I will be racing in my first triathlon in the next couple of months. The swim portion will be 1/3 mile and is in open water (cold ocean off the coast). I do not live anywhere near the coast and have had to do all of my training for the swim in a pool. I have trained with my wet suit on a few times just to get used to it, but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or any techniques that I could use in the pool that would help me be better prepared for the open swim? I am in pretty good shape and have been training in the pool for about 2 months. I am not anywhere near a lake/ocean and driving hours away isn’t an option. Thanks!
Ok that was kind of my issue too. When your swimming in a pool, do a time trial to see how long it takes you to swim that distance, i did the math for you and you’ll have to time yourself for roughly 24 laps (there and back is 2 laps). say it took you 10 minutes to swim that, add about 3 minutes to that and that should be your rough time when you’re swimming in open water. Basically, just keep yourself in shape, eat right, and swim daily. i would do a time trial once or twice a week just to see where you stand. But make sure you dont do a time trial two-three days before your race, it will tire your muscles. Start tapering with yardage. Start out with a lot of yardage, and about the week before your triathalon, you should be doing no more than 1000 yards, and it’s all just easy stuff, no sprinting!
A pointer for swimming in open water: especially when swimming in the ocean, watch out and be aware of undertoes, it doesn’t take much to pull you under. Pay attention to wind direction, if the wind is coming from your left side, make sure you breath on your right side, this will prevent you from taking in water. And be aware when you change directions too, because then the wind will coming from a different angle. When i did my triathalon, i generally stayed away from other swimmers, it prevented me from getting kick and getting splashed at, kind of go out on your own away from others, plus you wont be slowed down by them if they’re slower.
good luck in your tri! contact me if you have more questions! tomboy4life09@gmail.com
August 25th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
Ok that was kind of my issue too. When your swimming in a pool, do a time trial to see how long it takes you to swim that distance, i did the math for you and you’ll have to time yourself for roughly 24 laps (there and back is 2 laps). say it took you 10 minutes to swim that, add about 3 minutes to that and that should be your rough time when you’re swimming in open water. Basically, just keep yourself in shape, eat right, and swim daily. i would do a time trial once or twice a week just to see where you stand. But make sure you dont do a time trial two-three days before your race, it will tire your muscles. Start tapering with yardage. Start out with a lot of yardage, and about the week before your triathalon, you should be doing no more than 1000 yards, and it’s all just easy stuff, no sprinting!
A pointer for swimming in open water: especially when swimming in the ocean, watch out and be aware of undertoes, it doesn’t take much to pull you under. Pay attention to wind direction, if the wind is coming from your left side, make sure you breath on your right side, this will prevent you from taking in water. And be aware when you change directions too, because then the wind will coming from a different angle. When i did my triathalon, i generally stayed away from other swimmers, it prevented me from getting kick and getting splashed at, kind of go out on your own away from others, plus you wont be slowed down by them if they’re slower.
good luck in your tri! contact me if you have more questions! tomboy4life09@gmail.com
References :
Triathlete, Competative Swimmer (8 years)