Open water to pool transition

kallemann67

I started swimming in the pool again after a spring and summer of open water swimming. I thought I'd go in to the pool with my wetsuit today to just keep that wetsuit feeling going on and I was surprised at how different I felt in the pool. Pace and breathing in particular were really out of sync compared to my open water swims. I can't figure this out. The water is warm, I can see the bottom of the pool, it's only a 25 m pool and yet it was like I was knocked back a few months in my training the way I had (not) acclimatised myself to pool environments. Could the stop and start at the walls at either end of 25m pool be responsible for the lost pacing I had in the lake? Anyone else go through this adjustment phase?

MDLNH

When did the "out of sync" start? How long into the swim were you? I know for me that with open water swimming, I get into my stroke rythm/pacing, breathing and I just settle in for the distance or time. When I get into a pool, especially after a summer of open water, it takes a while for me to adjust, because now every 25 yards, I have to make the turn at the wall, so I don't get the chance to settle into my rythm as I normally would. It usually take me a few times in the pool to get back to my indoor swimming rythms. (BTW - the same can be said when going back into open water in the spring, just in reverse ... you have to get used to being able to go farther than 25 yards. I find that takes about 2 swims). Also, for what it's worth, I don't wear a wetsuit in the pool due to chance the chemicals might damage the integrity of the wetsuit. Good Luck

kallemann67

@MDLNH thanks for your reply. Check! Check! and Check! All of what you described is spot on. I thought doing 2-2.5 km open water swims would turn the 25m pool into a cakewalk but it is this current and temporary inability to 'settle' into a rhythm which had me curious. (I think bringing too many toys to the pool - from new Garmin to swimmers snorkel to fins plus dealing with the reduced buoyancy sans wetsuit had kept adding more and more anxiety to the transition).

I really hate swimming in pools for the fact of people not showering before going in. So I struggle with water getting into my mouth or swallowing a bit unlike lake water I deem as a healthier swallow even though ducks and geese swim in it and petrol from motorboats etc may be in the water. I may pass through this and all the other lake nasties that can be out and about but somehow this is OK. In the pool however I develop this anxiety and it translates to causing my breath to be off, and my positioning struggles - I'm not relaxing yet - I'm fighting because I don't want water to enter my mouth or nose. I'm committed however to going 4x a week at 90 - 120 minutes so I should loosen up and settle in in time.

I completely agree with heading back to lake in spring. A whole different set of anxiety inducing elements kick in and it takes a bit of time to adjust. I remember the construction of the wetsuit really bothering me at the beginning of openwater swimming this year as one of them.

(As an FYI just to explain my anxiety - I once almost drown in a triathlon and had to be pulled from the water by a rescue boat and so different water conditions tend to raise the alarm at the start but I never thought the 25m pool would).

Thanks again!