Hi there-
I've never done an open water swim before in my life. There will be a 1-mile swim in July that I'd like to attend (plenty of time to prepare). LC season is right around the corner (sorta)... but any advice that you could give me would be great. I quickly read over the recent article in our magazine about 'swimming tirelessly' - but I just wanted to get some more tips and pointers. I will really only have access to a LCM pool... BUT, I'm going to be vacationing somewhere near the Atlantic Ocean in June - any advice on how I can maybe get my bearings there (for the July swim), too?
Not expecting to be breaking records or anything, I just want to see if I can do it.
Thanks.
Parents
Former Member
Sarah,
Sorry this is late but I want to suggest something a little different: Never follow the feet in front of you!! More people than not have terrible navigation problems. You absolutely must look up more often to sight those buoys. The next best thing is if you are swimming next to a person who IS looking up a whole lot, then you probably don't need to as much because they are working toward proper navigation.
And I am not sure about why swimming "tirelessly" would be a concern because it is only one mile and one mile really isn't that difficult to do, it really isn't if you've trained 400 repeats, some 100 repeats, etc. Trust your training.
I never take off with the "pack" because they take off like it's a 25 yd sprint and I believe in building as I go, plus I am a better back-half swimmer. I find that if I rip the start, the mile becomes very difficult and isn't as much fun. Use a 400 pace or even 800 pace and stick with that throughout except maybe try to pick up the pace at about the halfway mark.
And I will tell you this, when you finish that mile, you will be elated with your achievement!!!
donna
Sarah,
Sorry this is late but I want to suggest something a little different: Never follow the feet in front of you!! More people than not have terrible navigation problems. You absolutely must look up more often to sight those buoys. The next best thing is if you are swimming next to a person who IS looking up a whole lot, then you probably don't need to as much because they are working toward proper navigation.
And I am not sure about why swimming "tirelessly" would be a concern because it is only one mile and one mile really isn't that difficult to do, it really isn't if you've trained 400 repeats, some 100 repeats, etc. Trust your training.
I never take off with the "pack" because they take off like it's a 25 yd sprint and I believe in building as I go, plus I am a better back-half swimmer. I find that if I rip the start, the mile becomes very difficult and isn't as much fun. Use a 400 pace or even 800 pace and stick with that throughout except maybe try to pick up the pace at about the halfway mark.
And I will tell you this, when you finish that mile, you will be elated with your achievement!!!
donna
