Open water Swim Help
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859 days
dlhnpt posted 1 year ago.
Maybe try practicing your sighting. I am more comfortable when I know I'm going the right way.
Here's an earlier thread I thought was helpful:
http://www.trifuel.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7530&highlight=swim+sighting
834
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1319 days
JamieM posted 1 year ago.
Definitely practice sighting, that was something I wished I had done more of before my first tri.
And don't judge yourself too quickly based on your first time. You'll likely be more comfortable next time, just because you'll have a better idea what to expect.
37
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561 days
The Tortoise posted 1 year ago.
I'm a little worried about the open water swim in my upcoming first sprint. I've been training in the pool and probably won't have much time to practice in open water because it's going to be freezing still (in fact, the water will be chilly in Poland, Maine on June 23, too). I'd like to be able to afford a wet suit to train a bit in the open water, but I'm not sure I'll be able to pull that off. Considering I'm riding a borrowed bike and barely scraping together the cash for my YMCA membership, I'm not sure a wetsuit is in the cards.
108
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hakadoru posted 1 year ago.
Although my lack of Bike Fu and Run Fu rob me of any credibility of giving advice in those two sports, I am fortunate to be - somewhat adept in the water.
The key to open water swimming with dozens of your closest friends banging into you is confidence. That simply comes with time and is nothing that you can mentally rehearse and expect any degree of success.
Working a system for sighting would be my next suggestion. As others have stated, it's crucial for navigation. Alternating your breathing from left to right on every third stroke doesn't help much because you're not swimming to the left and you're not swimming to the right. You're swimming straight ahead...or hopefully so. Plus, unless you have any landmarks that you can site off of, there's not much a quick glimpse to your side will do.
What I developed (and I'm sure I'm not the first to do so) is a system like so:
- L stroke (left arm extended in catch, right arm back)
- R stroke
- L stroke / breath right
- R stroke
- pop head up and sight straight ahead as left hand begins extension
- L stroke
- R stroke / breath left
I'm interrupting the middle of my 3-stroke pattern to sight and then seamlessly get back into the pattern. For me, swimming is about rhythm.
Obviously, I don't sight every stroke cycle, just once every couple of minutes.
Again, the rest is about confidence and that will come with time.
Best of luck.
hak
The Outdoor Journey: Exploring the multisport life through the crucible of endurance
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1115 days
jharrell posted 1 year ago.
The first thing you need to do is RELAX. After training in a pool your first openwater swim with a few hundred other people can be somewhat overwhelming. Bodies banging into you, getting kicked, trying to pass...etc. Stay calm and get into your stroke. Other swimmers in the race feel the same way you do. Control your breathing and get your adrenaline in check and you'll soon be passing those who don't.
3349
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RV posted 1 year ago.
Here are some tips from Ultrafit (Friel): http://www.ultrafit.com/newsletter/april07.html#DD
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
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pkp190 posted 1 year ago.
so a question on sighting, I have seen recommendation to swim with my eyes closed and then sight. Is that the recommended way to practice this or just sight when swimming to get the feeling and be happy with that.
And thanks for all the help.
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1038 days
tri-ac posted 1 year ago.
closing your eyes in the pool definitely puts pressure on you to sight to keep your bearing...but you don't need to do it for your full practice session. do a couple hundred yards of it testing different methods to see which is easiest for you. when you find one you like, practice it for another couple hundred yards. then pull it out every now and then during your practices...
another trick for working on sighting is to read a sign at the end of the pool, bring your own if there isn't an appropriately-sized one there. this forces you to actually identify something. it may cause you to look up more than once to acquire the word. that's just fine because you'll be doing that in a race too
OK well I finished my first sprint this weekend and felt great going into it, but once in the water I could not get comfortable at all in the swim. I have been training in a pool so I am thinking that not being able to see the bottom or the line to follow made the change. I ended up doing almost the whole swim breast stroke. It only took me 5 minutes longer then I was hoping to finish. Over all I finished .3m swim in 15:24. What things can I do in a pool to help get comfortable with open water swims? Thanks in advance.