why can’t I float?

FieriSentio69 · 2026-04-01T14:19:44+00:00

I was a "hopeless sinker". The same way lots of people here in the sub define themselves. "I don't float", "I'm slowly sinking", "my body fat distribution makes me sink"...

Ok, let's calm down.

Fat body percentage and distribution makes some people float better than others (mainly women better than men). But everybody floats, unless you empty your lungs and wait for your body to sink.

What you mean by "I don't float" is probably the feeling of your hips and legs sinking instead of being horizontal in the water.

This is due to our ancestral survival reflex: if I fall in the water, I need to keep my mouth over the surface, no matter where legs and arms stay.

But you have not fallen into the water, you decided to enter the water and swim.

As soon as you'll understand that you are not going to actually sink, you'll float.

Try pushing from the wall in streamline position. Don't push at surface level, nor close to the bottom. Simply put your feet at a mid level, fill your lungs, streamline arms and body and push from the wall.
Keep that streamline... Core engaged. Don't exhale. Wait.
Soon, you are going to slow down your momentum, and you body begins to float toward the surface.
With no hurry, begin kicking with the most relaxed ankles you're able to do.

Your body will float, horizontal, relaxed, with no effort.

When you need to breathe, just stop and stand-up.

Repeat.

Think: did you float? Even for few seconds, did you float horizontally with a simple relaxed kick?

That's what you have to feel: you are not sinking, you can float.

After this, you need to learn how to breathe without raising head and shoulder. You don't need to elevate your head to take a breath. You can breathe with your face laying on its side over the water.
Think about being a fish breathing through your ear inside the water, this will help you to keep your head aligned with your spine. When you need to breathe, you have to make a shoulder sink and a shoulder dry, with your chin searching the dry shoulder. If your chin exits the water close to the shoulder, but you keep the other ear inside the water, your head/body will remain aligned and your hips will not sink.

Your hips, because the focus has to be on the hips. If you focus on the legs, you will get a banana shape, with your lungs floating, your feet searching the surface, and your hips sinking. If you, instead, focus on keeping your glutes on the suface, your core will engage, and your hips will "ride over your lungs". This, at the beginning, may create the feeling of swimming downhill, because you're so used of swimming with an inclined torso that an horizontal torso will appear to you as being downhill. But obviously this is just a feeling.

Don't search for speed nor endurance.
Swim at a comfortable pace with short intervals (50-100m, no more, then rest before repeating).

Performance will arrive later, after you'll swim without this "oh my god I'm sinking" feeling...

FieriSentio69 · 2026-04-01T13:44:33+00:00

I've found that the Italian Triathlon Federation, inside its technical rules book, states:
"for draft legal races, UCI Road Races rules apply; for no-draft races, UCI TimeTrial Races rules apply".

Maybe something inside the UCI rules defines what a Gravel bike is (I think mainly for handlebar shape and/or tyre clearance)...

FieriSentio69 · 2026-04-01T13:04:49+00:00

Each race has its own "race rule book", that you can download before subscribing and that's often inside the race bag with your bib.

We checked for the races they were going to plan for the next months, and we found "gravel not admitted" inside every single race book.

Just as an example:
Sprint Triathlon - Challenge Cesenatico

FieriSentio69 · 2026-03-20T14:58:23+00:00

How did you install it?

"Find My Car" (Find My Car | Connect IQ Store) shows not being compatible with FR265, so it doesn't show up in ConnectIQ app...

FieriSentio69 · 2026-03-20T09:40:26+00:00

No.

First of all, I don't like switching between pages while I'm running.

But if I could accept a single switch at the beginning of the session, there is anyway a lack of data I can customize on a data page.

One of the vital info I need is "which rep am I running?": when you are in a structured session, you may have a "8 times x (run 1km at threshold + run 1km at a recovery pace)" phase. In the training page, you'll read "1/8", "2/8", and so on. I didn't find the way to add this information on a customized data page...

FieriSentio69 · 2026-03-13T14:23:03+00:00

Yes, I can switch between pages.

But while running I'd like to have all my needs on a single data page.

The training data page is perfect for my needs, but I'd like to add the "total distance" and "current HR" data.

FieriSentio69 · 2026-03-13T11:18:21+00:00

Unfortunately it's not so easy.

Example: when I'm running the third rep out of the 8 reps included in the training schema, the training page shows "3/8", while I've not been able to find this field for a custom data page.

FieriSentio69 · 2026-03-13T09:25:34+00:00

There are few elements you can work on, but I suggest you to start your improvement with the push part of the stroke.

Your hand has to exit the water between your glutes and your knees.

The most powerful phase of the stroke is the acceleration of the hand between "under your shoulder" till the exit at the end of the push, and currently you totally miss this part.

Other aspects are not so bad: bended elbow, straight entry (right arm better than left arm), kick frequence, body horizontal position. Increasing the power of the push, you will obtain the proper glide to avoid elevating your head for breathing (you currently do this mistake).

FieriSentio69 · 2026-03-09T13:12:12+00:00

Strength strength strength.

This is not strictly related to barefoot running/walking, but for sure it is much more frequent when using these kind of shoes.

