8 / / Open-Water Swim Special 2019
SWIM SPECIAL
open-waterseasonin
UKis relativelyshort
triathletes,withmost
usgettinginthelakesand
s aroundMayeveryyear,
n headingbacktothe
rmthofthepoolinOctober
whenthemercuryplummets
andraceseasonis finished.
Justbecauseyou’renotin
openwaterallyear,doesn’t
meanyoushouldn’tpractise
all-yearroundforwhenyou
are,though.Familiarising
yourselfwiththeskillsyouneedforopenwatercanbe
doneinthepool– whichis
greatasit meansyou’renot
havingtothinkabouta million
newtechniquesatthesame
timeasdealingwithan
unfamiliarenvironment.
Joininga triathlonclubwith
pooltimecanbea greatwayto
getstarted,asmanywill
includeopen-watersessions.
Thiswillmeanyoucantrain
alongsideothersandworkon
theskillsneededfor
competingwithmultipleswimmers, such as swimming
close to others, mass starts,
swimming around other
people and drafting.
Alternatively, grab a couple of
swim mates and hit the pool at
a time when it’s quiet, so you
don’t disturb others.
Other open-water skills are
easy to practise on your own
and can be incorporated into
your usual swim sets. These
include: breathing to each side
and/or bilaterally (so you can
cope with waves whichever
way they come at you);
sighting; and turning without
touching the wall, to replicate
turning around a buoy.
Read on for Adam Young’s
essential 10 skills, as well as a
couple of example sets that you
can take with you next time
you go to the pool. Then come
open-water time, you’ll be
ready to smash it!YOU CAN PRACTISE IN THE POOL
OPEN-WATER
SKILLS...
It can feel like there’s a lot to learn for outdoor swims. The good news?
Many skills can be learnt in the pool, says Swim Smooth’s Adam Young10
Swim Smooth is the world’s
leading swim coaching
company. They wrote the
coaching curriculum taught
by British Triathlon and
have highly trained coaches
ready and waiting to help
you develop your swimming
all over the UK. Find out
more about them at: http://www.
swimsmooth.com