The key component of my training that is essential to be successful in open water at the elite level is changing your speed. I think that's a common misconception at the age group level; it's really tough to get faster if you just practice at one consistent speed. Sure, that might get you in decent aerobic shape, but you have to be able to separate yourself from the pack in a race or respond to moves being made by other competitors. I might be a "distance" swimmer, but in some form or another I will be working on my sprint freestyle in every workout as well.

Example of main set (long course meters):
8x50 free on :50 seconds (hold :30 sec per 50)
200 free cruise on 3:00
4x100 free on 1:30 (negative split the 100)
200 free cruise on 3:00
2x200 free on 2:45 (negative split the 200)
200 free cruise on 3:00
400 free for time on 6:00 (went about 4:14)
200 free cruise on 3:00
Total of 2400 meters

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The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title

In terms of having a race plan and executing it, last Sunday was probably the best that I've done in my athletic career. I'm the type of racer that likes to lead the whole time; make it a race of who is in the best shape and not just leave it for a sprint at the finish. I got out pretty quick and settled into the lead by the time we got under the bridge. Around four other guys settled into a line behind me, and it stayed that way for the first half of the race. I would occasionally make short bursts of speed for :15-:30 seconds, and then roll over on my back and relax; I was usually able to separate from them in those short bursts, and that gave me a lot of confidence for when I was planning on making my big move just past the three mile mark. The three mile mark is when everyone starts getting those mental struggles, it starts getting hot, the end doesn't seem like it's getting any closer; it's the perfect place to make a move. I quickly moved diagonally and then took off, keeping my head down for what I would guess was five minutes at an all out sprint. When I looked back, I couldn't see anyone else, and knew in that moment I had won, even though there was still a mile left. I kept pushing all out until I exited the bridge, and then played it safe into the finish because I was starting to get extremely hot and didn't want to risk anything. It was nice being able to walk up the beach instead of sprinting across the line, and I think I chugged about three Gatorades immediately; it was a hot and humid day by the finish.

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The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title

As mentioned by the OP one of my concerns would be getting nauseated if there are swells. Our local group trains in Lake Eire and a few times with a 2-3 foot swell I have had to swim in to beach and take a break. We usually swim parallel to beach about 100 m out for safety. What do open water swimmers do to mitigate that. Other than train in it.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Andrew,

Thanks so much for chiming in here!!! A few more Qs:

1. You mentioned getting hot. What was the water T??? Did you wear a wettie??? Sleeveless long-john or shortie???
2. The main set you posted was 2400 lcm but surely your total workout is more like 6000-8000 lcm??? I've heard that top swimmers are swimming less these days than say 15 yrs ago, but still I'd think a D swimmer would want at least 70,000 meters/week???
3. Did you swim for Stanford in the pool, or are you more of a pure OW swimmer??? What are your best times for 500, 1000, and 1650 free??? We always wonder about these things. :)

Thanks very much,

Eric

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

i notice you FINALLY got yourself an account here! your voice will be welcome.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Haha I'm a longtime "lurker," but I'm ready to be a regular contributor to conversations and I'm looking forward to it! (especially if it's a topic related to swimming)

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The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title

Thanks for the question Len, as I think knowing how to manage different open water conditions is a topic that doesn't get talked about enough. The idea of dealing with swells and wake in open water is actually a bigger mental battle for me then it is physical. I find myself getting very negative in my head when I'm dealing with rough water because it messes up with my rhythm, feels like I'm using more effort than I should, etc. So the biggest advice that I can give is to stay positive mentally, and know that everyone else is having to fight through the same conditions as you.
At the elite level, guys do actually change their technique in rougher conditions. I will make my stroke more short and "choppy" in rough water (higher cadence) to ensure that I'm not missing as much water in my catch in the troughs of the waves. I also practice bilateral breathing when I'm in the pool (even though I am naturally more comfortable breathing to my right side) because you always want to be breathing away from incoming waves in rougher water. This is less precise, but I try to adjust and mentally prepare for the "rhythm" of the swells once you get a sense of the timing of the waves, so it's not always a big surprise when a wave hits you.

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The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title

Thanks for the questions Eric!
1. Water temp was around 71 degrees. Normally I'm a traditionalist and wouldn't wear a wetsuit at that temperature, but I saw essentially all of the top guys in wetsuits so I decided it would only be fair to wear one too (I considered that my handicap since I've been working full time haha). The air was also very warm and humid that day, which is why I mentioned starting to feel hot towards the end. Blueseventy has always "sponsored" me, so I wore their full Helix suit.

