i am swimming in fairly turbulent open water. waves roll into me cross-ways.
and, every so often, i get so disoriented i must stop completely and look around.
if i don’t, after about 2-min. i end-up heading completely off target and thus swimming a
longer distance than i need to.
(1) i am watching the olympics and notice the swimmers keep their head down
and breath back and to the right/left. they sight by looking at the lane lines
behind them. this is clearly the most hydro-dynamic way to go.
(2) on you-tube videos of triathlon swimming, it “looks” like the swimmers will
raise their head straight-up and look forward? this really slows you down, but
helps you swim in a strait line. (which nets out to having a faster swim time).
i am trying option 1, and sighting on an object back and to the right/left on the horizon,
but, its not working. the waves are too big. and often there is nothing on the horizon
anyway.
any ideas on a technique to practice? or, is a real triathlon swim such a jumble of
flailing feet and arms that sighting is impossible anyway?
thanks.
Considering I have seen people just sight to the closest marker and not the turn around and swim waaaaay off course due to a loose marker floating away. I will stick to peeking ahead every 50 yards or so.
Maybe just put your face into the kicking feet in front of you and hold steady??
Most pool swimmers sight by looking at the black line on the bottom. Open water swimmers use many different methods; the one I find most useful is to scope out the course before hand and find tall objects (water towers, cell towers, tallest trees, big buildings, etc) to serve as markers. If they are not existent, use the course buoys. About every sixth stroke, I raise my head and take a mental picture of what I have seen, then continue swimming while processing that picture and follow that with adjustments.
When I’m in the pool I normally look at the line on the bottom to swim straight.
When I’m in open water I only need to raise my head high enough to get a glimpse of what is ahead of me. I’m not raising my head high enough to let my feet drop. I can allways see swimmers and can normally see the turn bouys so I just aim for them. I’m also fortunate that I have 20/20 vision.
With bigger waves you will just have to sight more, like every 6 strokes depending on how you swim that day. If you happen to be in a trough just sight again on the next cycle. I sight on a 3 stroke pattern.
Stroke 1 pull with left arm, breathe to left.
Stroke 2 pull with right arm, peek up to see.
Stroke 3 pull with left and hold body position.
Then on the next stroke I breathe to the right.
Sometimes I’ll breathe to the left twice before I sight. I can do it from either side but for some reason I prefer to start from the left. That’s odd cuz I’m a right side dominant breather.
As a fairly experienced open water swimmer I have to concur with Sea2…
Scope out the course in advance and plan your site points and landmarks. I also found that training catch-up stroke helped me a lot with sighting. I let my left arm hang up there for a second, then on the catch phase and beginning of the stroke I lift my head up while my right arm is recovering and take a quick look. I practice this in the pool; taking very quick site reads. (This kind of timing comes from swimming Butterfly: as I’ve found that my fly timing is better when i begin to lift my head right after both arms do the “catch).”
This is why scoping out the course and picking a prominent landmark is key, - it only takes a super fast look to get your bearings on your focal point. Practice helps a lot. In place that have strong currents, like Alcatraz, and the Tiburon Mile, or Tahoe, - finding a good landmark can make a huge difference as navigation becomes critical.
You really can’t sight left/right. You can’t tell if you are 105 yards from that shoreline or 175 yards and as you veer off you are doing extra swimming.
If you are not in the back (where the swimmer’s skills are suspect) you might just choose to trust the swimmer in front of you and stay on their feet. Note, in most open water swims you won’t see their feet, you simply get a feel for their wake.
Can you really swim a straight line for 2 minutes in open water? I have to sight every 8 strokes. When you develop the technique it doesn’t slow you down as much as you might think. You only lift your eyes out of the water. You keep your feet up and your stroke going. You do this while exhaling when you would have had your head down in the water, then you breath to the side like normal. (ie. you do not clear your entire face and sight while inhaling).
Sighting is not impossible in flailing arms. It can be more difficult, but hopefully your next bouy is big and brightly colored so it’s still easy to catch a glimpse of it. One problem I had was a race that utilized blaze orange bouys and forced the athletes to wear blaze orange swim caps. Another ‘problem’ is that races are always in the morning when the sun is on the horizon. At some point you’re likely to be going East and the sun will blind you.
You need to get out and scope the swim before the start. When this happens you need to note how many degrees off from the sun your target bouy is then sight relative to the sun.
Do what Bob said.
You really can’t sight left/right.
i’ve been trying this technique for about 10 days now, and was a complete failure.
glad i posted.
Can you really swim a straight line for 2 minutes in open water?
no. almost certainly not. that was a very optimistic guess. if i know i will stay
committed to tri lifestyle, a water-proof watch is first on my list of gear to purchase.
i am about 3-weeks into the journey. so far i am doing great.
I have to sight every 8 strokes.
now that sounds alot more reasonable.
When you develop the technique it doesn’t slow you down as much as you might think.
You only lift your eyes out of the water. You keep your feet up and your stroke going. You do this while
exhaling when you would have had your head down in the water, then you breath to the side like normal.
Swimming in a pool you can just use the lane lines or bottom of the pool. You can do that to some degree in the open water too using land marks. In a race for the most part it is best to use to the buoys. As you have said this means you have to use a different set of skills to sight. My advice is
When sighting raise your head out of the water as little as possible. The more you raise your head the more your hips will drop creating drag. If the water is very choppy this is not really an option you usually have to raise your whole head out of the water.
If the waves are rollers simply wait until you get to the top of the wave to sight. This gives you a great view.
In general Sighting every 8 to 10 strokes is a good call. If in the ocean this may be key due to currents. In a lake, if you are a balance swimmer, and there is no current you may not need to sight as much.
Practice is best way to get good get in the open water and practice sighting on buoys. This will get you good and give you confidence. Then you can trust your self
Getting good at sighting is a great call. I have been in races ware the leaders got in a pack and took a poor line. I took my own line passed them and came out of the water a minute ahead of them all. Hope this helps. Stick with and you’ll get good
I glued a small magnetic compass on my goggles. It works great.
Wow…that’s pretty innovative
Yeah, I might need to try that. It seems like it would have to be a very good compass (ie. those cheap ones ‘stick’). I wonder if the breathing motion would cause it to perpetually spin?
Oh, and how can you read the dial when the thing is 1/2" away from your eyeball? I might be too old to focus that close.
I glued a small magnetic compass on my goggles. It works great.
Wow…that’s pretty innovative
Almost as good as a set of nike contacts with tiny magnets in them.
of course they only work when you are looking strait down…
Sighting is not impossible in flailing arms. It can be more difficult, but hopefully your next bouy is big and brightly colored so it’s still easy to catch a glimpse of it. One problem I had was a race that utilized blaze orange bouys and forced the athletes to wear blaze orange swim caps. Another ‘problem’ is that races are always in the morning when the sun is on the horizon. At some point you’re likely to be going East and the sun will blind you.
You need to get out and scope the swim before the start. When this happens you need to note how many degrees off from the sun your target bouy is then sight relative to the sun.
