Hey all,
disclaimer: I suck at swimming, big time. And I suck even more at swimming straight. And, hard to believe, but I suck a gazillion times more combining that with navigation in open water in a triathlon.
So, today in my olympic tri I decided early on to screw it and just follow feet…turns out I swam much faster. Could that be a “solution” to my problem? I mean, unless I am the only starter in a race I will never be even close to the front, let alone lead…
What do you think?
Thanks,
U
I need to convince myself to do this more. I love finding a dragging “partner” but often won’t trust their line so I then go off on my own after a bit and then end up terribly off course. I think your strategy was probably wise. I find The challenge is finding someone only slightly faster than you
Depends how bad you suck. There are no good feet to follow in the MOP and slower. Learned this the hard way.
If you stay in the big wash group which you probably will if you suck you will benefit from the wisdom of the collective. If you are okay with MOP or BOP I think it works. And you will get some drafting too. For me that drives me crazy so I am happy drafting one person or swimming straight and alone.
Drafting in OWS is absolutely a “thing” that you should take advantage of, especially if you are a weaker than average swimmer.
Find some feet and follow them. It’s that easy; don’t over-think this. When you watch the pros, you will see them form a human snake in the water for this reason 
The challenge is believing they are slightly faster because it feels easy following them and you are tempted to go it on your own. At least it is for me.
Agreed
.
I’m a FOP swimmer and I find feet all the time. I site less, then, to only check they’re on track. Two things: staying on someone’s feet is drafting and I’ve heard up to 30% energy savings. Also, siting less means less energy spent getting your head out of the water and the likelyhood your feet and hips sink, causing a bunch of drag. There’s more, but suffice to say, you did the right thing.
Like running down hills, or biking up hills and cornering it’s another skill you need to be good. Whether you choose to learn the most important part of open water swimming is up to you.
Hey all,
disclaimer: I suck at swimming, big time. And I suck even more at swimming straight. And, hard to believe, but I suck a gazillion times more combining that with navigation in open water in a triathlon.
So, today in my olympic tri I decided early on to screw it and just follow feet…turns out I swam much faster. Could that be a “solution” to my problem? I mean, unless I am the only starter in a race I will never be even close to the front, let alone lead…
What do you think?
Thanks,
U
When you become good at sighting, it becomes natural and just part of your regular breathing pattern. If you are slow, don’t worry about drafting off other slow swimmers for now - but I would try to practice sighting in your pool swims so that as you become better it will be one less hurdle. In faster races, like ocean swims, sighting and going straight while the group follows someone else whose going in a zigzag can make a huge difference in how much you end up having to swim.
not that I don’t want to learn how to navigate, but considering the amount of work my swim needs it is not my No. 1 priority. Especially not in a race where sighting puts me totally out of rhythm and makes my legs sink.
As still kind of a newbe to triathlon I was just surprised how well it worked just following people without putting my head out. The previous race I tried to navigate on my own I went so far off course that a guy in a boat had to chase me… Afterwards I had 2050m on my watch in an olympic Tri
U