Open water 2miles 23rd august- Loch Lohmund. Tips wanted :)

Would love to hear any responses from this. I do a triathlon that has a short open water swim (1/4 mile), have thought of doing a longer open water swim, but I am terrified. Swimming in a pool is one thing, open water totally different. I don't really have access to open water to train for any distance.

Maybe search for Iron Man competitions as well as they have over a 2mile open water swim involved in them??

A couple of the websites I use for running, support triathlons as well so have wet-suits etc (if you're in the UK one of them also has a swim lab for you to try out the suits)
www.wiggle.co.uk
www.ratrace.com (this website organise an iron man competition which involve the marathon going up Ben Nevis in Scotland)!!

never really swam open water competitively, but i've scuba dived a few times and trying to do anything like swimming in a thick wet suit is very difficult.

i imagine the ones they use for these purposes would be thinner, but if there is like a tank top option that will still keep you warm enough, id deffinetly go for that.

if it was my i'd be doing freestyle (front crawl)

I do open water swimming for triathlons, I'm not very qualified for giving a lot of advice, but here are things as I see them. 1) Train in open water - waves, wind, currents, cold water change the game quite a bit. 2) I use a forward crawl, and bilateral breathing, helpful in open water especially if you are getting pounded in the face by waves. 3) Eat the way you would for any endurance event, small meal with protein and complex carbs 1 - 2 hours before the event, and a simple carb right before the event. 4) I have a hyperflex insulated wetsuit top, short sleeve - purchased on Amazon (it was the cheapest, I am cheap/poor). I don't generally swim in water below 60 deg F., I've also go some natural insulation that helps. Though depending on Water Temp in August, you might just need a good swimsuit. Not sure what the temps are like in Loch Lohmund, but it is easy to get overheated and dehydrated and not realize it in open water. 5) I got accustomed to cold water by taking cold showers, don't know if it actually helped, but psychologically it did. 6) BeginnerTriathlete.com has good resources for interval training etc, look for the stuff aimed at IronMan distance training.

Alot of triathlon clubs have open water practice. Even if you don't live near a club, there may be a clinic nearby run by a club.

Freestyle definitely and learn to alternate you breathing so you can use both sides just in case. It will help with swimming in general, but you don't want any surprised if you find out conditions make it so you can't breathe on the side you practice on.

I don't swim in a wetsuit, so I can't help there. I personally hate them.

For training, I like my local Master swim program. You usually find lots of triathletes there. I am training at the gym now, and also have something called swim workouts in a binder. I love them. It's a little water proof book that has different workouts.

Good luck!

Hi
I've done a bit of open water swimming in the last 4 years - Great North in Windermere and Epic Events swims in Ullswater and Derwent Water. I love it!! This year I'm building up from 1 mile swims to 3.8km.

Long post coming up but hopefully this is useful.

Get yourself a swim wetsuit, not a general or surfing on (personally I wouldn't contemplate 2 miles in Loch Lomond without a wetsuit and lots of UK events are wetsuit compulsory - every credit to people going without but I just couldn't!)
The swim/triathlon wetsuits have a rubberised coating over the neoprene - much smoother and less resistance in the water than just neoprene.
My wetsuit is a Foor (hired from Great swims then kept the suit instead of returning it to get my deposit back - don't know if they're doing the same deal this year?). My husband bought similar one last year for about £120. Blueseventy and 2xU are other popular brands with swimmers/triathletes - worth looking on ebay and Wiggle
Top tip I got was to go for chest size and ignore the height - I think mine (size F5) is supposed to fit a 6'5 man but it stretches sideways instead of up on me - I'm 5'6 with huge comedy belly and boobs and it fits great.
To get into my suit I use loads of body butter and put my feet in carrier bags! Sounds daft but helps me slide in.

I have seen people swim backstroke but i would never trust myself to go in the right direction - it's much trickier to stay straight without a line on the floor or ceiling to follow and I have to correct my line enough doing freestyle.
Also, check the rules of the event you've entered - turning onto your back and waving your arms is the most commonly used signal to summon help from a support boat. Because of that some events don't want people swimming backstroke. The race notes and safety briefing before your swim will tell you if this applies.

I swim mostly freestyle, spotting just as schmanciepants described. But I also do a bit of breaststroke for a look round - don't see the point in travelling to swim in such beautiful places if I don't get to see them from the water

Mass start swims can get a bit whitewater especially at the start - I try to hang back a bit and then work my way forwards if at all. Turning points round buoys can get a bit jostly too so I prefer to swim wide - you won't avoid all the kicks and elbows but that minimises it.

As other people have said get in some open water practice if at all possible - google for local triathlon clubs - the one I go to is very friendly and welcoming to people who just want the open water swimming practice. They're also good for safety briefings and getting someone to swim with you on your first time or two.

Good luck!! Enjoy!!!