Open water swimming drills for the pool
- Incorporating sighting can help strengthen your neck muscles for the open water.
- Swimming in one lane with 3-4 people abreast can reduce anxiety when swimming in a crowd.
- Treading water to start a lap (instead of pushing off the wall) can teach you how to quickly build momentum – similar to the start of a race.
- If you have access to a pool without lane-lines (which are used to reduce turbulence), practice swimming in a straight line without using the black line to navigate you.
- Because an elevated heart rate can cause breathing issues during the triathlon swim, try “deck-ups.” For this drill, you will swim one or two fast laps, quickly push yourself up and out of the water, touch an object (like a wall or chair) a few feet away and then carefully jump (or slide) back into the pool while trying to control your breathing while swimming another one or two laps.
OPEN WATER SWIMMING 101
Although the triathlon swim has specific demands requiring you to be extremely swim fit, open water swimming requires a special set of mental and physical skills – which can only be achieved by swimming in open water. o reduce your open water fears, here are a few tips:
GEAR
In case you missed it, here's a recent interview with Leo Briceno. We discussed why he is so passionate about helping others learn how to safely swim in th eopen water.
Although the triathlon swim has specific demands requiring you to be extremely swim fit, open water swimming requires a special set of mental and physical skills – which can only be achieved by swimming in open water. o reduce your open water fears, here are a few tips:
- Address your open water fears - In order to reduce your fears and to gain confidence, it is important to address what scares you the most about open water. Is it unpredictable water conditions; is it swimming in a group; is it not having walls or lane lines for resting; is it overthinking the creature life that is lurking beneath you? Knowing that many triathletes worry about running out of energy and "surviving" the swim, give yourself plenty of time to build fitness, strength and skills in the pool before swimming high intensity or high volume in the open water. When you approach an open water swim, take it slow. Even ten minutes of swimming around the shore can help boost confidence.
- Get stronger in the pool - Many triathletes approach triathlon swimming training as needing to complete x-distance in the pool in a certain amount of time. Sadly, rarely does this translate to better open water swimming - and many times this produces a false sense of confidence for race day. Open water swimming is a strength resistance sport. By incorporating pool toys like a snorkel, buoy, ankle strap, fins and agility paddles into your training, you can help improve your body position, strength and alignment. This will help reduce drag while becoming a more efficient swimmer. A great resource to better understand how to train in the pool in order to become a better triathlon swimmer is Gerry Rodrigues with Tower 26.
- Get experience in the open water - Use any opportunity possible to get into the open water. Even if the nearest lake/ocean/river is an hour away from where you live, putting yourself into a large body of water once or twice a month can improve confidence and comfort in the open water for race day. Make sure your open water location is safe, check the weather in advance and always swim in the company of others.
- Stay on course - A successful open water swim is all about staying on course. Sighting and knowing your swim course is key. Use landmarks like a tall tree, a mountain peak a light post or a building to help you sight and stay on course - especially when the sun is shining in your eyes, the swim buoys are too small to see in the distance or the water is wavy. The fastest swim will result in you covering the exact distance of the swim course - and no extra.
- Ease yourself into it - Although you may see a lot of triathletes swimming intensely fast to the first buoy, this approach is not recommended for the majority of triathletes (specifically those who are adult-onset developing swimmers). Not only will you risk a foot or leg cramp but you may experience anxiety and tightness in your chest due to a rapid rise in your heart rate and difficulty breathing. Slowly walk yourself in the water (if land start) and use the first 5-10 minutes to find a good rhythm of taking strokes and breathing. Don't worry about anyone else except for yourself.
- Warm-up on dry land - A pre-swim warm-up is extremely important yet far too many triathletes miss out on the opportunity to gradually increase the heart rate and warm-up the body for an open water swim. After taking time to adjust your swim suit, swim skin or wetsuit, along with your cap and goggles, perform a 5-10 min very easy swim warm-up, followed by a pyramid of 10,20,30,20,10 strokes fast with equal strokes following each of easy swimming. You can repeat this pyramid 2-3 times until you feel ready to start your workout (or race). By skipping a dry land warm-up, you may experience a sense of panic when you start increasing your effort (due to an elevated heart rate and rise in blood pressure) A warm-up in the water will also help reduce open water anxieties.
- Wear a comfortable fitting wetsuit - You should be comfortable swimming in open water with and without a wetsuit. But since many races are wetsuit legl, it's important to feel comfortable swimming in your wetsuit. Since a wetsuit can feel restrictive, do not wait until race day to wear your wetsuit for the first time (or to swim in open water for the first time). When buying a wetsuit, it's recommended to purchase a reputable brand marketed to triathletes to ensure proper mobility, buoyancy and fit along without feeling restriction around your neck and shoulders.
- Have fun - It's ok to be nervous. However, once you start swimming, your nerves should wash away. It is very important to stay calm and not to overthink. Anytime you feel anxious or feel a sense of panic, flip on your back (or rest on your buoy) and rehearse some calming mantras to reduce your worries.
- Goggles. Because open water swimming requires you to lift your head (often into the sun) to “sight” to see the shore, landmarks, boats or buoys, invest into a few different pairs of goggles. Goggles with wider (or curved) lenses will have increased field of vision. It may take you a few different brands/models to find the perfect pair.
- Swim cap. Because swim caps come in different sizes and types (latex or silicone), find the one that provides a secure fit while you swim. To be seen by boats and onlookers, choose a brightly colored swim cap for the open water.
- Swim suit. Choose a competitive style swimsuit to reduce friction and drag in the water. To further decrease drag, you may consider a swim skin, which can be worn over your tri kit in a non-wetsuit legal swim.
- Wetsuit. If you’re swimming in cold waters, consider a wetsuit. When the water temperature is below 76.1 degrees Fahrenheit (24.5 degrees Celsius) you are allowed to wear a wetsuit during the triathlon swim. A wetsuit provides a distinct advantage over a traditional swimsuit as it offers buoyancy, compression, insulation, and speed. It’s encouraged to try on several different brands to find the one that fits your body shape. Most wetsuit companies allow returns or exchanges within 30 days of purchase. A wetsuit should be tight, but not restrictive. Keep in mind that neoprene will stretch in the water. Wetsuits come in two styles – full and sleeveless. A full sleeve wetsuit will be the most buoyant (and warmest) option whereas a sleeveless may provide more shoulder rotation and less sensation of constriction. While you may not need the top-of-the-line wetsuit, I don’t suggest the cheapest option. The average price of a quality middle-of-the-line wetsuit is between $200-600.
- Swim buoy - Anytime you are swimming in open water, it is important that you are visible and safe. Because the open water is an unpredictable environment, there are no lane lines or bottom to "rest" on and land is not always just a few strokes away, a brightly colored swim buoy is an affordable, safe and practical way to be seen by boaters, jet skis, paddlers, surfers and other swimmers. Just strap the buoy around your waist and you now have an easy-to-access flotation object for resting. Many buoy's also serve as a dry bag for your keys and phone.
