Open Water Swimming (cont.)
Pre-start and Hydration.
Oftentimes, the swim start may be a long walk from the
transition area. Give yourself enough time before your wave
start to get to the start line and warm up. Also, take a
water bottle with you to the race start. Not only may it
be a long walk, but also the race start may be delayed.
You want to use this to your advantage by staying hydrated
while others without water are losing fluids just waiting.
You may have to hoard your water like gold so either hide
it or be mean and don’t share.
Try to get in the water to warm up and loosen the muscles.
If the water or air temperature is very cold, you might
not want to get in the water. This is because if you have
a long wait after warming up before your race start, then
the muscles may tighten and be negatively affected compared
to not warming up in the water. If this is the case, “swim”
your stroke on land, stretch or even use stretch chords
for your swimming motion.
Know where to start.
If you are new to the sport or a poor swimmer, start where
you will feel most comfortable. Two good places are on the
sides or in the back. If you start in the middle at the
front, then you should be a good swimmer or else you are
a masochist wanting to “toughen up.” A good swimmer
also might want to start on the ends to have “cleaner”
water so as to keep good form with their stroke. If age
groups start in waves, watch the waves ahead of you to see
what happens to those swimmers the first few minutes of
the swim.
Just like in bicycle racing, drafting is effective in swimming.
You can save up to 30% of energy used by drafting off of
another swimmer. This is similar to being able to swim the
same pace as someone who swims 5 or 10 seconds faster per
100 than you in a pool. At the start line, place yourself
next to someone who is faster than you and plan to get on
his feet. What kind of swimsuit or wetsuit is he wearing?
What is his race number? What does his feet look like? What
color toe nail polish is he wearing? Your objective is to
recognize and stay behind that swimmer in the race.
Practice.
Get used to going out hard in swim practice with minimal
warm up. This prepares the body for race day. As you get
closer to races, you should do this for about a third of
your workouts. Unlike long distance pool races, triathlon
race starts are sprints at the beginning and only after
the opening minutes does the pace become relatively consistent.
Sprint starts are common because people have all of this
adrenaline flowing and people want to break out of the masses
to get behind a faster swimmer and draft. A great workout
I use to prepare for triathlon starts is just as mentally
tough as it is physically. After warming up for ten to twenty
minutes do 4 X 400 where the first 200 is all out and the
second half is a hard effort (surviving). The interval in
between is at lest five minutes.
Do drills such as:
* Head out of the water, sighting, every few strokes
* Following the person in front of you, drafting
* Mass swim start practice to prepare you for the inevitable
jostling in triathlons. This will help you get over the
anxiety of entangled arms and the occasional, yet accidental,
punch in the goggles
* Getting used to your wetsuit by swimming in it a few
times before a race. This will help you feel comfortable
in the suits instead of claustrophobic.
* As in all of the triathlon disciplines, go with the motto
“Train the way you race.”
Know how to enter and exit the water.
Valuable seconds can be gained or lost in swim entries
and exits. If you are doing a run in start, again know the
terrain and also know how to, when to and for how long you
want to run and/or dolphin dive before swimming. Also, if
waves are involved, know how to dive under the waves at
the start and how to ride the waves into the finish. A rule
of thumb for entering the water is to run as long as you
can get the feet out of the water and then do a couple of
dolphin dives before entering swimming. When exiting, swim
until your stroke touches the bottom. With currents, know
where to start and how to swim towards the finish so that
the current helps you as much as possible.
Preparedness for the swim start will ease the already anxious
moments of a triathlon start. Give yourself enough time
in the morning to view and make adjustments for the swim.
Congrats…you have finished the swim!
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