Swimming Made Easier for Bikers

Joan Buehler is a 12-year OCSJ member and has been a Tri-County Cyclist member since its inception. As she loathes biking in the cold, she returned to competing in her childhood favorite sport, swimming, after coaching interscholastic swimming at Cinnaminson High School for seven years.

Since returning to the water, Joan has recorded National Top Ten Age Group times in Short-Course and Long-Course Meters, in 400 freestyle, 100 & 200 butterfly, and 200 & 400 individual medley. In addition, last year, she was part of the Philadelphia Fins women’s 800-meter freestyle relay, which recorded the fastest time in the 160+ age group, earning All-American status

Joan is happy to answer any questions about this article, or swimming in general.  Please feel free to email Joan at jcblues1@aol.com

It’s February and you’ve had enough of your spinning class. The instructor is yelling more and you are responding less. You yearn to be outside on the road, but the grim truth is that nice biking weather is still weeks away. In despair, you look around outside the spinning room of your gym and see. . . .a swimming pool. 

But the last time you were in a pool, it was to catch your 3-year-old gleefully jumping off the side. You can do a passable freestyle, but nothing you would show off in front of your friends or even your children. So, how could a pool possibly help you out of your spinning doldrums?

The scuttlebutt on swimming as exercise is that it’s always been one of the top three, along with running and cycling.  What I’ve found over the years is that swimming well complements running and cycling. You can stretch out your tired and heavy cycling muscles, and if you can make it through an hour’s structured workout, you can burn as many calories as a in a three-hour 50- or 60-mile ride. You can also swim as your recovery sport from any leg, knee, ankle, or foot injury you may have sustained cycling or running.  And if you enjoy the water enough, you can work up to swimming the half-mile or mile required for most local triathlons.

But the other more inconvenient truth about swimming is that it’s extremely technical, and more difficult to learn as an adult. And to get the good cardio workout you crave, you need to be fairly technically proficient.  In this article, I’m providing tips to improve you technically, and help you swim well enough to get through an hour-long structured workout.  If you remember how to swim the crawl (freestyle) stroke, can locate your bathing suit, and want to diversify a little from your usual winter routine, read on.