I don't know much about triathlon, but I know that open water swimming requires sighting. That is, make sure you swim in the most direct line to your destination. But, I don't know the best way to sight, how often to sight, or how to get yourself to naturally swim in a straight line.

Maybe you've already thought of this, but I use a sleeveless wetsuit so I have the same range of motion as when I'm in the pool. Also, I do a lot of bilateral swimming in the pool to make sure I'm balanced. I don't really sight all that much because I can stay relatively straight. I feel like no matter what kind of sighting you do, you're going to drop your legs/hips or spend a lot of energy trying to keep them up.

Everything you wrote i basically could've written. I'm a former college long distance swimmer myself, swimming is my strongest event, and i can do a mile in the pool in just under 30 minutes. my first 70.3 i did the swim in 34 minutes.

a lot of it depends on getting comfortable swimming in a pack, sighting, while wearing a wetsuit, etc etc etc. all the stuff you and i never had to deal with in a pool. if you can find a local triathlon club or multi-sport store that puts on an open water swim clinic, i recommend taking it. you'll learn tips on everything from wearing your wetsuit properly, to sighting, to turning around a buoy, etc etc.

one thing about wearing a wetsuit- you probably want to wear it higher than you are wearing it. lift the waist up high, and pull the shoulders up. i see a lot of people relying on the zipper to bring the back together- this is wrong. by the time you are zipping up the wetsuit, the zipper should go on nice and smooth. hint- when it's on, fully extend one arm above your head, and with the other hand check the armpit of the extended arm. there should be no air gap between the material and your skin.

another wetsuit tip, while swimming pull down on the collar to allow water to flow in. this will help keep you warm and make the wetsuit less constricting.

personally, i tend not to kick a lot while open water swimming. this takes some propulsion away, but honestly not that much. i remember hearing that kicking is only 20% of your overall propulsion, and that while OW swimming, you can forgo it to help maintain balance in the water, and to save your legs for the cycling and running.

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Brooklyn Tri Dad
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In addition to the good advice already given learn how to do bouy turns. Whether you do open water or triathlon bouy turns can be daunting. Get the March/April 2016 copy of Swimmer magazine (part of the deal if you are registered to a masters group through US Masters Swimming) and work on your turns. Makes a big difference when you're racing time wise and psychologically.

I feel your pain! As a swimmer turned triathlete I assumed the swim portion would be a walk in the park, but it definitely wasn't. In some ways you're worse off as a swimmer because (a) you're more attached to a 'pool' style of swimming which usually needs tweaking for the open water, and (b) you'll probably have a naturally better body position in the water from your swimming days, so you'll have less of a massive leg up from your wetsuit compared to most people who learned to swim as an adult.

For a long time my open water swims were at least 5 - 10 per cent slower than my pool times over the same distance. Here are a few things I did to improve:
- Practice practice practice sighting drills. In the pool and open water. There's no substitute for it! The main reason my times were slower was simply because I was swimming further in the open water - this is likely to be the case for you too.
- Get a wetsuit with thinner neoprene. It's colder but gives you more flexibility, which I found helpful. Speedo do one I really like (called thin comp or something similar). Or as someone has already suggested you can go sleeveless.
- Your recovery and entry phase of the stroke might need to be a bit more emphatic. I.e. a higher elbow and a slightly less graceful hand entry to ensure good clearance, especially if the water is a bit choppy.
- Some people suggest breathing unilaterally in open water (although personally I have found this makes me go off course more)
- Don't always push off the wall in pool sets or tumble. Strong swimmers get a big advantage from the push off the wall but obviously you don't get this in OWS so good to get used to the feeling of continuous swimming, especially during faster threshold sets.
- Make sure the wetsuit fits properly. Someone has said it before but it really needs to be pulled upwards. Bend double when it's on and shuffle as much material upwards towards your shoulders as you can.

Good luck! Hope this helps.

A lot of good advice worth following above. Two other points I'd add...

Sighting: Try 2 different sighting techniques - one where you peak as you initially lift your head to breathe, and one where you breathe first and then peek forward as your lead arm is coming back down. Both obviously require extra head lift. The former is what most do, including most pros. Practice in the pool until you can do it without 'breaking stride.'

Drafting: This is huge for open water swimming! Swimmers pull water behind them, so swimming on another swimmer's feet will give you a significant advantage. You can either swim behind someone your pace and save a lot of energy, or, better, swim on someone's feet who is slightly faster than you and get more speed for the same energy output. As a good swimmer you should be right at the front of the wave when the gun goes off. Swim as well and straight as you can for the first 100-150 yards, keeping an eye on those swimmers around you. Focus on good form, swimming straight and not red-lining. Then, when you see a swimmer edging past you slowly, that's your target! Get on their feet close enough that you're swimming in their bubble trail. If you occasionally touch their toes that's ok, but don't hit their feet hard (especially not repeatedly). Focus on maintaining good form and STAYING RIGHT ON THEIR FEET, especially around turn buoys. Hopefully you've found someone with good fitness that maintains their pace, and - even better - swims straight! But if you lose the draft, or they slow down too much, try to find someone else. As you go further into the swim, you will have less opportunity to draft faster swimmers (obviously), so if you need to switch drafts later, you will likely be forced to draft a swimmer the same speed. That's ok - it's still a big benefit as you will still be saving energy. Practice in the pool with a friend if you can.

Assuming there are no waves and you are not dodging traffic, your swim speed will be the same in a lake as it would be on a pool. (You might be a little faster with a wetsuit but the better swimmer you are, the less difference that makes. But, there are no turns, there may be currents, the courses are generally measured by guesswork. A tri swim might be 100 yards off, plus the timing mat for the "finish" of the swim for split purposes may be 50 yards up a sandy beach. So, while you can estimate your swim time to within a couple minutes, the .5 second estimates you are used to in the pool are totally out the window. Just swim and check the clock later.

Your biggest advantage as a swimmer is the ability to crank out a fast first 50 yards to get ahead of the scrum. If you have high school swim experience, you will be one of the fastest 10%. If you swam in college, even if you sucked, you'll be top 5%, even 15 years out and only training 2-3 times a week. Never ever underestimate how much normal people suck at swimming. Start at the front and don't be afraid to stick with the leaders.

very true. I am one of those normal people working on sucking a little less.

I'll have to disagree with that one. Wetsuits keep you warm by holding the same water in the suit. After you warm the water, it stays there (unless the suit is too loose). If water is circulating through the suit it has no chance to warm.

sorry, i was unclear. but i meant initially pull the collar open (sometimes necessary while swimming if suit starts to feel tight) to allow water in. yeah, if the suit is loose and water is flowing, no way it's going to get warm.


there is another way to keep warm in your wetsuit, but honestly, i have yet to master it...

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