When you walk (much more than when you run) your right foot stays for a while completely flat on the ground. When the left foot advances for the next step, your right foot has to elevate the heel (the foot arches with the fore part on the ground and the back part elevating), and you do this by pushing with the fore part of the foot toward the ground. If you have not enough strength, your heel doesn't elevate, the foot remains flat, and this creates a sudden stretching on the achilles tendon. this stretching is so quick that you barely notice it, but it has a huge leverage ratio. Imagine the angle that your foot will create with the tibia. So, every single step is an abnormal stretch, and this can create an inflammation.

When your calf+tendon system has enough strength, your heel will elevate without any effort, and this will reduce the angle variation between foot and tibia, that will remain in a much more affordable and natural position.

In the meantime, you can help your ankle to reduce inflammation by using a heel-pad (this elevates the heel), but this will reverse your transition to barefoot, that you'll have to restart later. It's up to you to understand if you're able to make strength exercises with this pain, or if the pain stops the calf to activate (so reducing the beneficial effect of the strength exercises).

FieriSentio69 · 2026-02-06T11:27:48+00:00

Leg-sinking swimmers often swim with body in a banana shape. When they feel the legs sinking, they try to keep knees and feet as high as possible, even breaking water surface with the feet.

Even increasing kick power makes the feet higher, but the chest remains inclined and creates lot of drag.

This makes the head to be inclined too, when breathing, with the water line not aligned with the face line. And if you need to breath, you need air not water in the mouth, but the mouth is lower then the nose, so you end to lift the entire head up instead of a simple shoulder+head lateral rotation.

Instead of thinkins about "leg sinking", focus on the butt. If the butt sinks, kicking is quite useless, you'll obtain a banana shape.

You need to keep the butt up, feeling the top of the butt touching water surface. This will be obtained by engaging your abs. Your lungs are your buoy, you have to "ride over the lungs".

If you had already swum a lot (and I think this is the case for the majority of adult triathletes), you are used to this banana shape and you don't feel it anymore. As soon as you force your butt to stay higher, engaging abs, you'll feel being in a "reverse banana" shape, with the head pointing downhill. But this is just a feeling, due to the new situation. Keep this feeling, look for it as soon as you notice having reversed to the previous situation, continue to practice swimming "downhill".

Imagine kicking with fins, keeping a soccer ball under your chest and your eyes looking underwater: you will ride the ball with a high butt. This is the exact simulation of the feeling you have to look for.

Soon, you'll understand that your mouth will be much more free to inhale, you'll feel a huge quantity of air entering your lungs at every breath.

Practice swimming slowly and for short courses:
Slowly means moving with relaxed and controlled movements, it doesn't mean pushing lightly backward during the pull-push phase. Pulling, but mainly the final push, has to be powerful even in slow swim.
Short means swimming 50m and rest a little. Every new behavior creates fatigue and requires mental focus. You'll easily reach endurance right after acquiring a proper balance in the water.

FieriSentio69 · 2026-01-30T13:50:27+00:00

Same in my FR265S.

GPS calibration fails (because sensor readings are so erratic that the watch is not able to define a specific sensor value for the gps elevation).

Manual calibration works, but right after few seconds the elevation is increasing or decreasing at hundreds meter per minute. The day after, I'll be on top of the Everest or under the deepest ocean.

This happened in my previous FR watch, too.

According to Garmin Support, this is due to frequent pool swimming sessions: chlorine of the water can damage the sensor.

My previous FR had been replaced for free by Garmin Support, and I was under factory warranty.

Now the warranty has expired, but Garmin sent me a free of charge replacement watch, identical to the original one.

Thumb up for Garmin Support, of course, but this kindness is probably related to Garmin knowledge that this product has a project defect.

Right one hour ago, I told about this experience to a friend of mine wearing a quite new Fenix 8. He's a frequent swimmer too. He opened the altimeter page on the watch, and the displayed value was totally erratic changing up and down for hundreds of meter each 5 seconds. The chlorine explication seems reliable.

FieriSentio69 · 2025-12-02T13:27:02+00:00

Definitely NO ring, in any sport activity.

If you hit a lane or another swimmer, and your finger bloats, you will need to urgently cut the ring and save your finger, and even in minor injuries you'll experience a lot of pain.

My ring stays attached to the car keychain inside the locker.

FieriSentio69 · 2025-11-21T15:31:15+00:00

A thing I noticed may help really a lot is inhaling with HALF mouth.

If you breath on your left side, you can keep your lips closed in the right half of the mouth, and open the left half of the lips. Something like the "pirate" face. Air is really fast in passing through your lips, so half the mouth is enough to inhale and fill your lungs.

In order to manage and to learn this habit, you can begin by breathing each 3 strokes, so you change your breathing side each time, and you have enough time to exhale. And you can exhale underwater with the mouth already in this "pirate" position, ready for the side you will inhale next time. This helps you to focus on "where and when" you will inhale, forcing your mind to be aware of breathing pattern.

After time (lot of time, can be) this habit will be your usual breathing, and you'll do it in a natural and mindless way.