2. Honestly, and this is something that I really want to emphasize and inspire others with, I maybe did two workouts in the last three months that have been over 6,000 meters. Yes, I recognize that I do have a lot of natural talent and a big aerobic engine from years of hard workouts in the pool, but you can win a 4.4 mile swim race on a budgeted training schedule. Like I said in my last post, with work and travel I have maybe averaged 35,000 meters in the pool per week. But I am incredibly motivated every time I jump in the pool because I have such limited opportunities nowadays, so everyone of those workouts is very high quality and high intensity. Not all training groups are this way, but I would definitely say it is a trend around the country of decreasing overall yardage and ramping up the intensity.

3. I didn't swim for Stanford and was my own coach throughout college. The Stanford facilities are incredible and as a student it was never an issue to get access to a pool at any time of the day. Was there likely a downside that I didn't train with an elite group of other athletes and had to come up with my own workouts and motivation? Probably. But I also got to make my own schedule and tailor my workouts specifically to my goals, so there was some upside as well.
I've never been as good in the pool as open water, but my best times are 4:05 for 400 LCM, 8:30 for 800 LCM, and 16:00 for 1500 LCM.

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The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title

Do you wear ear plugs? Wearing them can be helpful in reducing the chance of nausea by not letting water into your ear canals, which can throw off your equilibrium.

jake

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Get outside!

1. Wow, a FULL wettie at 71, no wonder you were getting hot at the end!!!

2. 35,000 meters is still quite a bit but understand your point about the trend to quality over quantity.

3. But surely you COULD have walked on at Stanford if you wanted to, right??? OTOH, as you said, you had much more flex by training on your schedule. JOOC, what did you major in at Stanford??? Did you find it hard academically??? I swam my frosh year at Johns Hopkins and found it tough to get all the studying done plus swim 12-16 hr/wk.

Thanks again for your insights!!!

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

My daughter is a very good triple jumper and we are struggling a bit with deciding if she will continue in university. She wants to go to professional school so doing alot of training to detriment of academics might not be best. She is already being recruited but we are likely going to stay in Canada and if she wants she can do track hopefully on her terms. I have alot of respect for agyenis in chosing to not swim varsity when it looks like by talent level he could have. Sounds like you stopped swimming after frosh year was that to concentrate on school?

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Ya, basically, although I did play on the tennis team my soph year. I never could study 4-5 hrs straight through the afternoon, have dinner, then study 4-5 more hrs. I always went to gym around 4 pm to clear my head out, just as I would've if I had continued swimming. Biggest diff was I was doing a fair amount of diff stuff: b-ball, weights, running, swimming, tennis, etc, so not as grueling as 2 hr of swimming every day, plus no morning workouts 3 days/wk.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Not sure if this will resurrect an old thread of if I should start a new one re: 2020 Chesapeake Bay Swim?!

Looking for input as I am a first timer to the GCBS. I have many oly tri's in my background but this is my first distance open swim and I'm super excited!

Wondering about training - weekly distance recommendations, pointers to useful sets to break up training sessions in the pool? How many days/week? I had been regular 5-6 days, but with my distances going up, I'm feeling it a bit in my shoulder and wonder if fewer days to allow recovery is a better approach as distance goes up?

Reading through the older thread and suggestions to eat during the race. Where do you put a gel/how do you eat during a swim race?

Curious about what is a "slow" vs respectable time for a 50-55 AG female? First priority is of course completion, but what is a reasonable time to finish?

Finally on logistics - I haven't seen anywhere the actual time of day for the start! I know it is coordinated with tide/current, but in general is it a early morning start or could it end up being in the afternoon (I run a dive meet that afternoon so maybe I'll have extra incentive to swim fast to get to my team :-)

Thanks so much!
Ramona

The GCBS starts depending on slack tide, when the current is lightest. That’s usually about an hour before full tide, so that the tide turns an hour into the race.

As for training: it’s about 7800m, so do some long swims that peak about 8200m. You should do at least three of those long swims at 8200, a week apart, building the entire time from now to then. You should swim 4-5x/week. Basically, train it like a marathon, but slightly shorter, time wise. Your AG “solid times” are in the 2:05-2:25 range, but really good times are under 1:55-2:00, depending on conditions that day. The good thing about swimming training is that you can go hard day in, day out, and build lots of volume, unlike running. Do some breaststroke work, since you’ll do some in the race.

Your sets can be lots of things like 3 x (500-400-300-200-100), 4 x (200-400-300-600), 2x (8x50, 6x100, 4x200, 2x400, 1x800), descending 800’s, etc).

Also, do plenty of core work. Your back will thank you for it. Since you won’t have walls to give your back that short stretch break, you could get some soreness.

Take 2 gels, put them in your suit, either down the front, under the elastic at your outer hips, or in the leg holes of your wetsuit, if you decide to wear one. Consume your gels at :45 and :90, and you’ll be fine. There’s a water station halfway. Take a third gel right before your start.

Consider NOT wearing one, bc even at usual CB temps at that time of year, low 70’s, ANY wetsuit you wear will overheat you-unless you wear Lava shorts. Wear two swim caps, and that will keep your head plenty warm.