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
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.
I don't agree with these assertions. I have heard of this tactic to stay to the side. While good in principal, if you are there might as well mix it up. I don't think staying to the side allows for much crowd avoidance and you'll be running over everyone who also thinks staying to the side is the good plan.
If you are a good swimmer, you will already be better than 80% of the people out there, especially if it's a mostly tri crowd. You will probably have more swimming endurance. I tried the ole hang back and bust it out at the end and all I ended up with was more kicks in the head. So, I say take it out fairly fast to get past the riff-raff. Even assuming you will fall off a bit, you will still be well ahead of the others and have more smooth water.
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.
I don't agree with these assertions. I have heard of this tactic to stay to the side. While good in principal, if you are there might as well mix it up. I don't think staying to the side allows for much crowd avoidance and you'll be running over everyone who also thinks staying to the side is the good plan.
If you are a good swimmer, you will already be better than 80% of the people out there, especially if it's a mostly tri crowd. You will probably have more swimming endurance. I tried the ole hang back and bust it out at the end and all I ended up with was more kicks in the head. So, I say take it out fairly fast to get past the riff-raff. Even assuming you will fall off a bit, you will still be well ahead of the others and have more smooth water.