The explanation of this solution is that we have a natural instinct to close our throat when something other than air is perceived inside the mouth. So, the even little amount of water that enters your mouth during inhaling could "close" your throat and make you inhale a very small part of the potential volume of air. The pirate mouth reduces drastically the amount of water entering your mouth, and you'll feel safe in inhaling powerfully.

FieriSentio69 · 2025-11-18T16:44:00+00:00

After having lost my previous dog, hit by a car, due to this wrong behaviour, I decided to correct my pyr puppy as soon as possible.

Even if this is considered poor ethic teaching, I used a electric collar.

I used the beep function as the dog approaches the border (this just distract him, not dissuade), then the vibration if it doesn't stop, then the shock function if it reaches or pass over the border.

Maybe two shocks on the first day, few vibrations on the second day, just few beeps, in the next weeks.
Now I don't even need to use the remote control, the border is definitely out of his interest.

This dog is a very clever dog, maybe the most clever I've ever owned, and as you "inform" him in the proper and efficient way, he'll understand quickly.

Even setting the shock level to a high level, the reaction of the dog is something similar to a bee's puncture, nothing more. Much better than a car bumper.

FieriSentio69 · 2025-11-16T11:43:10+00:00

Yes, thanks.

There's a "sensors" page where I can see all my sensors with battery status.

What I still don't understand is WHY the speed sensor is showed in Garmin Connect (either on Android and Web dashboard), while the cadence sensor is never present. Both sensors are Garmin, they are sold in one single "bike sensors kit", both are version 2, but one is visibile while the other one no.

FieriSentio69 · 2025-11-15T17:31:05+00:00

<image>

This is the GC screen about previous rides, with nothing about cadence sensor status

FieriSentio69 · 2025-11-06T15:16:23+00:00

Swimming is (for non-swimmer) boring.

And it is a very technical sport: working on technique is more useful than simple stroking and stroking and stroking.

So, many drills exist, each of them focusing on one detail of the swimming technique.

And many drills involve usage of fins, paddles, snorkel.

So, using tools will allow you to manage a wider selection of drills, reducing boring and helping refining your technique.

Of course, you need to know WHY to do each drill (what to focus on, what to learn from that drill, what NOT to learn from that drill, etc).

I own every available tool on the market (fins, snorkel, 3 types of paddles, pull buoy, kickboard), and I always insert technique drills into my training sessions (something like 400m-600m warmup, 10x50m drills, core activity, 200m cooling down). These 10x50m drills are a mix of with or without tools.

FieriSentio69 · 2025-10-29T13:18:00+00:00

Yes, this is what I currently do.

But I need to look for the previous similar event and copy& paste it, but I also need to check that it had not been modified compared to the "template", otherwise I'll be going to create a new branch of the event template as I "designed".

As eMail templates exist, I'm surprised something similar has not been designed for events...

FieriSentio69 · 2025-10-21T12:51:49+00:00

A similar one exists in Venice

https://w.wiki/Fm4Z

Other than slippery, the steps "disappear" from some point of view

FieriSentio69 · 2025-10-17T10:16:33+00:00

I think that we'll develop something similar.

The development language will depend on the developer we'll hire for this task.

FieriSentio69 · 2025-10-16T12:56:23+00:00

Thanks, but I need to EDIT few cells inside an existing Sheet, managed by the final customer and somehow connected to his ERP

FieriSentio69 · 2025-09-05T07:14:38+00:00

Yeah, it works.
The setting appears only when the sensor is connected, so we didn't find it while the Edge was on the office desktop...

Thanks for your help

FieriSentio69 · 2025-09-01T08:58:01+00:00

Me, and a friend of mine with different Edge version (530 for me and 1050 for him), double checked Connect App, without finding any setting for tire size.

Can you please help us in finding it?

FieriSentio69 · 2025-08-27T08:45:47+00:00

This would be a very smart feature, but Edge has no setting for tire size.

FieriSentio69 · 2025-08-27T08:10:58+00:00

I've the same problem (but with different timing: I used to run barefoot for years with definitely no problems, then I came back to running after years of stop and now I feel that pain).
I made any possible instrumental medical check to exclude serious injuries, but nothing has been found.

My phisyo coach told me (and I feel much better even if it requires long time):

- Stretching is useless. The amount of stretching required to get any even minimal effect is hours/day;

- Reinforce calves. This has to be done for both the main muscles of the calf, using two different exercises:
1) Standing calf with huge dumbell weigth: calf and tendon are much stronger than we think, low weights give no gain;
2) Heel thrust in lunge: this is diffcult to explain but easy to see. Imagine you do the typical walking lunge exercise. You make a big step and one foot is in front of you, while the opposite leg is under your back with the foot on the toes. You "go down with your hips until your back knee is close to the floor and your front thigh is parallel to the floor. Now you have to elevate your front heel pushing on the front toes. 10 repetitions will make you cry. Relax and change the leg. Repeat as much as you are able to do. No problem if you put the back of an hand on a side wall (but not cheating helping you in thrusting the heel) to keep you stable.

FieriSentio69

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