How To: Open Water Swim Tips for Triathletes

This follows up Part 1 and Part 2 of common triathlon swimming techniques and remedies, and Evan’s tips on the best use of a public pool for training and a simple effective front crawl stroke tip.

I’ve written various How To’s about different aspects of open water swimming in detail. This post is intended to be a general round-up of maybe useful advice for triathletes (based on substantial open water swimming experience).

Open water practice is different and separate to pool practice, and equally essential. You need both.
Breathing and sighting are two SEPARATE activities. Breathe to the side. Sight from LOW over the water (think of it as crocodile eyes).
Getting through large breaking waves is simple and quick (once you’ve practised it). Dive under them. Don’t try to go over or through.

Different wind strengths and directions (to your swimming direction) change the water conditions in different ways. Practice in all weather conditions.
My idea of cold and your idea of cold are different because you are wearing a wetsuit. I prepare for my temperatures, you MUST prepare for yours, even with a wetsuit.
Practice in open water well in advance of your event, and practice repeatedly.
Navigation is a learned skill. Pick something above the water and work out how often you need to sight forward to swim straight. Expect the number to be low at the beginning.
Few people are as good at sighting as they think they are. Most are worse. There are too many variable to always be certain you are swimming straight.

Practice turns around buoys.
Common technique causes of drifting off-course are crossing over the body centreline with your arm and breathing to one side (where it unbalances the swimmer). Address these in your pool training.
Controlled breathing is important. Don’t hold your breath.
Don’t concentrate on lowering your stroke rate, or gliding. (Yes, I know many of you try to do the opposite).
Do increase your stroke rate. And train for this.
Forget Total Immersion.
Don’t kick hard.
Don’t sprint at the start.
Don’t wear new goggles for a race.
Don’t start at the front of a race wave if you’ve never done so before.
Expect full contact with other swimmers. To avoid contact start slightly behind the pack.
Swim to the side of the pack.
Don’t trust that the pack knows where it’s going.
My sport is more extreme and dangerous than yours but yours is more popular and with a higher fatality rate. That can be reduced by better understanding of and preparation for open water.

Just because water is soft, doesn’t mean it’s easy. Train appropriately.
The best safety decisions are made outside of the water.
Your wetsuit is NOT an open water safety aid. Don’t use it as such to enter a swim you are not sure you are capable of completing