This article was originally published on the USA Triathlon web site.
Just as you need to have a solid plan for your workouts in the pool (warm up, drills, main sets, cool down) you need to have a plan for your open water swims as well. Yes, you can simply wade into the water with your local triathlon club for the weekly open water swim and get in your LSD (long, slow distance) swim for the week. That works once in a while. But in reality, you should have a workout plan that's equally as structured as your pool workouts to maximize your time and to get the most out of your workout.
Just as you need to have a solid plan for your workouts in the pool (warm up, drills, main sets, cool down) you need to have a plan for your open water swims as well. Yes, you can simply wade into the water with your local triathlon club for the weekly open water swim and get in your LSD (long, slow distance) swim for the week. That works once in a while. But in reality, you should have a workout plan that's equally as structured as your pool workouts to maximize your time and to get the most out of your workout.
To that point, you need to have a goal for the
workout at hand. Is it to get in a
certain distance? Is it to work on
sighting and deal with water currents?
Depending on the conditions at hand, you may need to alter your plan,
but you need to show up with your goals clearly defined and understand exactly
what you want to achieve from your workout.
There's nothing wrong with needing to get in a swim for time. Knowing that you want to swim 30-45 minutes
at a certain perceived effort is perfectly fine (and is something that you'll
indeed need to do). But you should have
some solid workouts and sets in your arsenal to ensure you maximize your open
water time.
Warm up:
The same way you need to warm up before starting
your main sets in the pool, you need to do the same for open water swims. Depending on the location - and what my
triathlon club is fortunate enough to have - you very well may have swim zone
buoys showing the demarcation of the swim zone to boat traffic. A typical warm up for my club is to swim out
to the first buoy, regroup, and then swim easy for 2 buoys. We regroup, and repeat. We'll do this for one full "length"
of the swim zone. In our case this gives
us approximately 10 minutes of swimming to get loose and comfortable. If you don't have swim marker buoys to use
for this purpose, simply swim easy for 2-3 minutes. Stop, regroup, and repeat.
It's easiest, and safest, to swim parallel to
the shore. If there's no discernible
swim zone to work with, simply find a couple of landmarks to use as the two
ends of your "length". Then,
head out from shore far enough to provide a depth level that allows easy
swimming. Swimming straight out away
from shore, and then turning around after a period of time, puts you at risk of
entering into boat traffic or shipping zones (depending on the body of
water). It's best to stay close to
shore.
Once your warm up is done, and you're loose and
ready to begin your workout, there are numerous drills and sets that you can
work into your open water swim. Variety
is the spice of life - doing the same workout over and over again paves the way
for boring open water swims (or any workout for that matter). Change up your routine to keep your workouts
fresh and interesting.
Speed drills:
Your open water workout should not only include
proper time to warm up, but you should also on occasion include some speed work
into your plan - similar to what you would do when you're in the pool. After your warm up you'll alternate between
swimming at a steady state, and then increasing your pace to something just
under your race pace. Perhaps Zone 4 on
a scale of perceived effort. Hold this
for 45 seconds to a minute. Then ease up
and swim steady for a minute. Repeat
8-10 times. You can shake this drill up
a bit by going hard for a certain number of strokes. Swim hard for 50 strokes and then swim easy
for 50 strokes.
You can also do these repeats at a higher
intensity. They'll be for a shorter
duration and may require a little more rest in between to ensure that you
maintain your form. If you need to tread
water in between each effort that's fine.
You want to make sure you get enough rest between each repeat so you can
maintain good form while holding the intensity.
Stroke drills:
You can still do stroke work when you're not in
the pool. And you should always ensure
that you build in some time during your workout to focus on your stroke. During your warm up include some of the same
drills that you would do when in the pool.
You don't need to go crazy here, but it's good to work on your form -
especially when you're in a full sleeve wetsuit and your feel of the water will
be a quite different. Some great stroke
drills to consider:
Fist swim: Exactly the same drill as done in
the pool. Swim for a set amount of time,
or a set number of strokes with your hands balled into fists. This will force you to "feel" the
water and to ensure a proper catch phase as well as becoming more aware of your
hand and arm positions.
