Hi everyone,
I am a beginner in this field of triathlon & need some good guidance about improving open water swimming to increase my overall triathlon race speed.
Reduce Drag & increase Propulsion.
Unfortunately there is no magic secrets in the world of swimming.
Even as an MOP to front-of -MOP age group swimmer, I start wide and to the back. Pass everyone when it spreads out. My first race, I seeded myself right about where I should have. Then got swam over by most of my wave only to have to pass them again 500 yards later. I was fighting the whole swim. Burned way too much energy. Since then, it’s been much smoother. If I was going for podiums, I’d take a different approach, but the 45 seconds I sacrifice is made up by not being exhausted from swimming in a fist fight.
Practice, practice, practice- Get comfortable in the open water by swimming in the open water!
Look for tri clubs or masters clubs that have group swims in open water near you, seek out open water races (1 mile swims, etc), and simply take trips with a group of friends to your local lake/bay ( if possible) to do an occasional summer swim+bike brick workout. Don’t overthink it!
Swim inside and go buoy to buoy in the straightest line possible. Sight often to ensure you’re not swimming extra distance. Stick to the back of the pack if you’re worried about contact or rhythm.
Practice, practice, practice- Get comfortable in the open water by swimming in the open water!
Look for tri clubs or masters clubs that have group swims in open water near you, seek out open water races (1 mile swims, etc), and simply take trips with a group of friends to your local lake/bay ( if possible) to do an occasional summer swim+bike brick workout. Don’t overthink it!
^^ This
In order to get better at open water swimming you should swim in the open water. Once a week is good
What zissou said, and practice sighting. If you can find willing partners, practice bumping into each other during the swim, so you learn what it feels like and don’t freak.
Stay Calm!
Practice consistently for two times a week will be sufficient, along with all the technical aspects mentioned in all the comments, I think staying calm & less anxious while entering/swimming in ow is also important. This one, we admit, is easier said than done especially with the excitement of race day and wanting to give your best. Take a moment to yourself and mentally go over the course and focus. You can browse on internet for more tips, I found many good tips for the same
I wrote a blog post with a bunch of tips for managing the swim in open water, if you’re interested:
http://must-be-half-crazy.blogspot.ca/2014/05/open-water-relaxation-tips-for.html
Certainly it’s a good idea to get out and swim in conditions you expect to encounter on race day (e.g. ocean swim off a beach, cold river swim, etc). If you can be comfortable with your wetsuit, with the conditions, and with having a bunch of people swimming around you, you’re off to a good start.
If you have 1-2 other people you can swim with there is a ton of stuff you can do in a pool to help
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Incorporate swim paddles and buoy’s in your pool workouts. Strength work while lap lane swimming helps with OWS.
Also incorporate sighting drills in the pool. You’d be surprised how much effort sighting in OWS takes vs staring at the line of the bottom of the pool to stay straight.
Also consider breathing drills to work on bilateral if needed and erratic breathes due to OWS.
Here’s a sample of a swim workout I give to my athletes.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4poxgiGQco3VTcxMUVEU0QtZDQ/view?usp=sharing
I did a video about this when I was just starting to get into it, it might help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJvKtT-3i1w
One other thing I haven’t seen in this thread involves the pool, and that’s being careful to not use your turns to grab more air than you ‘deserve.’ I don’t think you ‘need’ to flip turn in training, but it ensures you’re not getting an extra 2 breaths at the wall that you wouldn’t if the turn wasn’t there. That adaptation to expecting that o2 might come back to really bite you on your OWS.
Also, just tripling down on the slow down thing. You will feel like you’re not moving, but you are. Trust that you’re moving forward and don’t go into the red trying to feel fast when you don’t have any perspective.
Practice, starting with calm days. Also, swimming with other people is good for motivation and safety.
There is a ton of good info in this thread!
To reinforce the information already said practice makes perfect - When I was first learning I remember my father-in-law renting a pontoon boat on a local lake and we rolled out to the middle and dropped anchor… He told me to put my wetsuit on and jump in - swim any direction I want for 10 min and come back.
That in reality made me feel more comfortable in the open water cause I knew no matter what in my suit I could just float there! But yes practice will help
just to add something - in your first race the swim will probably go by in what seems like minutes and you’ll be wondering what all the stressing was about
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Definitely lots of sound advice here.
I’m another to add that repeated practice and familiarity are key. It’s all about feeling relaxed, comfortable and enjoying whatever you may encounter on race day.
I’ll add a few additional skills not mentioned.
Learn to breath bilaterally, left and right. The former is great for sighting, whereas the ability to breathe on either side is useful if you’re being hammered by a chop from one side.
If you going to be doing races with ocean swims, learn about the ocean and how to swim in it.
Know how to recognise a rip current from both on the beach and from behind the waves. Learn what to (and not to do) if you’re stuck in a rip. The rip can be a free ride out beyond the breaking waves so gain experience in how to take advantage of it in training and racing.
Learn how to swim out through breaking waves. Learn how to bodysurf a wave to shore.
Most of all, have fun with it.