Long time pool racer, getting ready to swim my first open water race in a few weeks. I'm curious about whether people typically converse and try to self-sort by pace before the start, letting the faster swimmers line up towards the front, or whether it's usually just a "first come, first served" situation with things getting sorted out in a scrum after the gun.
I somewhat agree. However, remember that one of the beautiful things about open water swimming is that you can get into a pack to draft and conserve energy. In addition, if you can find the right pack that is just a smidge faster than you are, you can have that pack pull you faster. There are times during an OW race when it is absolutely the right thing to do to sprint so you can find a pack like that.
For your first race or a race where you don't know the other competitors, this might be hard, but I have found this to be a very significant advantage in races where I know who to follow.
Point taken--I typically am a back of the pack swimmer, and earlier in my o.w. swimming days, I would start out at 50 freestyle pace and then suffer. Sometimes if I see someone not too far ahead of me, especially toward the end of a race, I might go into 50 freestyle mode but not for too long, just enough to close in. (Of course, by then, my 50 freestyle mode can sometimes be a bit tattered by the preceding effort.) ;)
I somewhat agree. However, remember that one of the beautiful things about open water swimming is that you can get into a pack to draft and conserve energy. In addition, if you can find the right pack that is just a smidge faster than you are, you can have that pack pull you faster. There are times during an OW race when it is absolutely the right thing to do to sprint so you can find a pack like that.
For your first race or a race where you don't know the other competitors, this might be hard, but I have found this to be a very significant advantage in races where I know who to follow.
Point taken--I typically am a back of the pack swimmer, and earlier in my o.w. swimming days, I would start out at 50 freestyle pace and then suffer. Sometimes if I see someone not too far ahead of me, especially toward the end of a race, I might go into 50 freestyle mode but not for too long, just enough to close in. (Of course, by then, my 50 freestyle mode can sometimes be a bit tattered by the preceding effort.) ;)
