. A dream after watching an 80’s sports show, a little action to get started, an “I know a guy …” encounter, some courage to get involved, bundles of encouragement from other swimmers and here we are! A few months away from a first middle distance / half Ironman / 70.3 race.

This athlete shares a Swim Squad lane with an athlete who completed Ironman UK in 2023 and an athlete who completed Ironman Lanzarote in 2022 and 2023 … just saying!

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