I was just approached to swim the 500 yd portion of a sprint tri in 5 weeks. I have never swam open water before. What are the things to look out for? How do you train it in the pool? If i'm shooting for 8 min 500 in open I need to average around 48 for my 50's... how much time will I lose by swiming open vs in the pool?
Thanks!
If you do zero open water training then I’d suggest you plan on your first open water swim taking 50% more to twice as long as your pool swims. With some open water training and work on sighting and navigation you can bring this down to 20%-40% slower in open water. And with a lot of practice you can get this down around 5%-10% in fresh water and a little better in salt water.
Check out the Open Water Workouts - by Anne Cleveland thread for some great open water training workouts.
Tri relays are so much fun! If you can only train in a pool - I suggest practicing sighting by picking an object on the opposite side of the pool (like a starting block) and lift your head out of the water to find your object every 4-6 strokes. Do some free sets without flip turns (I do it like ***/fly turns but not pushing off the wall, hope that makes sense). Familiarize yourself with the race course, most races have a map on their websites. If you are going to have a mass start at the Tri, just be patient when they start the race, prepare to get bumped into. There will also be individuals who take it out super fast and then slow back down, some who draft but as the race progresses - things smooth out and you can get into a groove without too many people "bothering" you. For your first time (if you have the mass start), go where you feel comfortable or start at the side of the pack - less thrashing to deal with. If it is going to be sunny, wear metallized goggles to block the sun. Have a great time!!!
and lift your head out of the water to find your object every 4-6 strokes.
With the goal being to lift your head as little as possible. Try to incorporate it into your breathing. Rather than turning your head to breathe initiate the breath by lifting your eyes out of the water. You don't need to do "Tarzan" stroke to site properly. Also I don't think there is any substitute for the ability to swim straight. In the pool you might try swimming with your eyes closed and see how straight you are swimming without any visual cues.
With the goal being to lift your head as little as possible. Try to incorporate it into your breathing. Rather than turning your head to breathe initiate the breath by lifting your eyes out of the water.
Think: Alligator eyes
In the pool you might try swimming with your eyes closed and see how straight you are swimming without any visual cues.
+1
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I did the eyes closed thing before my first OW. Very scary, but glad I did it before the race. If you can get in and warm up a little before the start, do that too to get used to the temperature and over the ewww its a lake/sea and I want a nice clean pool - factor
Finally I was so desperate to get out of the yucky lake that I was round that course and out in about the same time as the pool training swim I did the week before!
