Open Water: Strategies, Techniques and Tactics

• Pool swimming is very controlled – when you’re at a meet it’s unlikely much is going to happen to you in between the lane lines. In open water it’s the complete opposite. You have to be prepared for all kinds of things that could come up. Do your homework (like reading through the list below) and swim open water as much as possible so you encounter these different experiences in a NON-RACE environment first.
• If you’re not a bi-lateral breather do your best to become one before doing an open water event. There are a number of circumstances where breathing on the opposite side would either be preferable or a must – a glaring sun, an annoying swimmer who’s right next to you and won’t leave, a current that’s bringing big waves on your normal breathing side – just to name a few.
• If you want to be good at open water, you need to practice open water.

STARTS & FINISHES

• Practice your starts!!!
• Run-in starts: knees high, feet out to side (if you can), dolphin dives
• Floating: Breastroke to get up on plane, then start your freestyle. Use your legs, more than your arms!
• Control your energy level at the start:
• Decide on YOUR strategy:
• Where in the pack do you want to be (front, middle, back // to the right or to the left)
• How hard do you need to start out? (depends on your position in the pack and your strategy)
• If you want to be in the lead, then start out sprinting and settle in (this needs also to be practiced so your body is used to it!)
• If you’re prone to anxiety, stay to the back, start out relaxed and pick up your pace after you’re comfortable.
• If you’re a mid-packer and generally comfortable, you should to start out a bit faster than pace, to get into a good swimming position (usually takes 100-300 yards for everyone to sort out).
• Race YOUR race.
• Be mindful of the start energy, which may draw you out too hard and expend all your energy stores. Even before you line up, be aware of the energy around you and that you aren’t letting yourself get too amped up.
• If you are super anxious, find a quiet spot, sit down, do some deep breathing or meditation. A little energy up before the start is ok, but too much can be very detrimental. Practice races will help you find the right level and pre-race strategies for you.
• Practice your finishes
• Do not stand up until you have to….this depends on your flexibility. Make use of dolphin dives or just swim until your hand touches the bottom. (Just make sure you can get your feet under you, so don’t go too far in.)
• If you can during warm-up or pre-race swims, practice the exit. Know what to sight on as you approach, know what the water depths are and where you need/want to stand up.
• As you’re coming to the finish of the swim, pick up your kick to get a bit more blood to your legs (but don’t overkick it and drive your heart rate up!)
• Control your energy level here too. Many times, the crowd will be cheering, the energy level will be high. Use it to energize yourself, but don’t let it amp you up to an uncontrolled level!

DRAFTING AND PASSING

• Be prepared for any race to swim it on your own, and use drafting opportunities as just that, an opportunity. Don’t count on being able to draft, unless you arrange with a partner to swim and draft the whole race together.
• Work on getting into a side-draft position (see picture):
• First, this is a lower turbulence area & allows you to do your own sighting. Secondly, it tends to be way less annoying to others than if you’re on their feet. Finally, it sets you up already in position for a pass when you need to.
• The drawback to the side draft: you may get pinched off by another swimmer when the lead swimmer passes them. In this case, drop back to a foot draft, pass the swimmer or obstacle, and then get back into a side draft.
• If you don’t know the lead swimmer that you’re drafting, double check a few times early on that they are sighting correctly and on course. If they aren’t, get out of the draft!
• If you arrange a partner to swim with, agree ahead of time when you will switch the lead! (Eg. Every 500 strokes, or at the turn buoys or wherever.) Then, practice that communication (eg. A series of foot taps from the drafting swimmer) and the position changes. Don’t lose time in the water because you have to stop to talk all the time.

SWIM COURSE ROUTES (TO FOLLOW THE BUOY OR NOT)

• Buoys are NOT always in straight lines, so swimming buoy-to-buoy may not be the shortest route.
• Make sure you know the race rules:
• Do you only have to make the turns? (If yes, that means that you can go to either side of the other, straight-line buoys.)
• Which side do you need to keep the buoys on?
• How many buoys are there? Where are the turns? Do different color buoys mean something different?
• Swimmers tend to bunch up at the turn buoys, especially if the turn is sharp (eg. 90degrees or more). This congestion can really slow you down and puts you in a situation where you are more likely to get kicked or cut off. Going wide is longer, but allows you to keep your pace, avoid the congestion and get a good sighting on the next direction you need to go.
• Practice different turns during training (corkscrew turn, breastroke turn, tarzan swimming, 1-arm stroking) and figure out what works well for you in different situations.
• If a 2 or more loop course, do you have to exit the water? Make a strategy for how you are going to come out and re-enter (where, how deep, how aggressive, etc…).

