hi everyone! i absolutely love swimming but i'm new to the idea of open water swimming, so i thought this might be a good place to get advice. i was wondering what a good way to get started is and if making the transition from pool to open water is a big deal. i'd really like to be in races like the fat salmon, etc. one day (the sooner the better!). any tips would be great and also, what were your first open water experiences like?
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last year winter I decided I was going to swim a 3km OW race in July.
I got up to 4500-5000m in 90 minutes at practice when swimming distance free. I figured a 3km would be easy.
in June I started swimming in the lake to get a feel for swimming straight and with out walls to turn or hang on. our bouys were 250m apart, and the first few times I swam 750m, it seemed like someone kept moving the first 250m bouy because it took "so long" to get to it. after a few swims in the lake, it was not that hard to swim 750m with out stopping.
when I got to my first race I knew it was 2km down one river and 1km back up a joining river. but I was not mentally prepared to swim 3km in one stretch. there were bouys at 200m, 500m and then i didn't see another one until 1500m I mentally gave up, and slowed down between the 500 and 1500m but when I got to the 1500m I could see the turn and got excited again. then at the turn the water temp drop 2-3 degrees, and instead of swimming with the current we were now going against it. took me 45:15 last summer. I was happy with my time, but I was sad that I mentally gave up because I was not prepared.
this year I swam more in the winter and even though I never swam more than 5000m at one practice (except for a one time 90 minute swimwhere I was able to get in 6250m) I was swimming those meters faster. and in June i started OW swimming again, but this time I was doing 1500, 2200, 3000, and even 4000m swims with as little rest as possible. on some days I would work on swimming straight, other days I would try to swim fast between bouys. always taking note of how much time I was out in the water and resting. I think I had atleast twice as much OW experience before this years races and it showed.
last year winter I decided I was going to swim a 3km OW race in July.
I got up to 4500-5000m in 90 minutes at practice when swimming distance free. I figured a 3km would be easy.
in June I started swimming in the lake to get a feel for swimming straight and with out walls to turn or hang on. our bouys were 250m apart, and the first few times I swam 750m, it seemed like someone kept moving the first 250m bouy because it took "so long" to get to it. after a few swims in the lake, it was not that hard to swim 750m with out stopping.
when I got to my first race I knew it was 2km down one river and 1km back up a joining river. but I was not mentally prepared to swim 3km in one stretch. there were bouys at 200m, 500m and then i didn't see another one until 1500m I mentally gave up, and slowed down between the 500 and 1500m but when I got to the 1500m I could see the turn and got excited again. then at the turn the water temp drop 2-3 degrees, and instead of swimming with the current we were now going against it. took me 45:15 last summer. I was happy with my time, but I was sad that I mentally gave up because I was not prepared.
this year I swam more in the winter and even though I never swam more than 5000m at one practice (except for a one time 90 minute swimwhere I was able to get in 6250m) I was swimming those meters faster. and in June i started OW swimming again, but this time I was doing 1500, 2200, 3000, and even 4000m swims with as little rest as possible. on some days I would work on swimming straight, other days I would try to swim fast between bouys. always taking note of how much time I was out in the water and resting. I think I had atleast twice as much OW experience before this years races and it showed.
