Striving for mediocrity

[jmfisch409]

I am a 56 year old runner and Ironman triathlete in excellent aerobic shape, very comfortable in the water, but a horribly slow swimmer, consistently placing in the last quartile in long-distance races since I started Triathlon in 2006: 45 minutes for 1.2 mile swims and about 90 minutes for 2.4 miles - breathing heavily the entire way. If I could just be a mid-pack swimmer and do the 2.4 mile swim in about 70 minutes, I'd be a threat to qualify for the Ironman Championship in Kona.

I have taken 15 months of masters swim workout/classes and several private classes, a one-day private class at your studio in New Paltz, and I have just about every one of your DVDs and Books (FME, O2 in H2O, Triathlon swimming made easy) . Throughout 2006-7, I practiced the drills regularly - but no improvement.

Being a horrible swimmer with lots of room for improvement, I thought that improvement should come within a few months by eliminating obvious major flaws in balance and stroke mechanics. Is this unrealistic? Are there some people whose body-types (e.g. a "sinker" in your parlance in one of your DVDs) make it almost impossible to improve significantly? While swimming is the sport where I have the most opportunity for improvement, I can't afford to keep throwing money and time into what seems like a hopeless cause. I'd greatly appreciate your perspective based on years of helping swimmers improve.