OVERCOMING ANXIETY

• Get out and practice in open water and get used to it!
• Train in similar water to what you will be competing. If an inland lake, swim a lot of inland lakes. If big lakes or the ocean, find a big lake with 2-3 foot waves and practice swimming in the waves!
• See above about controlling your energy level at the start. If you’re prone to anxiety, you really need to separate from the crowd for a bit and do some meditation. Get your heart rate down before you even line up.
• If you are prone to anxiety or panic attacks….
• Realize that the panic attack takes 20-30minutes sometimes to get through. You can’t force it to go away. But, the more you expose yourself to the anxiety situations, the better you will handle it the next time.
• Start at the back of the pack and stay out of the start chaos.
• Control your energy level, see above comments.
• Figure out methods in the water to help yourself calm down. Examples:
• Turn over on your back, look at the clouds and take deep breaths
• Focus on your stroke, count your strokes, work on some technique point that you struggle with (like your catch!), do your favorite drill
• Sing a song to yourself
• Develop a soothing mantra that you can say to yourself
• Switch to breast stroke or side stroke for a few minutes.
• Make use of the buoys or kayakers…. You’re usually allowed to hold on as long as you don’t make forward progress (but check race rules!!!) If you swim to a kayak, be very clear to the kayaker what your problem is and what you need them to do (even if it’s as simple as just stay there and talk to you!).
• Make sure you’re still sighting and staying on course. Don’t cause yourself additional anxiety because of something like going the wrong way.

SIGHTING AND COURSE RECONNAISSANCE

• Practice sighting in the pool, so that you learn to keep your stroke rate, proper positioning, and changing strokes (all the things we’ve been doing in practice!)
• Check out the course ahead of time if you can.
• Pick out BIG, stationary things on shore that you can use to sight for each leg of the swim. Sometimes you can’t see the buoys well, so try to sight on something on land, BEHIND the buoy and HIGH up.
• Keep in mind that as you swim towards something, it will change! It will look different.
• You should only need to sight every 25 yards or so. Count your strokes in the pool for 1 length and use that as a guideline for how often to sight.
• To practice sighting, don’t just always swim the same route around your training lake. Pick something across the lake or diagonal, and swim towards that. Change directions and get used to having sun or waves from different directions.
• Other things to sight on:
• Sunny days and early mornings: Sometimes you can see the rays of light through the water. Keep them at the right angle and you don’t have to pick your head up so much.
• If swimming parallel to the shore, breathe towards the shore side and keep a constant distance.
• If you’re at the back of the pack, keep an eye out for where others are going (if they are keeping well to the course).
• Also check how the buoy’s are set and your best way around the course.
• Make sure you know the # of buoys, if the turn buoys are their own color, where the turns are, etc….
• Final note: if you wander a lot, you need to work on your stroke, especially your catch phase & that you are pulling & rotating equally on both sides. These are the most common reasons swimmers don’t swim straight.

DEALING WITH ROUGH WATER (WAVES, CURRENT, BREAKERS):

• If waves are coming from the side:
• Time your breathing to the waves, and breathe away from the wave direction
• Time your sighting to the waves and sight when you’re on the crest.
• Waves coming from the front:
• Time your breathing and sighting to when you’re on the crest of the wave.
• Make sure you keep front hand high and glide through the waves. You may also need to increase your pulling force & your kick to get through them.
• Current:
• Make sure you know the current direction. If it’s from the side, you will need to swim slightly angled into it to keep course. You may also need to sight more often.
• If swimming into the current, be patient. Make sure you keep a good hydrodynamic position, up on plane, and front hand high so you can glide through.
• To get out through breakers (eg. Ocean swim starts):
• Again, keep your hand high in front of you. As the breakers break over you, go to Sweet spot position (face down), glide and kick like hell. Between breakers: head up sighting/Tarzan, get your breath, pull HARD and keep kicking. Time the next breaker to duck back down into Sweet Spot through it.
• This takes a lot of energy and patience! But anyone can get through if you do it right.

