I will be turning 50 this year, and in celebration of this I would like to start doing open water swims. Never done any real swimming except in a pool and was wondering how to get started. Do you just pick an event and show up and hope for the best in such a foreign environment or are there ways to train or are there any clinics to attend specializing in open water. I am in Northern California but would love an excuse to travel some place for a clinic. Thanks. Paul
I'm a relative newcomer to open water swims but have done several. I like the suggestions here and will try them myself.
Another thought from someone new to the game... staying to the side during the start, rather than in the middle will minimize the churning and chaos of the start. Another mistake I've made is getting caught up in the excitement of the start and sprinting out too fast too soon. Sure people will get ahead of you, but don't get alarmed. They too might be starting in too big of a rush.
Also, check around for local race results. They will vary a lot for even a single distance, b/c a lot could depend on conditions along the course, so if you see one race with noticably slower times than another, check other years to see if tough conditions are routine or if just a particular year had some difficult weather/chop, etc.
For my first o.w. swim, I checked out a race I was interested in, found out what the last place time was, and worked on trying to get my pool mile under that time (I still had a little work to do). I was such a newbie at the time that I didn't know I'd have to swim out to the start, but even so at least I knew what I needed to do not so much to avoid finishing last... I wasn't too worried about that... just to finish before they took down the clock and everyone went home. ;) Other than that, I wasn't really too worried about my time, just wanted to try something new.
I've enjoyed these swims a lot, despite still being slow, b/c as a runner, I love being outdoors, and swimming in open water gives me the feeling of "getting away from it all" that I associate with running.
I'm doing my first longer one this year. So I guess I'm hooked...Or maybe I'm just crazy! :D
I'm a relative newcomer to open water swims but have done several. I like the suggestions here and will try them myself.
Another thought from someone new to the game... staying to the side during the start, rather than in the middle will minimize the churning and chaos of the start. Another mistake I've made is getting caught up in the excitement of the start and sprinting out too fast too soon. Sure people will get ahead of you, but don't get alarmed. They too might be starting in too big of a rush.
Also, check around for local race results. They will vary a lot for even a single distance, b/c a lot could depend on conditions along the course, so if you see one race with noticably slower times than another, check other years to see if tough conditions are routine or if just a particular year had some difficult weather/chop, etc.
For my first o.w. swim, I checked out a race I was interested in, found out what the last place time was, and worked on trying to get my pool mile under that time (I still had a little work to do). I was such a newbie at the time that I didn't know I'd have to swim out to the start, but even so at least I knew what I needed to do not so much to avoid finishing last... I wasn't too worried about that... just to finish before they took down the clock and everyone went home. ;) Other than that, I wasn't really too worried about my time, just wanted to try something new.
I've enjoyed these swims a lot, despite still being slow, b/c as a runner, I love being outdoors, and swimming in open water gives me the feeling of "getting away from it all" that I associate with running.
I'm doing my first longer one this year. So I guess I'm hooked...Or maybe I'm just crazy! :D
