Beginner Triathlon

Hi Mark, I'm not a triathlete myself, but know some people who are--here's a site I've often heard recommended: http://www.trinewbies.com/ Took a look at it and there seems to be a lot of good info and articles, including one on open water swimming

There's also www.beginnertriathlete.com Lots of info there too.

Some things about tri swims. Theres lots of action at the start people bumping into you, feet, arms out. A frenzy. Theres no lane dividers which keep wakes down so theres waves, water in your face, the temp will be probably colder then your pool. Theres no end to the lane no place to hold onto to rest, your on your own in water over your head. So.. that sounds scary in a way but remember to just take it easy on your first tri swim and its going to be ok. Let the pack get away a bit at the start then swim at your pace. Most tri swims are not all that far and if you have been swimming laps in a pool and can swim 1/2 a mile you will be fine. One thing to practice on is sighting raising your head to see where you are at. With open water swimming currents / wakes can put you off course. Remember you will have no lap lanes to guide you. Relax its going to be your first tri and you will be just fine. Concentrate on making up time on the run or bike that you might lose in the swim. The swim is the most scary part of a tri for a whole lot of people ,lots of people can bike and run but cant swim. Just take it easy and remember that with all things experience counts and as you compete you will gain experience and confidence and after a few tris you will be in the front of the pack going for it! A good showing in the swim counts a lot overall as I said lots of people that can run/bike cant swim .

As you know there are several things that make open water swimming in triathlons different from the pool. It is a good thing to get used to being close to people, swimming next to people, getting bumped, etc. which will all happen in open water. No matter what the distance, i recommend the day before, go down to the water, make sure you look at the buoys from the start area. another thing to consider is where you want to start. I am not a fast swimmer but very steady, and i generally start behind the faster people in my wave to minimize having my goggles kicked off and other bumping. So it generally makes for a more relaxed swim. note any currents that will move you during your swim and place your swim start accordingly. I think yours is in a lake so there should not be current but if it's windy it can be choppy and move you around. There are likely waves of people starting after you and if you're slower be prepared to be swam over. At the start, begin swimming asap, versus running into the water. swim until your arm touches the bottom of the lake and that's the time to get up and run out. if you hit a patch where the water is low, it is faster to swim than to walk through it. Also note any sharp rocks, etc. or other concerns at the exit of the swim. As for sighting, there are several ways to sight but one of the most efficient is to look up at the end of your stroke breath and sight ab/ every 3 strokes or so. YOu can practice this in the pool. Of course there will be kayakers to make sure you stay on course and if you have any trouble it is legal to hold onto them (any non motorized craft) if necessary. If you touch the motorized craft, it's a DQ. Good luck! Open water triathlon swimming is fun. Make sure you swim your swim and no one elses.

The tips about lifting your head straight ahead and the bumping other swimmers are good ones! When it comes to bumping into other swimmers, I believe this is to be expected, especially in open water, so I am not one to stop and yell at a bumper or stop and apologize to a bumpee. A few years ago, I ran over a female friend of mine in an open water swim and my hands went places that would otherwise be inappropriate. In that case, we did recognize each other in the water, and I did apologize to her afterwards - we got a good laugh out of it.:joker: One thing I like to keep in mind with the swim portion is that this is the only portion of the race where I am using my arms. Therefore, when it comes to my stroke, I definetely work my arms pretty hard. With my legs, I don't let them hang by any means, but do keep a light kick going to warm them up for the bike and run.

if you're pretty good in the pool you should do fine (although pretty good is relative, so that all depends). Main thing is to save the legs and practice navigation with head up drills as mentioned earlier. A good way to make it realistic is to keep your eyes closed when your head is in the water and then open them when the head is up, although I wouldn't recommend this one in a crowded pool. Expect to be roughed up a bit the first 500 yards or so if you try to start at the front of the pack. I know Cal Triathlon teaches their athletes both offensive and defensive tactics for swim starts and I'm sure other organized tri groups do the same. There is no referee out there, so all is fair game. I was swum over the top of and punched once in a triathlon, great fun. It's all with love, to be sure. Oh, and you probably know this but really important to practice bricks, running fast after a longish bike ride. Super hard if you're not conditioned.

Get out and practice in open water as much as you can before your triathlon. Find a local tri or swim club or group that might make this possible. Navigation is one of the toughest challenges for a person new to OW swimming. You need to modify your technique to lift your head out of the water and look forward to 'sight' a fixed object such as a buoy or a landmark that will be your reference point to keep you going in a straight line. Sighting is a pain, though, since it messes with your balance in the water it tends to slow you down and tire you out. So you need to practice it often until it becomes more comfortable and you can integrate it into your stroke more efficiently. You can practice sighting in a pool by placing a fixed object at each end of the pool (a cone or water bottle) and practice sighting it every 3 or 5 strokes. Move the bottle around between sets to get used to sighting on reference points that are not directly ahead of you, also. People at the pool might think you're a little weird, but it's worth the effort. Also be prepared to have to modify your stroke depending on the conditions in OW. Waves, currents, and other swimmers often force you to adjust your technique on the spot for the given swim conditions. Some pool swimmers are so used to 'getting in the groove' that if they can't use their 'comfort stroke' they are completely thrown off and have a miserable swim. Part of the fun of OW swimming is the infinite variability of conditions and the challenge of adjusting to them. You might, for example, find that you need to lift your arms higher out of the water to get over waves, or change your stroke frequency to match the chop pattern in the water. In the early stages of the swim, when you are surrounded by other swimmers frantically trying to swim over you, you'll need to use bursts of speed to get away/around/or ahead of them. You can prepare for this in the pool by varying your swim sets from long endurance sets to short bursts of speed to middle effort tempo sets. Avoid the trap of only doing workouts that are just a long, straight swims with no changes to your tempo. Switch things up frequently. One last thing I've always liked - in the last few hunded yards of the swim lots of triathletes go all out into a sprint. This just elevates the heart rate needlessly, especially when you consider you only will pick up a few seconds in the race. Stay steady at the end, don't think you need to sprint the last part of the swim. Save it for the bike/run. One thing I do like to do at the end of the swim though is about 50 yards of fast kicking. Not enough to tire the legs but it seems to help warm up for the bike and work out any cramping that might have ocurred during the swim.

Lots of good advice on this thread. Navigation during the swim is crucial, so look up as you need to to spot the buoy. I've been doing open water a long time and watched triathlete swimmers and my best advice is this: don't following the feet in front of you and swim your own race; trust your training. Donna

If you are going to be wearing a wetsuit in the swim portion (which is allowed up some water temperature) you need to practice swimming in the suit. Like salt water, it changes the way you swim. Someone mentioned swimming with your eyes closed, which is a really good idea. I was going to say try swimming without your goggles or practice fixing your goggles, because it is likely that they will get messed up in the mass start. Another thing that seems to freak people out at the start/finish is weeds in the water. It's not too bad with a wetsuit on, but it can be kind of creepy when slimy stuff seems to wrap around your legs or ankles. (Okay maybe that's just me).

if possible, swim the course before the race. take note of navigation aids as they are available. the more time you can spend swimming as opposed to sighting; the better off you will be. forward sighting, (no matter how intergrated), will add to fatigue in the lower back and legs, and you will need your legs as fresh as they can be for all that other stuff. i like to get next to people who i know have done the swim before. you can watch them, notice if they are sighting often, and follow their direction.