I would like to help my daugher be more efficient with her open water starts. She is a very strong swimmer, usually in the top 20% of her wave, but also very small at just over 5 foot. Her natural inclination is to start at the front in the middle of the line. The problem is she always seems to get caught in a tight pack of bigger people and has a hard time breaking out. Also, it scares me a little to have her battling it out with full grown men. She seems to do ok when she starts off to the side because she is able to get to clear water faster, even though she is swimming a little furthur. But she likes to start in the middle. Does anybody have any advice for her on the swim start?
I’ve found smaller events have more gentle swim starts and allow you to get accustomed to swimming in an aggresive group. Also, most of our wave starts are female only for the women, and that tends to make it more civilized.
For some reason, the men are a triffle more rough.
I had someone last weekend touching my calves on the start and I felt like I was going to get run over. I started kicking really hard to warn him that I was there and he backed off. After we spread out a bit I went back to my normal 2 beat kick.
jaretj
Even if she starts WAY out wide, the extra distance is nil. the energy saved and the speed maintained by being able to swim away from the crowd for the first 100-200 yards, more than makes up for the extra few yards. This is less than 5 yards, and usually less than 2.
After things settle out, she can draft of some of the other leaders of the pack.
Is she in high school and does the h.s. have a water polo team? A season of that and she’ll learn to be the pummeler and not the pummeleee - TB
Thanks, Docfuel. So if she starts off to the side, is there one side that is better than the other? In other words, if the course heads off to the right, should she line up at the right end of the line or should she start off to the left. From watching things, I would think that it would be better to line up at the opposite side of the direction that the race will proceed. There seems to be less people there and it appears that they are generally slower. But to her, it seems like she is getting farther away from where she wants to go. In most of the races that she does, there are both male and females in her wave and sometimes her age group goes off with the elites. She has had her best swims when she goes with the elites, but I think that is because the waves had less people, so she was in the clear very quickly. In her last race, she was with the 50 and over men and even though she lined up to the side, she got stuck in a pack of big guys and had a hard time getting away.
Although she is not in high school yet, she has been playing water polo with her swim team for years, so she is pretty used to the roughness. It is just frustrating to her when she gets stuck in a pack and can’t seem to get away. Usually what happens is as they fade, she is able to break out. But she knows that her swim splits would be so much better if she could avoid getting boxed in like that.
So if she starts off to the side, is there one side that is better than the other?
I would think it depends a lot on how far the first buoy is from the start. If it’s relatively close, it’s a good idea to be on the outside- that is, if turn at the buoy is to the left, she should be on the right side of the pack. That way she can swing all the way around the crowd that inevitably bunches up at the buoy. If she’s on the inside of the turn, she’s going to get smushed.
I would think that it would be better to line up at the opposite side of the direction that the race will proceed. There seems to be less people there and it appears that they are generally slower. But to her, it seems like she is getting farther away from where she wants to go.
Exactly. The extra distance is offset by having clear room to swim.
Chiming in with the usual caveat to watch the waves ahead of her go off so she can see any currents or sandbars you need to deal with if you start wide. I’ve been in races where start outside=getting pushed so far off course you’ll get fished out by the kayaks.
Yeah, rub it in, Ms. I Get to Swim in the Big Blue Sea. 
I got back from vacation in NJ a week and a half ago, and I already have to get used to tasting fresh water again. Bleah.
Back on point- have you ever been able to take advantage of rip tides to get a good start?
There are actually a lot of tris here that use inland waterways. The hardest tri swim I’ve done (and will probably ever do) involved a hellacross current in the “usually calm waters of Weeks Bay”, which was kind of a cove off of Mobile Bay. Current was pushing so far left that by the time my wave went off we were starting 250 yards down the beach to the right and near the swim exit so you had a chance of hitting the turn buoy okay.
The real rip currents I’ve never come across while racing (and would likley result in a cancelled or modified swim course) but body surfing the way in on the swim is great fun.
but body surfing the way in on the swim is great fun.
I spent the whole week at LBI body surfing. Awesome fun. Even managed to coach Mrs. Vitus into catching a few waves. How she grew up so close to the shore without body surfing is beyond me. (My sister’s husband fancies himself a boogie boarder, which only goes to prove he’s a big wuss.)
I start to the side away from (the outside of) the first turn. If the first turn is 100 yards out, and she start 10 yards from the middle, the extra distance is the is the square root of 1100 (instead of 1000) minus 100, which is less than 5 yards. If the first buoy is 300 yards and she is 15 yards from the center, the result is the square root of 9225 minus 300 which is about 3 yards, etc. (Usually the first buoy is 300-500 yards.) She can start right out in her race pace nearly unobstructed, and quickly pick out her group.
Everyone tends to veer one way or the other so after the people spread out she can choose her preferred side. If there is a cross currrrent she may have to choose the inside, if that is the ‘upstream’ side, at the start so she isn’t fighting the current to the first buoy. She will still be away from the tussle in those first 100-200 meters and the current will carry her to the first buoy.
Ask the race director for a 15 minute head start.