Training for Open Water Swim
ShaunRKilroy
Posts: 9 Member
Hi, I'm new to the group and new to triathalons. I run and swim a lot and have no problem with those things individually, so I've been concentrating my training on swimming. I've just been swimming laps in a pool, alternating between the standard swimming stroke (idk what it's called, but that over the shoulder standard swim stroke) and the breast stroke. My question is, is this what I should be doing to prepare for an open water swim in a triathalon? If not, what should I be doing? I have no interest in swimming apart from triathalons, so I want to target my swimming specifically to what I need for triathalons.
Thanks!
Thanks!
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I'm fairly new to Triathlons, and don't have any experience yet with OWS, but I can pass on what I've been told. Keep in mind, depending on the distance of the triathlon you're doing it might not always be an open water swim. I've done two sprint distance tris so far, and both of these were pool swims.
1) Practice bilateral breathing. You need to be able to breath on both sides just in case during your swim one side isn't really an option.
2) If there isn't a group that holds OWS practices in your area try circle swimming in your pool. Basically when you get close to the end of the lane turn around without touching the wall. Another option would be flip turns if you can do them. You want to avoid "taking a break" at the end of each length.
3) If practicing in the pool keep your eyes up, or even closed to try and avoid looking at the lane line. Occasionally pop your head out of the water to get a bearing on the end of the lane, and see how you're doing staying in a straight line without the lane line as a guide.0 -
Biggest thing with triathlon and open water is learning how to site well. When you are in the pool look up and pick something out like a sign on the wall or number on the clock. When you are in open water you should do the same and look for landmarks or buoys. Also, open water can get physical so be prepared for people to hit your feet or your back. It's not intentional but it happens. I swim a little more defensively with wide elbows in open water. If you can get to a lake and practice, even better. Good luck!! You will do great!0
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The standard swim stroke for triathlons is freestyle. Most people learn how to side stroke so if you need a "break" while in open water, you can do side stroke instead of treading water, which consumes more energy and doesn't move you forward. I hate side stroke, so personally, I tread water if I have to.
In regards to training for OWS in a pool, some additional things to add is you want to swim in a crowded pool. This means that you are sharing a lane with someone. You want to get used to tighter quarters and possibly getting bumped or hit, as well as experiencing water displacement from other swimmers. The first time I had to share a lane the other swimmer went by me, displaced a lot of water, and I gulped a massive amount of pool water. That was a huge shock for me. In a pool, I can stop and stand or go hold onto a wall, in open water you need to be ready for that.
For training in general, bilateral breathing is good, but is really a preference. I personally find it easier to do bilateral and from neck injuries, single-sided breathing causes a massive pain in my neck after a long swim. I typically swim 3 times a week; Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Monday is a shorter swim, say 30 min where I practice sprints; typically 50s and 100s. I swim at LA Fitness, so my distances are yards, since 1 length is 25 yards. On Wednesday, I do longer splits, usually 200s and 400s, maybe even 800s, with almost no break in-between. I am still trying to swim faster than my race pace. Friday is my long swim and I usually swim for an hour to an hour and a half. I can swim about 1.25 miles in an hour...slow, yes, but swimming is not something I am good at and I just started in January 2012.
Although I noted speeds, I still have trouble judging speed in the water, and I still run into the problem of my form being compromised if I try and swim too fast. For now, it's about balance and making sure my form and breathing are good, then endurance, then speed.
Almost forgot, and I see someone just posted, siting is extremely important in OWS because you can't usually see anything under the water. Check YouTube for siting examples. It's very easy to do, you just need to practice it.0 -
So it appears you swim a lot. So I'll leave swimming in a pool at this. Learn to swim like a swimmer with one exception that I'll address in a second.
To learn to OWS to the best of your ability you need to do it as often as possible. No amount of pool training is going to really prepare you to be able to pick landmarks in a race setting to sight off of, or for the fact there's no line on the bottom of the lake, or the fact you're getting kicked and punched. Repetition in the open water holds the same advantages that it does on a bike or on the road running. The more you do it, the more proficient you will become. That said not everyone has access to the open water on a regular basis, so things to consider when pool swimming to help.
1. Shorten the front end of your stroke. Most swimmers are taught to glide with their hand out in front. When you're swimming in a pack this part of the stroke goes away as you end up hitting other folks. Get your forearm vertical early and practice high cadence swimming. (This is why outside of balance drills TI swimming isn't the best for triathlon)
2. Practice a 2 beat kick. It's enough kick to keep you balanced, but it saves your legs for the two sports that make up the majority of the race (biking and running).
3. Balance, form, power. In that order. Most triathlon swimmers who are slow drag their legs (balance) or have a horrible pull (form). Power is a bonus. Most of swimming is a form driven activity.0 -
Best advice to prepare for OWS... do an OWS. Hook up with a tri club or if you are too intimidated, get a friend to go with you to a small lake or quiet bay and follow you in a boat or kayak to make sure you are safe. I grew up swimming in pools so that first time in the lake, I kind of hyperventilated a little. The water is colder, choppier, and you can't see anything - as a fairly confident pool swimmer, it totally threw me. So get outdoors if you can
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Going from pools to OWS's can be a little nutty. I live in the St Louis area, and there are very few places to OWS around here. So people in these parts tend to get freaky when they do all their swimming in a pool then switch to a lake on race day. Or worse, the ocean *big dread*. I grew up near a lake, on the other hand, and OWSing is old hat.
