I have a crazy idea to try a triathlon, but there's only one problem - I can't swim. Went to a local rec center to try to do a few laps and get a feel for things and it did not go well. I was lost, exhausted and panicky. Doing 1.2 miles for half ironman seems completely unattainable. Short of hiring a personal swim coach - which I am looking in to - any ideas?

Smartass answers welcomed.

myself, get yourself some short 'Training Swim Fins'...they'll help you relax as you do longer swims...and you'll still be able to do flip turns as you advance ;-)

You have claimed to be a former state champion football player, some sort of state golf champion, an engineering genius, a masters swimmer, a lifeguard, and a guy who makes sandwiches for the poor twice a week down at Catholic
Charities.

That is very hard to believe.

label you made up, I can't accept.

This is a vague and shadowy place. Mysteries abound.

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Swimming always sucks at first if it isn't a regular hobby, even if you are capable. Everyone is gasping for breath a few laps into their first training session, and the idea of doing it continuously for 500, 750, 1500 meters (or 2.4 miles in an Ironman) seems impossible.

You do get better fast with practice. You calm down with muscle memory. Your CO2 tolerance improves quickly. You learn to relax.

There are great YouTube channels to watch for tips - Total Immersion was my favorite to learn from. 2-beat kicks, focus on efficiency and not aggressively kicking and pulling.

Also, once you commit to a race date, some practice in open water is mandatory. The difference between pool swimming and open water where you need to sight for direction, can't see the black line on the bottom, and don't get the wall turns every 25 to 50 meters is huge. That's where the panic hits and you forget your training and start gasping for breath. You need a few sessions in open water to get the feel.

Email me if you'd like more details.

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Tore a rotator cuff decades ago but it was my left so I never bothered to fix it.

Got tired of marathons and wanted more variety in my regime... so I slowly began increasing my laps at the pool until I could do a mile.

In actual tris I always finished the swim last (and was once almost drown when a swarm of Amazons swam right over the top of me)... but made up a lot on the bike and especially in the run.

It was a rewarding experience. I recommend it.

One warning. Swimming in open water is not the same as in a pool. Make sure you get in some practice in a lake.

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Got very little pull from that side and had to correct course constantly.

If that’s the problem I don’t think you need a private coach. Just keep swimming like Baron said in his post. I believe you will swim 1.2 miles eventually. Since you try a triathlon, you must be a capable distance runner. That’s a plus. Swimming and distance running are similar in that you may feel some difficulty in the middle of the process. But that difficulty will be gone. You will feel much better in your last third of the course. I have a lady here who is 71 years old. She swims regularly, 2000 meters each time.

Can you do a flip turn? 1.2 miles swimming in the pool needs a lot of turns. You may need a private coach to teach you about that if you can’t. But you can still learn on your own. It’s not very difficult.

Don’t panic. Swim relaxed. Tense/nervous can make you tired.

Your call, not mine.

Link: https://nypost.com/2026/04/22/lifestyle/the-deadly-dangers-of-a-triathlon-regardless-of-experience/

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Link: https://x.com/katsuxbt/status/2085758844446150685?s=20

I've attended a couple of the triathlons that my daughter has completed and they have dozens of kayakers our there monitoring the swimmers. Maybe that just gives a false assurance. Regardless, that's a long, long way from where I am now. Cycling is my main sport and that's probably more dangerous due to the number of bikes being plowed over by cars.

I am inherently lazy and need a north star to work towards, otherwise I turn into a slug.

My BIL's brother got into cycling in his 40's. He has finished as high as 4th in his age class at the US Senior Olympics. Loves the open road training.

Challenging human endeavors involve risk.

My son has done triathlons, and his good friend competed quite well in that particular one.

That tragedy was very sad and cast a shadow over the whole event.

That said, I bike and run and was interested in triathlons myself at one time (no longer) but I have never had a real desire to swim for distance in a large group like that.

Just me. Swimming is tremendous exercise and I enjoy it and echo what others have said here as to its benefits.

That said, I can't give better advice than Baron below.

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You're experience is typical of runners who first try swimming. Swimming uses muscles you haven't worked out or built up before. It is also a more complete work full body out. Also, you probably have low body fat so you get no help from buoyancy (same as regular swimmers, but they are used to it already).
Finally there is the whole addiction to oxygen thing.

The first thing I'd recommend is to stick with it, it will get easier after a week or so.

Second, you need to learn how to turn your head and breathe while doing free style - I assume you're doing free style because you are in a triathlon, and you want a better time. Practicing breathing is key...I'd suggest you just get good at it turning your head in one direction every time rather than learning to do it both left and right...that takes more time and practice when your starting from the beginning, and you don't really need to do it in both directions.
If you can't get the hang of it well enough, then you could always take a slower time and do side stroke where breathing isn't an issue.

You oxygen carrying capacity will also improve as you swim more making it easier yet.

I can't recommend swimming enough - great work out, low impact (no wear & tear on joints as you get older), great for getting a natural alignment of your vertebrae without traumatic manipulation.

The biggest downside is just finding access to an reasonably big sized pool where the chemicals are managed properly. If you can find an infinity pool somewhere, they seem to have a better filtration system which means less chemicals needed.
In the city, you will likely have to get up really early and wait for a lane. Making friends so that you can share a lane helps a lot.

The 2nd biggest downside is that your appetite will increase a lot - more than other kinds of work outs, and when you stop swimming, the appetite doesn't stop with it so be careful.

I had an injury that has kept me out of the pool this summer, and it is driving me crazy. You'll miss it as much as running if you get into it.

Hope this helps in some way.

The breathing really tripped me up. I didn't know what the hell to do and started to freak out. I plan to go back and give it another go.

We'll see how it goes. Maybe I won't end up doing it but ultimately I am very vain and really want that picture of me crossing the finish line. Or I could pull a Rosie Ruiz and do that anyway.

Edit. By "fine", I meant fine to start training properly. See Jakers above for real Triathlon advice.

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...the years of running and sports took their toll. Swimming let's you keep going when your skeleton hits the wall.

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I do when the volume increases and the sessions get longer. It makes my form slip with fatigue.

Not performance like you. I’m sure your swimming is much more rigorous than mine.

If you are swimming for exercise, you are likely pulling at a much higher intensity, aiming to push yourself to a degree of fatigue.

I mostly build volume and work on efficiency. My intensity work is all on the bike and run training.

Quickly when I’m cooling down. My knees and lower back are a different story. All the “paratroopin’” I did when I was younger took its toll. No regrets. It’s all good.