I'm wondering if anyone has ever hired a coach specifically for open water, and if so, how you went about doing it.
I have two great Masters coaches, but neither of them have open water experience. I think that I could benefit from someone who could help me develop a training program, incorporating my masters training, for specific distances and races. Right now, it's mostly a matter of me doing overdistance training, getting nervous about not having done enough, and then ending up doing fine and wondering what I was so nervous about. Based on having had a triathlon coach for several years, when I was doing that intensively, I think there might be just a little more science to it than that.
I'd love recommendations.
Thanks!
Sydne
You can always find people willing to take your money but I think an open water coach might be a waste. Just go long when you are in the pool and incorporate some tarzan (head up) drills when you are not able to train specifically in open water. I may be wrong and oversimplifying and possibly you should wait for a real open water swimmer like Chloe Sutton or Fran Crippen to respond.
I haven’t hired an open water coach, but I have been hired as an open water coach. Just like in the pool, there are many aspects of swimming in the open water that need to be learned and a coach will help you learn these.
I’m not aware of any open water coaches in Mass. But there may be some out there.
My interest in looking at coaching is that I think I have a tendency to overwork myself, and that sometimes, it takes someone else's discipline to make me see the benefits of taking a down week, or someone to help me look at other aspects of my training. I have a fair amount of open water experience, up to the 8 mile distance, so I've learned a lot over the years. I think, however, there are still things I can learn from the "experts".
You may wish to get in touch with Randy Nutt. Randy is an experiences open water coach, who has coached a number of elite and novice OW swimmers. This includes English Channellers and he has run the USA Swimming National Team Open Water Swimming camp. He also runs some amazing races around the Caribbean.
He is an infrequent poster on this forum, and you can reach him through his website www.aquamoonadventures.com
www.10Kswim.com
this is an interesting website that shows ow competition at an elite level
there are skills specific to ow swimming that are worth practicing. sighting, drafting, feeding etc. some events might favor a swimmer more proficient in all three, some events might not.
after reading the accounts of the USA Swimming Open Water World Championship Trials, it is clear that navigation was not really a factor but drafting certainly was.
i like to practice with a partner or group in ow whenever possible. sometimes we set off with a specific plan, sometimes things just happen.
I have coached the USA National Swim Team (open water) since 2001 (at the 2001 Fukuoka FINA World Swimming Championships, 2003 Barcelona FINA World Swimming Championships, 2004 World Open Water Swimming Championships in Dubai, 2005 Montreal World Swimming Championships, 2007 Melbourne World Swimming Championships, as well as coached at the 2006 and 2007 USA National Open Water Select Camps and on several other occasions around the world and via email or teleconference (e.g., 2006 American Swimming Coaches Association World Clinic, Lake Biwa Japan Open Water Clinics, Waikiki Roughwater Swim Clinics). I have escorted and coaches swimmers across the Catalina Channel, English Channel and around Manhattan Island races. There are a variety of drills you can do in any pool and open body of water that may be interesting and beneficial to beginner, intermediate and advanced swimmers alike. You can see some of those open water training drills inside my www.10Kswim.com website, under More Details > What are some good workouts? (animation format). Please enjoy.
