Pool swiming VS Open water
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PJT posted 1 year ago.
For most people, swimming with a tri wetsuit should be faster. There are some possibilities for a slower OW swim:
1. If you are zig-zagging on the course, you're swimming farther than in a pool.
2. The act of sighting--lifting your head to spot a landmark--can interrupt your stroke and slow you down.
3. Swim race courses are notoriously inaccurate, so your HIM swim might have been long.
4. Being caught up in the excitement/panic of a start and ignoring your stroke technique will also slow you down.
5. Currents.
There are probably some other reasons, too.
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UFTriGator posted 1 year ago.
It'll depend on the person, too. I come from a predominantly short course racing background, so my pool swims are significantly faster than open water. If I'm wearing a wetsuit, it won't be as much of a difference, but I'm usually still faster in the pool. However, it shouldn't be a 16 minute difference....maybe 1 or 2. It's easy to forget proper stroke technique when going from the pool to open water.
______________________________________________
-Matt
Not fast enough.
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RV posted 1 year ago.
Form can also fall apart in open water swims, lots of distractions, other swimmers colliding with you, wave, current, etc. Mostly need to relax and focus. Also practice OWS once a week or so.
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
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geochuck posted 1 year ago.
Hi RV nice to see you commenting.
There is a difference, I find if you are swimming a one mile swim in open water and it is a half mile in one direction and a half mile back. Your half miles can differ from 0 minutes to 10 minutes depending on currents.
I have gone 20 miles in less than 2 hours with a tide outflow. I have done 10 miles with the tide in the opposite direction and taken 7 hours and 18 minutes.
If you are swimming a mile with a wet suit on, you should be much faster then if swimming a mile in a pool. You may have had current troubles.
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RV posted 1 year ago.
geochuck;75052 wrote:
I have gone 20 miles in less than 2 hours with a tide outflow.
Wowzers we could water ski behind you! :D
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
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kylie posted 1 year ago.
geochuck -- swimming for over 7 hours! nice!!
I did the same half IM... the current was minimal since it is in a river that is dam'ed to make a swimming area. I could feel it a bit on the way out, but since it was an out and back we then also got the benefit on the way back.
With how that particular course is set up, sighting is HARD!! The bouys are not a straight line -- either with each other or the shore or anything. They have to weave a bit to keep both the out and the back in deep enough water (yes, you can walk huge sections of that swim if you want).
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geochuck posted 1 year ago.
Kyillee 7 hours the shorter swims the longer ones took a few hours longer, some as long as 24 and 30 hours. The races 10 miles to 66 miles. The 10 mile races took 3hrs :40 minutes to 4 hours (no wet suits) in Lake Ontario.
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kylie posted 1 year ago.
crazy (in that good way)! :) Nutrition (from what I've read) is much harder on the water.
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geochuck posted 1 year ago.
Feedings on the water all in a paper or foam cup. We used to have a boat with us in the long swims the cup was handed to us. If it was a course they usually had a barge and we took the feedings again cup handed to us from the barge. You were not allowed to touch the boat, the barge or a person. In a swim accros a lake or from mainland to an island we coulbe seperated by 3 or 4 miles apart. We had to start together and finish at the same finish line. In the 32 mile cross lake Ontario racewe were 13 miles apart but all heading for the same destination. Wind and currents do strange things.
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beads1985 posted 1 year ago.
That is pretty cool.
I swim a bit faster in OW if it is a lake because I do open turns instead of flip turns. In the ocean I have has mixed results due to currents.
Nothing to it, but to do it
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trifriend posted 1 year ago.
I heard that the chlorine in the pool is bad for your wetsuit or triathlon clothes in general. anyone know the details on this?
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geochuck posted 1 year ago.
There are a few little stories here about open water swims
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catwood posted 1 year ago.
I agree with what others have said. Its easy to zig zag is ow. Its very easy to lose all technique in any swim race, especially in ow.
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beads1985 posted 1 year ago.
trifriend;75193 wrote:
I heard that the chlorine in the pool is bad for your wetsuit or triathlon clothes in general. anyone know the details on this?
Chlorine will deteriorate your swimsuit or a wetsuit if you try using it in a pool. Just rinse whatever you wear in cool, clear water afterwards to remove as much chlorine as possible.
You can also put you wetsuit in the tub with a little bit of shampoo that is made specifically for getting chlorine out of your hair.
Personally I don't use my wetsuit in the pool ever. :D
Nothing to it, but to do it
Hi,
Before my HIM I was training exclusively on my gym's pool. I would finish the 1.2 miles in 40 mins. Wich I thought was very reasonable. But during the race, using a wetsuit I finished the swim in 56 minutes.
This week, I went for a 1000 meter ocean swim and I finished in 30 minutes (a lot!).
Is it normal to do more time in open water than in a swimming pool? or Am I doing something wrong? Does this happen to you?