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This $16 suit is just fine for your purposes: (search amazon) Kanu Surf Men's Competition Jammers Swim Suit

And the most comfortable goggles for me (I have a Roman/Native American nose that makes most goggles painful) are $17.50: TYR Nest Pro Goggle (also Amazon)

Man at your height and weight you don't have much fat to keep you afloat! J/k--good advice from the first response. Swimming makes me want to come home and eat everything in the house and then take a 4-hour nap.

YouTube is your friend. I'm not a great swimmer, but just recently started inching my way into slightly above average (by triathlete standards). All taught by you tube. went from being able to swim a few pool lengths to doing a race on Sunday with a 1.2 mile swim where I expect to be faster pace for the whole 1.2 miles than I could keep for one pool length 2 years ago.

3 things I'd buy. Comfortable goggles (I like TYR special ops 2.0), Endurance material jammers (they last longer in chlorine than thin racing stuff), and a pull buoy.

pull buoy will hold your legs up while you figure out the whole stroke process. Allows you to slow it down and really concentrate on what you are doing without sinking. And that's tough to do for a beginner if you don't have the pull buoy.

breathing is the first step. breathe out under water, rotate head and breathe in, repeat. trying to exhale and breathe in with your face out the water doesn't leave you enough time. get the muscle memory to get confident breathing like that and everything else slows down. still a ton to learn, but its what separates swimmers from those dumbasses flailing around doing 25 yds at a time looking like they're gonna die.

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2 cents:
- By no means do you need to buy a Speedo suit to get started but it does help with water resistance, and will probably be something you'll eventually want to invest in.
- I would recommend goggles. My eyes get irritated by chlorine and I think that's true of most people.
- Even though you're in shape, swimming is all about stroke and efficiency. I've known many folks who start triathlon very fit from a running or cycling background but get frustrated quickly because they're getting passed in the pool by "less fit" people. Try not to get frustrated.
- You can watch videos online that will help with swim technique and will have drills to do - i.e., catch up, finger dragging, etc. There are also good articles in magazines like Triathlete that will give you good tips - high elbows, rotate your core, etc.
- In terms of workouts, start slowly. Maybe start with 6 x 50 and focus on form. Add another 50 every workout or two. Your endurance will continue to build, but pay attention to technique and get comfortable in the water.
Hope this helps!

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I can’t really add to this.


Except. The Butterfly stroke sucks arse.

Thanks for all of the tips.

Start by swimming exclusively with a pull buoy, focusing on breathing and catch/pull. Once you get that down only use the pull buoy every now and then to continue form work. I watched a lot of youtube videos and really worked on hand placement for a long time. I can't tell you how many people I see swimming who have no idea how much drag they are creating from having poor hand placement.

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That's the order I'd concentrate on things and youtube can teach you about them all. I still don't have Body rotation down and barely have a 2-beat kick. It takes a long time to really get swimming dow

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Thanks for the info!
I plan on starting sometime this week.

I have a buddy who used to swim and now coaches a youth team agree to come swim with me and show me the ropes. So hopefully that will help me out.

I need to look into getting a pull buoy though it sounds like.

Also, regarding your gear ... SwimOutlet.com has jammer-style suits for $11ish and highly rated goggles for <$5