I did my first tri and was taken back by the mass of swimmers charging into the water. I definitely wasn’t ready to be kicked around and unable to do a full stroke. Does anyone have tips on how to train for this? Or any techniques to deal with close quarter swimming at the start of a tri?
I’m sure I will get used to it with time, and racing to hit the water Im sure could also make a big difference.
to train for this, do a circle swim with 10 faster swimmers?
to race next time,
shorten your stroke at the catch
or
swim with a catch-up stroke till it clears out
or
start out at the edge
or
start at the back
or
out-sprint everyone
and
put your cap on over your goggles.
It depends, relative to other triathletes, how good a swimmer are you?
If you are a good swimmer, start at the front and go hard for the first 200m and you’ll leave all the biff behind you.
If you’re not a good swimmer, start at the back and let all the biff happen in front of you.
If you’re an average swimmer it’s harder as this is the speed range where all the biff happens. What I used to do is start wide right or wide left, and essentially swim round it.
It’s generally quite easy to avoid almost all contact if you really want to.
Here’s an instructional video w/training tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3S0wu4Zbfk
As others have said, just start a bit off to the side if you want to avoid the scrum. Also go a bit wide at the first buoy, since everyone clusters up there as well.
Here’s an instructional video w/training tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3S0wu4Zbfk
As others have said, just start a bit off to the side if you want to avoid the scrum. Also go a bit wide at the first buoy, since everyone clusters up there as well.
;0) I wish it was that tame and easy.
Here’s an instructional video w/training tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3S0wu4Zbfk
As others have said, just start a bit off to the side if you want to avoid the scrum. Also go a bit wide at the first buoy, since everyone clusters up there as well.
;0) I wish it was that tame and easy.
It depends on the swim course, it’s harder if the course is narrow and there’s not a lot of room, but generally it is that easy.
The problem comes in the conflict between wanting to get the fastest swim time you can vs wanting to avoid contact - unless you’re a very fast swimmer and are out on your own at the front, these two are often mutually exclusive.
Or learn to enjoy it. After all, drafting is usually frowned upon on the bike.
More seriously, learning to swim on someone’s toes will help you to do better and have a more enjoyable time. Find someone who swims about the same speed as you, and practice following them a foot or so back (but not too closely, or you’ll get kicked in the face…).
Is there a tri club in the area or do you know anyone who could swim with you? If so, ask someone to join you for a swim and repeatedly bump you. A lot of people don’t like any kind of unexpected contact in the water–I have seen people freak out because they ran into a stick in an OWS. Ask someone to help you just get used to being touched in the water.
My advice would be to swim a lot and get very comfortable in the water.
My first few years in triathlon I was never completely sure that I would even survive the swim…
In the last five years I have upped my swim game, swimming 4-6 days per week, year round. I am only marginally faster but I am a thousand times more comfortable with swimming. Last year in a race I was in a scrum of about 20 people, getting beat on a little bit and I suddenly realized that I was having fun… When I first started triathlon, that same group would have terrified me.
YMMV.
That doesn’t work well for mediocre swimmers. Cause all the swimmers around you are mediocre, and thus not worth drafting off of. Unless you like go way to the right then way to the left.
Its perfectly legal to swim inside the course as long as when you get to every bouy marker you come inside it
.
Exactly, live it up there. It’s the one part of the day where it feels like a true race. Everyone around each other, and you get a bit of that “rubbing is racing” thing going on.
When the race starts wait 15 or so seconds then go.
Unless you’re at the pointy end this is the best way to avoid the mob; although I kind of like it 
Makes for great war stories.
It’s a challenge and definitely is overwhelming, especially for someone that is new to the sport.
The more races you do, the more swimming you do, the more confidence and comfort you develop. It all takes time mi amigo.
Sounds like its on par with meet warm up at most swim meets.
I have though of asking the lifeguards to recruit a group of the naughtiest, brattiest kids at the pool and put them in my swim lane with instructions to slow the old guy down.
Best way to get better in the scrum is to become a better swimmer, or develop some of the fish skills that allow for a better start.
If you’re a bad swimmer, seed lower. Don’t be the guy that swims 2:20/100 and wants to be at the front.
If you’re a MOP swimmer looking to find faster feet, seed towards the front, and work on your initial burst. 150-200m of absolute, balls to the wall speed, then settle in with whoever’s feet you’ve chosen to follow. Training for this, I like to do pool sets with speed varying in each repeat. You could try 10x50 as 25 all out/25 moderate, or 4x400 as 100 very hard, 300 race pace.
If you’re a good swimmer (remember, this is relative to triathlon), seed at the front, and nail a few good dolphin kicks right at the start. Then settle into a very hard pace for about 100m and you should be in the clear. I found dolphin kicking really improved my ability to get a good start in races. In the pool, you could try 25s as 12.5m dolphin kick, 12.5m fast swim. Really, just working on longer kickouts and underwaters for a few sets each time you hit the pool will improve your ability to do it in a race.
Good luck!!!
I try to let the people I work with know that open water swimming is a full contact sport: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3S0wu4Zbfk&list=PL560D48786EF98109
As others have stated, seed yourself according to ability. Practice & just keep swimming.
If it makes you feel any better, I’m a slightly better than MOP AG swimmer, so I get caught in the big mass of people. Probably THE biggest mass, as a lot of slow people go out too hard in the beginning and end up swimming at my speed for the first third of the race before they drop off, so it’s can get nuts out there - I don’t have the FOP swim speed to outdistance the pack right out of the gate.
I’ve gotten trapped for quite awhile in pretty much every mass start race I’ve done. Hasn’t mattered if I go out super hard, or go out super easy - I end up boxed in and can’t do full strokes for at least 200m, sometimes even 400m if it’s a busy race.
Its perfectly legal to swim inside the course as long as when you get to every bouy marker you come inside it
Quit giving away the secret to open water. Just a few feet inside the course is sooo much better than a few feet on the other side. Seems most people think they have to stay outside the sight bouys as well as the turn.