Hi all. As a sort of warm up before the season properly starts, I will be doing a sprint aquathlon with a pool swim. It will involve swimming 7.5 loops around a pool and turning around 4 buoys near the corners of the pool. I think it will be great practice for simulating the chaotic environment of an open water swim. But with so many of them (a 90-degree turn 28 times!), I figured I would look up how to do this without losing too much time.
So, I am wondering what people think of these two options :
-doing consecutive strokes with the outside arm while turning
-corkscrew turn (involving one back stroke half way through the turn)
Corkscrewing is a great way to change directions quickly; works great in water polo. In triathlon, if you are a FOP swimmer, a corkscrew can be highly effective to make a quick turn of 90 degrees or more. If you are surrounded by 50 of your closest friends in the MOP, on the other hand, you’re probably going to cause more problems than you solve.
……. If you are surrounded by 50 of your closest friends in the MOP, on the other hand, you’re probably going to cause more problems than you solve.
i have the exact same answer/experience. always, if there’s room. if it’s packed, no, for my own sake and that of all the others around me.
peggy
This image will stay in my head as I swim. May the fastest turd prevail.
And yeah. My hope is that it won’t be too crowded. I think they will have the start waves well spread out. But I hope it’s crowded enough to attempt drafting among people swimming at my speed (I did a couple of sprint triathlons last year, and I didn’t realize drafting was a thing, and I might have wasted some energy in finding clear water).
have you used the corkscrew turn in the past? or at least practised it with a few people swimming in your armpits?
i’ve tried it in practise, and with other swimmers, but it takes more co-ordination than i can muster. in a race, i would be bashing people left and right.
-corkscrew turn (involving one back stroke half way through the turn)
Wow, i googled corkscrew and found the strokes, didnt know about that one, although i used to do something like that on my long distance swims, nothing planned though, just switching it up a bit for fun.
Any videos of a “corkscrew turn” that you can share? I am curious now, sounds pretty awesome.
-corkscrew turn (involving one back stroke half way through the turn)
Wow, i googled corkscrew and found the strokes, didnt know about that one, although i used to do something like that on my long distance swims, nothing planned though, just switching it up a bit for fun.
Any videos of a “corkscrew turn” that you can share? I am curious now, sounds pretty awesome.
Are walls off limit? Depending how close the buoys are to the corners, and rules - I’d find a way to push off the walls.
I had not thought about it. I don’t see any such restriction on the event rules. The buoys will be at least 5 meters from the far end walls. I doubt it would be worth swimming those extra meters for the extra push…
He’s probably just doing it to get a look behind (it actually seems to slow him a bit), and none of the guys who are swimming in traffic do it. He doesn’t repeat it on the 2nd lap.
He’s probably just doing it to get a look behind (it actually seems to slow him a bit), and none of the guys who are swimming in traffic do it. He doesn’t repeat it on the 2nd lap.