Greetings all
I'm planning to swim the Alcatraz Shark Swim in July. I'm very excited about it. I'm new to swimming but I've consistently put in 45 minute swims three or four times each week since October. I've timed my mile (please confirm 36 laps or 72 lengths) at 33 minutes. I plan to do open water swims when things warm up a bit. But in the mean time, what can I do to prepare myself in the pool? Longer swims? Should I minimize my wall push during flip turns to more closely simulate open water conditions? Once I hit the open water, what's the best way to approximate distances?
Also, I'd love to read stories of your Alcatraz swim experiences.
Jason,
So many questions and so few answers…
First, yes doing flip turns will help. Open turns give swimmers a couple of seconds of extra rest and a breath or two, which you won’t get when swimming in the open water. Also, flip turns give you a bit of a rest (4 or 5 seconds without arm rotation) but you don’t get that extra breath. It does make a difference.
If your body is up to it and you have the time, then by all means increase your distance and intensity. Also, do a few navigation drills, such as heads up swimming looking at the far wall) or sight breathing drill (swim normal crawl, except after each breath instead of rotating your head down, rotate forward and down so you look at the far wall before you put your face underwater), or swim 99’s (4 lengths of the pool without touching the walls at each end, as you get to the wall do a quick 180 keeping your head underwater and without pushing off the wall start swimming the opposite direction, it gets a little tricky in shallow pools).
And the best way to approximate distance in open water is to forget about distance and focus on time. Or if you want an approximation then go with your pool times as a guide. Swim 33 minutes in the open water and call it a mile, swim 66 call it 2.
Jason,
So many questions and so few answers…
First, yes doing flip turns will help. Open turns give swimmers a couple of seconds of extra rest and a breath or two, which you won’t get when swimming in the open water. Also, flip turns give you a bit of a rest (4 or 5 seconds without arm rotation) but you don’t get that extra breath. It does make a difference.
If your body is up to it and you have the time, then by all means increase your distance and intensity. Also, do a few navigation drills, such as heads up swimming looking at the far wall) or sight breathing drill (swim normal crawl, except after each breath instead of rotating your head down, rotate forward and down so you look at the far wall before you put your face underwater), or swim 99’s (4 lengths of the pool without touching the walls at each end, as you get to the wall do a quick 180 keeping your head underwater and without pushing off the wall start swimming the opposite direction, it gets a little tricky in shallow pools).
And the best way to approximate distance in open water is to forget about distance and focus on time. Or if you want an approximation then go with your pool times as a guide. Swim 33 minutes in the open water and call it a mile, swim 66 call it 2.
