what seems to be the issue?  are you jumping to these distances or slowly building up? and for a sprint why would you need to swim 2100 M all at one time?

Hi Lorraine -- what Joe and Terry said. I'm curious too why you are swimming such long workouts for a sprint.  The advice that Terry gave is excellent and has helped me tremendously.  Cycling and running are all about faster, stronger, push through it, etc.  Swimming is about relaxing in the water, body position, minimizing resistance and eliminating wasted movement.  Trying to power through it does not work.  Believe me, I tried!  

I'm 43 also, and after about 6 weeks of trying to swim my (very short) race distance without stopping, I finally did it last week, and all of a sudden could keep going.  I did exactly what Terry recommended, and it finally seems to have "taken".  So be patient with yourself and look up the Total Immersion videos online.  Incorporating everything in TI would take some time, and I haven't done the drills per se.  But just the concepts have helped so much.  Before I start swimming, I practice really relaxing in the water...just push off and glide several times, checking my body position.  I have also found that it helps me to warm up prior to swimming with a short bike ride.  Maybe that's mental, but whatever works.  Oh, and I was trying to force myself to do the bilateral breatheing thing.  Maybe it works better for you, but I think that was putting too much pressure on this swimming newbie.  Now, I do that some of the time, do 3 strokes and breathe on my strong side sometimes, and breathe every other stroke if needed.

Hope that helps!  You are not alone. 

Stop reading and have fun...plan a course similar to the sprint and do it @ 90%.  Read your time splits and stretch

Hi Lorijay,

No more talk of being a rookie at age 43. I did my first sprint in August at the real tender age of 58.

Ben

I just completed my 5th tri at the Danskin in Chicagoland this past Sunday. Great race! I've been training the past 2 years with a top-notch swim coach - who just went to World's in Australia. She was first out of the water for her age group! Anyway, I take her advice and work on swim technique with every swim work-out. Sounds like you might be missing something with your technique, therefore tiring out quickly. Remember to be streamline and rotate your hips, head down helps keep your hips up.

You might want to have 1 or 2 swim lessons - this will go a long way. Do some drills with every work-out: catch-up (hands meet in front before you start another stroke), finger drag drill (keep elbow high), side balance drill, closed fist, counting strokes so you glide as much as possible. Build speed as you swim some 100's and/or sprint a 25 or 50 etc...And YES, break down your work-outs in 100's, 50's and 25's....this makes it more interesting and fun, too!