SWIMMING IN A PACK:

• Don’t get into a jabbing fight. That wastes energy.
• If you get boxed in & don’t want to be there, stay calm, sight a bit more, and find a way out of the middle. This may mean that you need to slow your pace & let others move around you, then sweep back behind them to an open spot.
• Practice swimming in a pack and bumping each other.
• If you’re being bumped, pull with a wider stroke and keep that front hand up in front of you as a blocking mechanism.
• To swim through two swimmers, keep your stroke long, front hand up, and make sure you’re making use of the body rotation. Get your elbows high (like zipper drill) to make yourself narrower. Kick a bit harder and just push through.
• Extra lubrication (vaseline or body glide) on exposed skin surfaces can sometimes help prevent being grabbed or rubbed.

COLD-WATER TIPS

• Double capping helps keep the head warmer.
• To acclimate for the race, walk in ankle/knee deep, bend over and submerge just your head a few times. Do this before submerging your body. Then, submerge your body and swim a bit to warm up. Go fully into and fully out of the water 2-3 times.
• Other gear like neoprene caps, gloves, and booties can help for super cold water.
• If you know you will have a cold water swim, expose yourself to cold temperatures in your training as much as possible. (Worst case, sit in ice baths for 30-45minutes.)

GEAR

• Goggles:
• Choose your lens color carefully.
• I personally like orange, as it will help with glare but also brighten the sight for you. I use orange for all conditions.
• Clear lenses: for cloudy days
• Dark lenses: for cloudless days
• Inspect your lens seals and straps before racing! Make sure they won’t leak or tear or break.
• Wear the goggle strap under your cap to avoid issues with them coming off during the race.
• Some racers like bigger goggles with bigger seal areas (vs pool racing goggles), to spread out any force from getting bumped. Just make sure that you aren’t sacrificing sealing to get a bigger lens/seal area.
• If you have goggle problems, flip over to your back, kick and adjust them.
• Cap:
• If cold, wear two caps (doubled) with the goggle strap between the two caps.
• Wetsuit:
• Get a good fit! Make sure that it fits in the torso area. It should feel tight (esp when new). It will loosen with time and also when it gets wet.
• For the first use of the season, make sure you soak it in the bathtub for a few hours! They tend to dry over time and shrink up. It will also help with tearing.
• Put the wetsuit on DRY! Make sure it is dry and your skin is dry.
• Use body glide or other lube, especially at the neck, wrists and lower legs.
• Pay attention in training to red spots or “hot spots” created by the wetsuit. Check yourself when you take your wetsuit off (i.e. don’t just yank it off and miss the opportunity to know you have a chafe ready to happen on race day!). Make sure you lube those spots before the race.
• To put on: start with it inside out, pull it up to your knees, then roll it the rest of the way up and on. Make sure it’s well into your crotch area before rolling it up onto your torso. If that isn’t in the right spot, you won’t get it on right.
• Wear it and get used to it. First time, just wear it and walk around. Also practice swimming in it. You may have to adjust your stroke a bit or you may find that you start some bad habits, so go practice in it and work on your technique. (Note: you can wear it once or twice in a pool to try it, but the chlorine will break down the rubber. Rinse it and soak it in clear water after being in a pool!)
• Rinse your wetsuit off and hang it to dry (inside out) after each use.
• Lubrication:
• Find a brand you like, try out a few different ones. Vaseline won’t work for things like suit chafing, but is sometimes good for exposed skin area.
• Use it during training sessions and figure out where you are most likely to need it.

CRAMPS

• First off, do not panic! You will just cramp more.
• If you can keep swimming, quit kicking with that leg and flex your foot (toes up towards your knee).
• There is a cross-legged technique that takes practice but sometimes also works. Ask an experienced swimmer who knows how to do this.
• If that doesn’t work, stop, tread water/lay on your back and work on stretching it out or massaging it.
• If there is a kayaker close by, you may be able to rest holding the kayak and work it out.
• Worst case, swim without kicking until you can get out of the water.
• In any case, if you’re cramping, you need patience to give it a chance to resolve!
• Do what you can during your training to prevent cramps. There is no one magical solution for everyone, but hydration, electrolytes, and stretching are usually recommended.
• If you’re really prone to cramps, be careful on a run-in start….don’t push off the bottom too hard, which could set off cramps.