It's a common belief that salt water, being more dense would give a swimmer an easier ride with more floatation.
I think that is not correct for some, and here's my explanation of what happened to me:
When I started swim training I always had difficulty swimming without the wetsuit, due to the legs. I have long narrow legs and a short torso - good for being fast on a bike. 6'1" 165lbs
I was training daily (like a lot) in our warm clean fresh water lake. The water is pretty soft now - mid 70's. This year I can go for any distance in jammers after fixing up my stroke and kick. Even better with the aid of the PZ3 suit because my body trims out higher in the back due to that very-little bit of floatation.
During a Ocean race this past Sunday I got into trouble in the swim. Didn't feel easy and I was having to go all out and in the end I self-destructed due to leg cramping. I finshed after waiting for the legs to calm down on a sand bar.
I jumped back in the lake the same day, and Monday it was a different world.
So last night, I jumped in Kits pool which is a saltwater pool. I did two lengths or 250M and I was knackered. I went again and I felt slow and had to work way to hard. I grabbed a pull-buoy and took off like a barracuda.
The difference in density and floatation of saltwater adversely affects how my body trims out. My theory is that with the legs, short torso I am really on the cusp of flying or sinking. So I am going to have to work harder on trimming and also take that saltwater environment into account.
If you are headed to the ocean from the pool, and are on that edge (sinker vs floater) like me you may want to spend time in salt beforehand.
Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com
I think that is not correct for some, and here's my explanation of what happened to me:
When I started swim training I always had difficulty swimming without the wetsuit, due to the legs. I have long narrow legs and a short torso - good for being fast on a bike. 6'1" 165lbs
I was training daily (like a lot) in our warm clean fresh water lake. The water is pretty soft now - mid 70's. This year I can go for any distance in jammers after fixing up my stroke and kick. Even better with the aid of the PZ3 suit because my body trims out higher in the back due to that very-little bit of floatation.
During a Ocean race this past Sunday I got into trouble in the swim. Didn't feel easy and I was having to go all out and in the end I self-destructed due to leg cramping. I finshed after waiting for the legs to calm down on a sand bar.
I jumped back in the lake the same day, and Monday it was a different world.
So last night, I jumped in Kits pool which is a saltwater pool. I did two lengths or 250M and I was knackered. I went again and I felt slow and had to work way to hard. I grabbed a pull-buoy and took off like a barracuda.
The difference in density and floatation of saltwater adversely affects how my body trims out. My theory is that with the legs, short torso I am really on the cusp of flying or sinking. So I am going to have to work harder on trimming and also take that saltwater environment into account.
If you are headed to the ocean from the pool, and are on that edge (sinker vs floater) like me you may want to spend time in salt beforehand.
Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com