Open
Water Swimming
These are a few general tips
for your open water season. Ask a coach on deck for drills and tips that
will fit your personal needs.
Navigation
This is one of the most critical
aspects of open water swimming, you can be very fast, but if you don't
masters your navigation skills you can end up swimming, in the best case,
too many yards, or just simply loose a race.
You have to prepare for the water conditions. At the pool, even with fogged
goggles, you can still follow the black line at the bottom. To the contrary,
the water in a lake or the ocean is usually choppier, and visibility is
close to nothing.
1. Straight swim: this
can be achieved with some practice. Try closing your eyes for 3 or 4 strokes
at the time and check against the black stripe in the pool. Repeat as
many times until you can complete 25 yards with closed eyes. Practice
during warm up, it's very dangerous during regular sets.
2. Sighting: The technique
will require getting your head out of the water, breathe and looking for
references on shore. There is a sequence that almost everybody follows:
get your head out of the water, look for references (buoys, trees, etc)
lean your head to the side and pass your arms above your head. Follow
this by some regular strokes (you will get a good stroke count after you
master the previous skill).
3. Bilateral Breathing:
You have to master this! Chances are that races start very early in the
morning and the sun can be on your face, the water is choppy, or you just
need to see around you. If you haven't practice these during workout,
it will be very difficult to try during the race. Use a pattern, like
breathing every 3 strokes or combination of 2 and 3 strokes, to keep your
rhythm.
Drafting
Cyclists know this! You can
save a lot of energy just swimming behind somebody else, plus you know
it's not the same to lead the lane than being at the end of the train.
This is a very hard skill to master, and I don't recommend you to try
during a race. A lot of variables make this very challenging. You have
to swim very close to the other swimmer feet, right behind or a little
bit on the side. The biggest problem is that you can touch the other swimmer,
and he or she can become very upset.
Other tip: in order to take some advantage, you must to pick a swimmer
a little bit faster than you. The down side to this is that, if the swimmer
that you followed is lost, you will be lost too.
Water Temperature
There are plenty of uncontrollable
factors such as wind, temperature, rain, currents, tides, waves, visibility
etc.
You cannot control the water temperature, but you can train to swim with
it. The rest of the factors are pretty much uncontrollable, but you can
adapt to the water temperature like you do with other things in your training
regime. Practice in a place where the water temperature is the same as
the one where you are going to compete in. Progressively, increment the
amount of time of your swims from 5 minutes until you get to the time
that you think you will spend during the race. It's important to do this
to prevent hypothermia.
Try to minimize the variables
Equipment (always
test before the races)
Goggles
Since visibility is limited,
your best bet is to buy a good pair of goggles for racing and saved them.
Actually, if they really work for you, buy an extra pair. Chances are
that, if you really like them, at the time you need to replace them they'll
be out of the market.
You can buy oversized goggles too, the mask type. Those are open water
favorites because they don't mark you face as the smaller ones and have
a larger viewable area. Apply a couple or anti-fog drops before the race
and rinse them after.
Suit
Yes, have a racing suit, one
that fit's you well and won't hurt you during your swim. Take a backup
suit with you!
Caps
Usually provided by the race
organizers. These are color-coded and not wearing them can disqualify
you in most of the races. If the water temperature is very low, you can
wear two. If it's extremely cold wear a neoprene hood (you can find it
in surf shops or triathlon stores). Use some Vaseline around the strap
to avoid chaffing.
Body Glide or Vaseline
If you are serious and you don't
want to swim with a wet suit, you will still need some protection.
These products are good to avoid friction and chafing. You can apply them
in different zones, around the neck, shoulders, armpits etc. Take a couple
of strokes and pay attention to the areas that can cause problems for
you.
Body Glide is good but in a short race can wear off very easily. Vaseline
is a better choice in most of the cases. Lanoline is very thick, it can
help you to retain body heat, but at the same time it will clog your pores.
I don't recommend it at least you are thinking about crossing the English
Channel.
Wetsuits
There are specific wetsuits
that are made just for swimming, with or without sleeves. You can rent
or buy one if you are planning for an open water or triathlon season.
To buy one, go to one of the Triathlon store in the area with some cloths
and spare time and try them on before you buy them. It has to feel tight
but at the same time you have to be able to move your arms without restriction
(you can spend 10 to 15 minutes trying one on!). Once you have the one
that fits you, bring it to the pool and swim with it.
During the races you can apply some Body Glide in areas where you think
that you may have some friction. If the wetsuits is more that one year
old, the warranty is already voided and you can use Vaseline instead of
Body Glide; is thicker and will stay longer in the suit.
Swim hard, and most important,
have fun!
Resources - Places
to Swim
Shadow
Cliffs
Nice and calm lake in Pleasenton,
CA. Swim in the morning and stay all day with your familly. Ask for Anita
Rosen
Aquatic
Park, San Francisco,CA
If you are going to swim in
the Bay, this is your best option. Ask for Pedro.
mc@marcelocastro.com
(408) 356-4160
