Newbie / Novice swimming workouts

    Has anyone come across any good swimming workouts for beginners?  Maybe something similar to the couch to 5K thing cool runnings offers.  I surf a bit, so I can swim ok, but all the good workout plans I've come accross have been geared towards triathalon trainings and, well, that goal is a bit of a ways off.

I'd be interested to know too! I'm looking at trying to do a sprint triathalon next August and am really weak at swimming right now.

300m breaststroke+200m freestyle

repeat the routine non-stop for 45-60 min, once every other day.

im trying to learn freestyle now....can only do breaststroke atm...freestyle is sooo hard learn...(maybe im too stupid....)

Set a goal of say 50 lengths of the pool doing which ever stroke you feel comfortable. Once you reach your goal then alternate by adding more lengths or beating your time. To vary the workout do maybe 10 free 10 back 10 breast 10 back and then fnish with 10 free. 

    THanks for the advice...What about rest intervals?  My swimming stamina is pretty horrible right now.  And I pretty much just freestyle as it stands now - any good info out there on getting my form in check and how to do other strokes?  Also, what are the pros and cons of using a kickboard and the other thing you put between your thighs during the course of a workout.  I read somewhere that the kickboard is a great way to "ramp-up" the calorie burning part of swimming - but I dont really seem to get anything from it.  I typically swim after lifting, so my muscles are fairly taxed as it is.

Well, anyone here at c-c that reads my posts knows I'm a cyclist but guess what? I'm also a swim coach!

Workouts can be found all over the internet.  Go to about swimming.com and I think in the left side bar are some great ones. Just type in swim workouts in any search engine.

Also go to your local library and look for fitness swimming books, at your current level that would be the best ones because they have early season workout plans. Also info on stroke work and developement.

rest intervals depend on what your trying to do,  endurance work=short rest, speed work=long rest.  As for kick boards they can be both good and bad depending on your kick, sounds like right now you have a weak one (no Offense meant) try using swim fins (use the ones made for lap swimming not scuba, they are smaller) you will feel the burn with these, garuanted.  The thing that goes between the legs is called a pull bouy and is great for stroke developement and upper body work, I highly recommend them. Hand paddles also are good but wait until some one can show you how to use them.

If you really like swimming ask around about a Masters swimming team in your area, These are people 19 and older that workout with a coach and structured workouts. Don't be worried about your novice skill, most of these teams are happy to work with someone like you and show you the ropes. Plus you will get the support of a great group of people.

Good luck this is a great sport and burns more cal than anyother sport I've heard of including my beloved cycling. DAN

Master's Swim is great. I was swimming completely incorrectly and the coach was willing to correct me as long as I asked for help. I also told the coach about my Triathlon goals and she would work with me, especially on race weeks.

Try www.usms.org to start with to see if there is one in your area. I also found a great book Workouts in a Binder: Swim Workouts for Triathletes by Gale Bernhardt and Nick Hansen.  This is a water proof book with a bunch of workouts. I found them all a little too long for Tri training, but cut them down to fit your needs and it is fun.

Total Immersion is a swim technique popular these days among triathletes and there are a lot of books out there that will help with your form, but really a swim coach is the best and that Masters team is so reasonably priced!