Does anyone else swim open water times that seem to be ... a bit faster than physically possible? Here's my dilemma: I swam the Big Shoulders 5K this past weekend at Chicago. My time was fast, REAL FAST, 1:10.04. Or to put it another way, if I swam a pool 1500m (an event less than one third the distance) at that pace, I'd shatter my PR by almost a minute, or if I swam a pool 800m at that pace, I would beat my most recent swim at LC Nationals by 8 seconds. Now, I believe in the power of positive thinking, and Total Immersion, etc., etc... But, this is so far beyond the realm of the plausible, I am not certain whether I should be crowing or questioning.
It would be easy to assume that the course was simply measured a tad short, but this is not the first time I have had an open water swim bordering on fantatsy. Three years ago I swam a salt-water 3K in 40:20'ish, which again is a pace that would have shattered my 1500 PR, and is substantially faster than the pool 800 I swam 7 days before. I asked the meet organizers about this, and they assured me that this is the same, closely measured course they use for several open water swims each year, and that the added buoyancy from salt-water could account for the difference. I accepted that answer at the time, but now that I appear to have duplicated this feat in fresh water, I am wondering again.
To get to the point: does anyone else find that they are prone to swimming in open water at a pace they cannot duplicate in shorter pool events? Does anyone have any ideas about what might cause this?
Matt
Parents
Former Member
Do my turns suck? I do have a tendency to breath in and out of them because turn-induced oxygen debt is a major factor in my swimming (and a major reason I hate SCY and love LCM), BUT I do streamline well on my side, dolphin kick, and generally don't lose ground off of the turn compared to my teammates. Another factor indicating they do not suck so bad as to be a causal factor is that I do swim SCM faster than LCM.
Drafting: as much as possible. I forgot to bring my contact lens, so I intentionally stayed in sight of another swimmer as much as possible (also so I could keep my head down as much as possible). Potential factor here; what does "4%" mean in terms of time? I did not draft as much in the 1999 swim, and hardly at all in the second half of the race, when I made up ground on the lead pack. But, as I've said, that was a salt water swim, and I know the added buoyancy does make a difference.
Currents, surf, misc. enviro factors. The Big Shoulders Swim is twice around a closed, triangular course (i.e. you start and finish at the same point) off the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. If there are any scientific types who can deconstruct this reasoning, I'm listening. However, wouldn't any current pushing me forward in one direction push against me when I turn back the other way?
Short measured course and other idiosyncratic factors: I would buy that if this was only one swim, but I have a difficult time accepting that two different open water swims (out of the 6 open water courses in which I have competed in my swimming career), both of which use the same course year after year, would BOTH be so far off as to account for such a dramatic difference.
Thanks for your thoughts. I am trying to gauge whether I have a monster swim in me for the 1500 next year. The answer may well be yes.
Matt
Do my turns suck? I do have a tendency to breath in and out of them because turn-induced oxygen debt is a major factor in my swimming (and a major reason I hate SCY and love LCM), BUT I do streamline well on my side, dolphin kick, and generally don't lose ground off of the turn compared to my teammates. Another factor indicating they do not suck so bad as to be a causal factor is that I do swim SCM faster than LCM.
Drafting: as much as possible. I forgot to bring my contact lens, so I intentionally stayed in sight of another swimmer as much as possible (also so I could keep my head down as much as possible). Potential factor here; what does "4%" mean in terms of time? I did not draft as much in the 1999 swim, and hardly at all in the second half of the race, when I made up ground on the lead pack. But, as I've said, that was a salt water swim, and I know the added buoyancy does make a difference.
Currents, surf, misc. enviro factors. The Big Shoulders Swim is twice around a closed, triangular course (i.e. you start and finish at the same point) off the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. If there are any scientific types who can deconstruct this reasoning, I'm listening. However, wouldn't any current pushing me forward in one direction push against me when I turn back the other way?
Short measured course and other idiosyncratic factors: I would buy that if this was only one swim, but I have a difficult time accepting that two different open water swims (out of the 6 open water courses in which I have competed in my swimming career), both of which use the same course year after year, would BOTH be so far off as to account for such a dramatic difference.
Thanks for your thoughts. I am trying to gauge whether I have a monster swim in me for the 1500 next year. The answer may well be yes.
Matt
