By French Coach Seb Locteau My athletes know me as a hard task master, but I never lie to them , and tell them what is going to happen straight away so they are ready to focus instead of them discovering bit by bit and get afraid and can’t concentrate on their skills. So let’s be honest and put it this way with you: It is going to be scary! Now that you expect the worst the following should be easier to swallow.
Swimming in open water is a great experience, from beginners to experienced athletes, the main difference from a pool aside from the depth is the fear of the unknown, the darkness of the water or when there is a good visibility the fish, jelly fish and other aquatic “monsters”. Technically you only scared by what you don’t know or have a bad experience of, or been taught it was scary or dangerous. It is like having your first driving lesson and you don’t know how to drive and you know you can hurt yourself or someone else. Do you already feel better, was not that bad was it?
It is all about training your body and mind. I always consider 4 swimming requirement for open water:
1) Ability to swim the distance
Been able to swim 500m or 1500m in a pool, does not mean you can swim it in open water, to try to replicate this in a pool some cool drills can be used:
– Don’t touch the ground or stop each couple of lengths
– When you turn, do not touch the wall or push off or touch the ground, imagine there is no wall but you have to turn back, this is fun and work your core and ability to swim in open water.
– Take it easy make sure your body position is aligned and that you breathe on your side with gentle and continuous kick
– Of course it is a safety issue to put yourself or another athlete in Danger.
2) Ability to cope with the cold
Most of the non finisher of the swimming part stop between 50 to 100m, mainly because they “Can’t breathe”. The reason behind it is very simple, your throat muscles in the cold take about 5 min to adapt themselves to the water, and reduce the amount of air intake and this causes a feeling of not been able to breathe. The only way to work on this is to train more in open water even if it means just been putting your head in the water in a stand up position and practice.
3) Ability to deal with the environment
No swim lane in the biggest pool in the country can replicate open water, those lakes and sea are disorientating but keep focused on one point on the land or a swim buoy. Be ready for the water depending on the weather or water conditions.
– Don’t breath on the same side that the waves
– Train to breathe on both sides in the pool so you will be able to adapt to different open water situations.
– Use your legs especially in training, which in one of the most commun mistakes in triathlon and open swims, you do not save your legs or energy as people think, it just concentrate on a different part of the body
– Look at and understand the course before the start, do a warm up to get a feeling of the water, it is like running different road, different water.
4) Ability to keep a steady pace
Most of the beginners start way to fast, which is similar to a running race. If you are not fit to be in the top swimmers, start at the back and start easy. When starting at max speed you create lactic acids and if your body is not use to it, it will take longer to recover and can even make you so tired that you won’t be able to keep Going. Make sure that you are not doing a “yo-yo” effect which make you go faster then slower, then faster etc…This will use up to 3 times your energy compare to a steady swimming pace
I tried to regroup some basic training, safety, psychological factors, which are general to most athletes, always try to warm up before an event and do not neglect the swim warm up for about 12/15min. You won’t get more tired, but you will be more relaxed, used to the water and have what we call a “feeling of the water”. Your body will adapt to the cold and you won’t have this breathing problem.
If you are not on the lead, you don’t really need to keep looking ahead, follow the guys you know who swim at the same pace. When you look ahead every couple of strokes keep your mouth in the water, it is another common mistakes where people breathe. Just lift your eyes up then when moving the head down just turn it on the side to breath so that you don’t break the balance and increase the resistance.
I hope you learned minimum one thing, and that I kept it simple for you.
Good Luck with your training.
Sebastien locteau
Swimming in open water is a great experience, from beginners to experienced athletes, the main difference from a pool aside from the depth is the fear of the unknown, the darkness of the water or when there is a good visibility the fish, jelly fish and other aquatic “monsters”. Technically you only scared by what you don’t know or have a bad experience of, or been taught it was scary or dangerous. It is like having your first driving lesson and you don’t know how to drive and you know you can hurt yourself or someone else. Do you already feel better, was not that bad was it?
It is all about training your body and mind. I always consider 4 swimming requirement for open water:
1) Ability to swim the distance
Been able to swim 500m or 1500m in a pool, does not mean you can swim it in open water, to try to replicate this in a pool some cool drills can be used:
– Don’t touch the ground or stop each couple of lengths
– When you turn, do not touch the wall or push off or touch the ground, imagine there is no wall but you have to turn back, this is fun and work your core and ability to swim in open water.
– Take it easy make sure your body position is aligned and that you breathe on your side with gentle and continuous kick
– Of course it is a safety issue to put yourself or another athlete in Danger.
2) Ability to cope with the cold
Most of the non finisher of the swimming part stop between 50 to 100m, mainly because they “Can’t breathe”. The reason behind it is very simple, your throat muscles in the cold take about 5 min to adapt themselves to the water, and reduce the amount of air intake and this causes a feeling of not been able to breathe. The only way to work on this is to train more in open water even if it means just been putting your head in the water in a stand up position and practice.
3) Ability to deal with the environment
No swim lane in the biggest pool in the country can replicate open water, those lakes and sea are disorientating but keep focused on one point on the land or a swim buoy. Be ready for the water depending on the weather or water conditions.
– Don’t breath on the same side that the waves
– Train to breathe on both sides in the pool so you will be able to adapt to different open water situations.
– Use your legs especially in training, which in one of the most commun mistakes in triathlon and open swims, you do not save your legs or energy as people think, it just concentrate on a different part of the body
– Look at and understand the course before the start, do a warm up to get a feeling of the water, it is like running different road, different water.
4) Ability to keep a steady pace
Most of the beginners start way to fast, which is similar to a running race. If you are not fit to be in the top swimmers, start at the back and start easy. When starting at max speed you create lactic acids and if your body is not use to it, it will take longer to recover and can even make you so tired that you won’t be able to keep Going. Make sure that you are not doing a “yo-yo” effect which make you go faster then slower, then faster etc…This will use up to 3 times your energy compare to a steady swimming pace
I tried to regroup some basic training, safety, psychological factors, which are general to most athletes, always try to warm up before an event and do not neglect the swim warm up for about 12/15min. You won’t get more tired, but you will be more relaxed, used to the water and have what we call a “feeling of the water”. Your body will adapt to the cold and you won’t have this breathing problem.
If you are not on the lead, you don’t really need to keep looking ahead, follow the guys you know who swim at the same pace. When you look ahead every couple of strokes keep your mouth in the water, it is another common mistakes where people breathe. Just lift your eyes up then when moving the head down just turn it on the side to breath so that you don’t break the balance and increase the resistance.
I hope you learned minimum one thing, and that I kept it simple for you.
Good Luck with your training.
Sebastien locteau