Single arm swim: This is a great way to connect your hips to
your shoulders during your stroke. With
your left are extended, swim 10-15 strokes with your right arm. Then switch.
Swimming with a 'Pause': This drill will ensure a quick and strong
finish of your stroke under water.
During your recovery phase, when your hand is right about at your
armpit, pause your stroke for a full second before continuing on and finishing
your recovery as well as underwater stroke.
You'll need to alternate the sides you breath on to work both arms on
this drill. You'll breath on the
opposite side of your "paused" arm.
Sighting:
This is perhaps the most important skill to
ensure success in the swim leg of any triathlon, and you can practice this in
the pool before you get into the open water.
While you need to practice this as part of your swimming routine, it's
something that you'll be doing constantly.
The question is how much sighting do you need to do and how straight can
you train yourself to swim?
Back in my days of high school and collegiate
swimming, we'd do a drill called "Tarzan". We swam with our head out of the water as we
focused on our above water arm recovery.
For our purposes here, lifting your head slightly out the water for 1-2
strokes will suffice. Focus on the pace
clock, a starting block, any easy target to pick out. Pick your head up just enough to not only put
your eyes on your sighting target, but to also get a breath. Don't focus on raising your shoulders for
this drill - focus on raising your head.
Repeat this once or twice every length as you warm up or cool down for
100-200 yards. You don't need to do this
every time you're in the pool, but if you feel you need to work on this skill,
integrate this into at least one pool workout per week.
In the open water, however, you'll need to find
landmarks to keep you in a straight line.
The old adage holds true - don't assume the person in front of you is
swimming on target. In a race you may
have found someone who's swimming your pace and you're psyched that you can
draft off this person. But if they're
swimming off course, you risk following them and losing valuable time. The easiest objects to sight off during a race
are the orange buoys or course markers.
But during your open water workout, you'll need to use something
else. A house. A large tree.
Anything that's easy to target to keep you on track.
Every 10-12 strokes, pick you head up (just as
you practiced in the pool) and find your landmark. If you find you need to sight more often, do
so. Eventually, with practice, you'll
become better at sighting and you'll find the need to pick your head up to be
less frequent.
When heading in to the beach - whether in a
race or at the end of a workout - you'll most likely need to find a landmark to
assist you as well. It's all too easy in
a race to "follow the crowd" after the last swim buoy, but this again
may not ensure the best route. Before
you start out in your workout or race, find a landmark near the swim exit and
use that to guide you home after the last turn.
Bilateral Breathing:
Breathing on alternating sides can help keep
you on a straight course as well as ensuring that in rougher water you can
breath opposite the side that waves might be approaching from. Additionally, what if the swim buoys are on
the opposite side that you normally breath on?
If you're not comfortable bilateral breathing, work this skill into your
pool workouts. It's easier to practice
this skill in the pool than it is in the open water.
Start drills:
Since most triathlons incorporate a beach start
for the swim, it's important to practice your start and entry into the
water. Starting on the beach, run into
the water until it's approaching knee height.
Then continue your running with a high-knee run. This will only last for a few moments until
the water reaches your knees and above.
At this point you may opt to dolphin dive a few times before you begin
swimming. Swim hard for 15-30 seconds,
turn around and swim easy back to shore.
Repeat 5-6 times. This is best
done with a group, if possible, to simulate a mass start.
Now to state the obvious: Always swim with a partner – a group is
better. You need to keep an eye on each
other and ensure that nobody is in distress or requires assistance. Never swim an open water workout alone. Ideally, if this is a group or triathlon club
workout, you should have kayak support and spotters on the beach or shore. It's also important to note that open water
swimming in a lake is quite different than swimming in an ocean. Currents will be much more severe and
unpredictable in the ocean. Obvious
statement? Perhaps. But it’s worth mentioning. And remember,
you'll need to take the current into consideration when sighting.
I'm really just scratching the surface
here. There are numerous other drills,
theories, and workouts that can be incorporated into both your open water and
pool workouts. Should you have
questions, need advice, or feel that you need additional assistance to become
more comfortable in the open water, you should reach out to any USAT certified
coach for assistance.
