HI again all ST'ers,
I tried a (borrowed) wetsuit for the first time this evening :-).
The only opportunity I had was at the outside pool.
So, after a little warm up I swam a 750 m to get an idea of my swim "speed" for the sprint distance I intend to do in two weeks.
I'm at 1:30-1:35/100m in a 25m pool. With the wetsuit it's very easy to swim smoothly at that pace, with a little steady kick (for me).
Being optimistic, I think I can try a fast start at the next local event, and keep the front for this distance. The best swimmers are in the 1:40/100m pace for that race ( I know, it's open water, not a pool ;-) !! ).
The water is a large river, with slow current. The course is a rectangle ( one lap of the blue loop for sprint):
There are approx. 100-120 starters in the water. I'm not very comfortable with lots of people, so I prefer to go in front, because the slowest swimmers are very slow, and ... well....I'll lose lots of time. I'm not comfortable either with the idea of swimming behind somebody's feet ( I swam as a kid and ever since I was a kid I hated, and still hate to touch another swimmer in the pool lane, grrr!!!). I know I saw triathletes train together on purpose and swim very close from one another. I'm not there yet.
Should I place at the end of one side to escape the "traffic" ? I imagine every swimmer will want to place where the best line will be, taking the current into account (current from left to right).
There, send your comments, advices, mucho appreciated.
Louis :-)
I tried a (borrowed) wetsuit for the first time this evening :-).
The only opportunity I had was at the outside pool.
So, after a little warm up I swam a 750 m to get an idea of my swim "speed" for the sprint distance I intend to do in two weeks.
I'm at 1:30-1:35/100m in a 25m pool. With the wetsuit it's very easy to swim smoothly at that pace, with a little steady kick (for me).
Being optimistic, I think I can try a fast start at the next local event, and keep the front for this distance. The best swimmers are in the 1:40/100m pace for that race ( I know, it's open water, not a pool ;-) !! ).
The water is a large river, with slow current. The course is a rectangle ( one lap of the blue loop for sprint):
There are approx. 100-120 starters in the water. I'm not very comfortable with lots of people, so I prefer to go in front, because the slowest swimmers are very slow, and ... well....I'll lose lots of time. I'm not comfortable either with the idea of swimming behind somebody's feet ( I swam as a kid and ever since I was a kid I hated, and still hate to touch another swimmer in the pool lane, grrr!!!). I know I saw triathletes train together on purpose and swim very close from one another. I'm not there yet.
Should I place at the end of one side to escape the "traffic" ? I imagine every swimmer will want to place where the best line will be, taking the current into account (current from left to right).
There, send your comments, advices, mucho appreciated.
Louis :-)