The trick is, you really just gotta jump in there and do it. Think of it like this: Imagine doing all your bike training on a stationary bike. Oh sure you're training, but it doesn't really match the real world ride. Pool swimming is to a degree that same way.
There are lots of things about OWS'ing that drive newbies and pool swimmers nuts. Fish, for one. I've heard people cringe in horror that they have to share the water with animals floating around underneath them. (I cackle with delight over this) Sighting, for another. People who do all their swimming in a pool don't realize, usually till it's way too late, that they have to be able to pull their heads out of the water, just a little, to see where they're headed. This is HUGE for OWS'ing. Think "crocodile". The better you get at pulling your head out just enough to see where you're going, the better your OWS will be. You can practice this in a pool, but it's still not the same. A third is the splash (or "chop") of OWS'ing. Waves. Splashing. People all around you mucking up your perfectly flat water. This one, along with getting swum over, can really disorient people. When you're not used to it, coming up for air only to get a wave full of water in your mouth can really mess with your head. And perhaps the one that drives people the most nuts is getting swum over. Me personally? I'm a terribly slow swimmer so I've come to accept it that people will swim over me. And I have ways of dealing with it. I will say, none of those ways involves going to the outside so the faster swimmers can have the best line. **** that. I paid just as much money as they did to be enjoying that race. They can either swim around me, or swim over me (and risk getting kicked). Their choice.
So, if you can, jump in a lake and spend some time working on sighting, breathing with chop, people splashing all around you, and fishes stopping by to see what the commotion is all about. You'll be a better swimmer if you can. If you can't, just think "crocodile" on race day, and focus as best you can on swimming straight, strong, and with as little panic as you can possibly muster.
I hope this helps.0 -
I've done a couple OWSs to prepare for my first triathlon in a two weeks and I LOVE them! The first time was a little crazy, since Lake Michigan is not what you'd call "clear water," and tends to get a bit wavy. I'm not trying to win any medals - I just want to finish and feel good about it - so I feel more comfortable sometimes doing breaststroke than freestyle. I can keep my face out of the water so I can see where I'm going and make sure my swim buddy isn't too far off. I also go with a swim buddy because even though there's a lifeguard, I feel way safer with someone near me. Sometimes we get too close and the waves bump us together, but that's ok. My swim buddy hasn't been practicing his swim as much as I have, so a lot of times he'll switch to elementary back stroke (that "monkey, airplane, rocket ship" stroke you might have learned in your beginning swim class when you were a kid), since it keeps him moving, just a little slower.
I practice breathing on both sides for freestyle. My instinct is just to breathe to the right, but two days ago, I ended up with wind blowing water directly into my mouth from the right, so I breathed on the left on the way out and on the right on the way back.0 -
Thank you for posting this! I had the same question and this was very helpful0
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It's called freestyle, or the crawl.(idk what it's called, but that over the shoulder standard swim stroke)My question is, is this what I should be doing to prepare for an open water swim in a triathalon? If not, what should I be doing? I have no interest in swimming apart from triathalons, so I want to target my swimming specifically to what I need for triathalons.
I just did my first tri, and it was an open water swim in lake coeur d'alene, so I can give you some pointers of what I did. YMMV of course.
For strokes:
I made sure I could do freestyle, obviously, and breast stroke. I also practiced side stroke and backstroke, so depending on conditions I had two moving strokes and two recovery strokes. I needed all of them. Chop got high a few times that I had to switch to breast stroke. Also, my own opinion but don't tread, that's energy expended without forward motion.
For the simple open water experience:
Get out in a lake and swim. Get used to looking down into black water. Get used to realizing that you can't stand up and that there isn't a wall to hang onto. If you have a wetsuit, wear it. If you're going to rent one, wear it. For me, there was a big mental struggle that happened when the bottom dropped out beneath me and the water went black. It came back when I saw a scuba diver surfacing beneath me. (I'm unreasonably phobic of sharks.) If you have a friend with a kayak or a SUP, have them come along. I did, and it was really helpful, didn't need her aid, but having her there was nice.
For the swim scrum:
Swim when the lanes are busy, you need to get used to getting splashed, getting sucked down when someone swims by, and just generally having someone near you. During my swim, I got kicked, I got punched a couple times, hit once in the kidney. I even kicked someone in the nose. No woman no cry. Er, I mean, no real harm done. When people are swimming over each other, it happens. I made sure to let lap lane partners know that if I get too close, whack me, it also caused them to loosen up, laugh a little, and I got whacked a few times in lap practice. My swim coach would splash me in the face when I came up to breathe, and just generally harass me. That part is 100% mental though, and I like physical contact, so it caused me to stay with it for a while and really blow out my planned swimming pace. Which resulted in me getting tired early, and going a bit longer on the swim.
As long as you can do the distance, and aren't prone to freak outs, you'll be good to go.0
