I am a triathlete who swims, not fast. Recently I experienced more than a few times that slower pool swimmers than me were passing me in OW practices (all including myself wearing wetsuit). I swim relatively straight, though I may tend to lift my head too much for sighting. Anyway they are obviously getting a larger benefit of wearing a wetsuit. Since most of the tri races around here allow you to wear a wetsuit, what matters is the speed with one. Does this tell you what I need to work on?? I know my body position improved during the last few years (of course still lots to learn) - I don't feel a huge difference in my lower body position with a wetsuit on as I used to. So I thought my stroke particually catch/pull phase was weak and started using more pull buoy while concentrating on catch/pull. Am I in the right direction?
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Former Member
My guess would be that you are slower in OW and faster in the pools because you are strong at pushing off walls, something that is absent in OW. What type of pool are you swimming in (25 yard, 25 meter, 50 meter)? I've also heard that the type of turns you do in the pool can affect OW. Open turns tend to give you a small rest and an additional chance to breathe, where as flip turns can help increase your endurance and lung capacity.
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Former Member
My guess would be that you are slower in OW and faster in the pools because you are strong at pushing off walls, something that is absent in OW. What type of pool are you swimming in (25 yard, 25 meter, 50 meter)? I've also heard that the type of turns you do in the pool can affect OW. Open turns tend to give you a small rest and an additional chance to breathe, where as flip turns can help increase your endurance and lung capacity.
