Open Water Swimming

**Tracy is a guest blogger for SilvermanOrBust.com. Tracy has a long background in fitness and has raced numerous Triathlons among other events.  She is also a physical therapist completing a graduate degree.  Tracy is going into her second year as a pro-triathlete. **

It might seem like an eternity before we can get back in the ponds again, but it’s never to early to think about open water swimming.

Open water swimming can be very intimidating to triathletes, experienced or not. Standing at the edge of a lake is very different then at the edge of the pool. There is no sense of containment, the bottom is out of reach and there are no lane lines or black lines to keep you on track. The best thing to remember at this point is that swimming is forward movement through the water – it doesn’t matter where. Focus on your technique and not the bottom, 40 feet down or the fish swimming around and you’ll reach T1 comfortably.

Keys to Open Water Swimming:

1. Check the course out. The buoys are usually up at least the day before the race. Find the buoy line, then look for landmarks that will help you with sighting. Remember that things look different at the surface rather then standing at the shore.

2. Know what the buoys mean. At Silverman, the orange buoys are straight line guide buoys and the yellow buoys are where you turn. If you know what colors mean what, there will be less stress about possibly missing a turn and swimming too far.

3. Know the start of the swim. Is it a wave start or a mass start? With waves, the field is broken up into smaller starts, usually by age group. This is a safer type of start with larger fields and USAT prefers waves of 150 or less. The only concern with waves is that it can be nerve-wracking when faster swimmers from later waves start catching up. In a mass start, everyone starts at once. If you’ve ever watched the Hawaii Ironman on TV, you know right away what the biggest issue with a mass start is. This can be a physical, rough and scary boxing match for the first part of the race. How long the melee lasts depends on where you are in the field. Fast or slow will have an easier swim then middle of the pack.

4. Know the starting area. Is there anything that might affect the first 100 yards of the swim? Be careful with narrow channels, sharp turns or other obstacles. It’s best to avoid them from the start instead of having to swim around at the last minute.

5. Line up in the right spot. Just like in a road race, faster swimmers should be in front and slower swimmers to the back. If you’re unsure about where to start, hedge your bets and stay in the back. Getting swum over is never fun and starting in the right spot will eliminate some of the unintentional contact that happens. If there’s a lot of people, try lining up on one of the edges. That will further reduce the amount of people around you. Just remember tip 4 – know the starting area.

It’s always a good idea to get a few practice open water swims in before the race. That way you have the ability to try out the wetsuit, practice sighting and gain some comfort in the water. Just remember that you should never swim in open water alone. Always have buddy in the water with you and stay together. The larger the group the better – that way there is always a pair of eyes watching out.