Open water swimming guidance

As the weather gets warmer and you get closer to your goal event, it’s the perfect time to start introducing open water swims into your training plan.

In an ideal world, you’ll start to introduce a weekly outdoor swim 4-6 weeks before your first open water triathlon of the year

A simple way to introduce this swim into your training plan is to replace the weekly endurance swim with an open water swim. No need to over think this - you don’t need to replicate the pool set in open water - just get yourself in and swim steadily for the duration of your session. You can either do this as a continuous swim, or, if the venue is set up with laps, it makes sense to swim a lap, take a short break of a minute or so, and then swim another lap.

The first session or two back in open water, the key is just to get used to the feeling of swimming in open water again. You’ll most likely be wearing a wetsuit and so your buoyancy will be very different than if you were in the pool. For MOST swimmers, a wetsuit will help improve your stroke and speed through the water. Even then, be aware that your body position will ‘feel’ different in the water and it will take a couple of swims to get used to. Looking further ahead of you through the water, rather than downwards as you might in a pool, can really help your body position feel more normal when swimming in a wetsuit.

For a small number of swimmers (often women, and / or athletes who swam a lot as kids and are classed as ‘advanced’ swimmers) the wetsuit can feel like a hinderance. The added buoyancy makes them feel very different in the water, often like the lower half of their body is way too high in the water. Again, altering head position her can really help - looking further ahead than usual will help counteract this effect. IN extreme cases, a different wetsuit can really help - most brands make a suit for ‘better’ swimmers that has the same thickness neoprene in the legs and the body, rather than the traditional ‘thicker legs’ suits.

In terms of time and distance guidance - we’re looking for 70.3 athletes to build their long swim to the 2 - 2.5km range, and IM distance athletes to build to the 4 or even 4.5km distance. You DON”T have to do this all in one go, all at once, on your first attempt. For most of us, we’ll be getting into the water as it’s ‘warming up’ - so that first swim back in, just pat yourself on the back for even getting in the water! Build progressively - increasing 15 or 20 minutes more per swim will have you at your distance target in just a few weeks.

An open water swim of target race day distance is a good idea roughly two weeks before race day.

It’s worth remembering that there’s more to successful open water swimming than just ‘swim fitness’ -especially for performance on race day. Being able to accurately sight, swim in a straight line in open water, and effectively draft other swimmers, will really help you go faster on race day, or even - go at the same speed for much less effort. For that reason, practicing these three skills - sighting, drafting and swimming straight - is a really good idea in your open water training, and even in the pool if you can’t / don’t get to swim in open water before race day.

Safety guidance for open water:

Never swim alone.

Wear a floatation tow bag, even if you’re in a wetsuit.

Swim at an organised open water venue that has safety cover and water quality testing done.

Check with the venue organiser before hand what the protocol is if you get into difficultly - for example, does the venue have safety kayakers, paddle boarders, a boat etc - and what is their system for you attracting their attention. Often, this can vary from venue to venue.