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I swam in open water and I liked it!!
nicknofinger
Posts: 284
in General Chat
was it your first time in the open water? im going for my first time on sat, im a little bit worried as swimming is my weakest discipline.
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The bloke there was also doing the Norseman triathlon, what a lunatic.
Also if I did not say relax.
Great isn't it? I've done the open water thing a whole twice now (third time tomorrow). First time was a disaster, second time, great fun and such a relief not to be scared and panicking!
Water was horrible, full of weeds and algae and not very deep either so continually swimming through big plumes of weeds which also smelt dodgy.
Did kind of enjoy it though. Coped better than previously and we all did a simulated 'Windsor' start which was useful... Mass start swimming over to one side and diagonal back, followed by a quick run after (dodging goose poo).
I guess the more you swim in OW the more relaxed you get. Having said that, I fully expect to be doing some breastroke on Sunday morning at approx 6.15am.
I had my first dip at Serpentine on Sunday. Was not exactly _pleasant_, but not too bad. To be honest, being _just_ able to stand up at either end is probably an advantage (certainly at the East end, where the algae seems worst).
The other swimmers I chatted too were all quite friendly, as well - there seemed to be quite a few 'newbies'.
Certainly worth doing the practice before a real OW swim, if only to get used to where the cold water goes as your suit fills up.
question: anyone got any tips for swimming in a straight line? (so far, I've tried alternating the breathing every 3rd/5th stroke, which seems to help)
Sighting is the way forward I reckon. Depending on how straight your stroke is in general will dictate how often you need to do this. Me... probably every 6 strokes I'll have a look and see where I'm heading but others may find they can go further without having to straighten up as often.
Straight lines? Touch wood, regular sighting (about every 8 or 10 strokes, I'm not sceintific about it) seems to keep me going reasonably straight.
Blueseventy on Thursday night and Chester Triathlon on Sunday.
I.