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First Open Water Swim

RobRob Posts: 209
in General Chat
I've got my first open water swim (750m in a lake) this Sunday. Bit apprehensive about it, anybody got any hints/tips?



Cheers, Rob

Comments

  • madnursemadnurse Posts: 782
    Hi Rob - A tip I have been given is swim it like a pool. (albeit a big one) the suggestion was to count strokes as you would in a pool so you know roughly the distance you are covering (ie in blocks of 20 strokes assuming you do 20 strokes per length). Have you been using sighting drills into your swim sessions ?? we tend to sight every eight to ten strokes. counting 'lenghts' & sighting is also a useful way of focusing your thoughts and should stop you from getting into a panic mode trying to swim to fast loosing technique and even swimming way off course.



    smooth relaxed swim

    steady strong bike

    steady start and fast finsh for run



    at least that the plan



    MAd as a bucket o' frogs [8D]
  • fatmattfatmatt Posts: 145
    rob,

    i reckon it must be the new forest race you're doing, was thinking about that myself but i'm doing stratford, it's more local to me.

    one piece of advice i was given is, instead of trying to sight the buoy while swimming, which may not be all that large, but find the biggest tree or structure ( probably a tree in the new forest!) which is directly or almost, behind the first buoyand use that to sight your swim,

    or even after the first minute or so, find someon about your speed and just follow them

    good luck

    fatmatt
  • rebborebbo Posts: 58
    Rob,



    in case you've not seen it, this month's 220 has a short feature on open water (vs. pool) swimming - few helpful looking tips.



    Tom
  • DedeDede Posts: 35
    go with the thought of plenty of confidence. If you know you are well capable of covering the distance, gather your thoughts together, like where to start in the field. The front, middle or back. A tip keep to the far left or right depending on the direction of the swim course, you have no one on one side of you, so you don't have that surrounded by lunatics feeling. Concentrate on breathing whilst swimming, start steady find your rythym gather momentum, gain speed, you have the aid of buoyancy with your wetsuit. Before you start ensure you warm up, stretch your back and arms this will enable you to maintain a long stroke. Wear you goggles under your swim cap. Finally tell yourself you are a triathlete I can do this, everyone started out like this, your not alone, but beware of ugly big sea insects that might apparantly attach themselves to your feet and wetsuit!!!......only joking enjoy the swim, set yourself a time frame go for it.
  • RobRob Posts: 209
    Cheers guys, I'll try & apply it all on Sunday. I'll let you know how I get on. I had a quick dip in the sea last night to try the wetsuit out. I see what everyone means about buoyancy!
  • RobRob Posts: 209
    Well I'm still alive! And it was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. I managed to stay calm which was the main thing for me, no panic attacks or hyperventilating. What also helped was we were set off in waves of 8-9 people with around 10secs between groups so no mass bundle at the start, ideal for a first timer. I did veer off course a couple of times at the start but got the hang of sighting without too much trouble. I think I may have even overtaken a couple of people!!!!



    The rest of the race went well although I have no idea of placings yet. The bike course is very picturesque, the run gnarly in places (a really stiff uphill near the start with sand at the top to greet you). I'd recommend it for next year to anyone.



    Website address is: www.beaconleisure.co.uk



    Thanks for the tips again guys. Bring on Wimbleball!!!!
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