TRI: Open Water Swim
Open Water Swim
By: Giancarlo Canessa, board member of the USAT Midwest Region and President of the Minnesota Triathlon
The swim portion of a triathlon is very technical. Aside from basic stroke technique there isnt a whole lot of triathlon swimming information available. This article assumes you already know how to correctly swim. Here, I will describe different methods you can use to make the swim portion of your race a bit faster and more enjoyable (i.e., less traumatic).
Drafting
One of the most important skills to a successful triathlon swim is effective drafting. For many, drafting is a cycling term (and a big “no-no” for many -esp. American- triathletes). The drafting process involves positioning yourself directly behind and/or beside another athlete allowing them to “break” the still air/water (whatever you happen to be racing through) and “pull” you along for the ride. Drafting can be very beneficial (when legal) in cycling and extremely important during your swim.
To get the most out of your draft, you’ll want to be in the swimming draft zone. This zone is typically directly behind (so your fully extended arm and fingers are less than one centimeter behind the “draftee’s” feet). Other great areas are back and beside the draftee (so you are almost touching the swimmer and your head is directly beside their feet). This latter method of drafting is usually more effective but makes bilateral breathing difficult since their kick is usually pounding water directly into your mouth (on one side).
Draft zones vary in size (depending largely on the swimming style of the person you are following). The larger and less effective stroke a swimmer has, the larger their draft zone becomes. You SHOULD be able to tell when you are properly drafting, you’ll feel faster in the water and probably feel water pushing you forward at the thighs. It’s the same type of feeling you get when you are on your bike and you race a ten-ton dump truck from a stop light, it’s just exaggerated in the water.
The question now remains, “Who do I draft behind?” Good question, I’m glad you asked. You’ll want to draft behind someone who is just slightly faster than you. For example, you are in the middle of your triathlon swim and you are all alone. Out of the corner of your eye, you see someone passing you, it takes them approximately five strokes to get by. This person is (more than likely) too fast, odds are, if you get behind this swimmer you will be able to draft for only four of five strokes. If another swimmer passes you taking more (i.e., eight to ten, or even more) strokes, this is a good candidate to get behind, literally.
Drafting Etiquette
The hydrodynamics of drafting will allow both you and your draftee to swim faster. Keep in mind (like cycling), the person in front is doing most of the work and “pulling” you along; show a little gratitude. Even the most experienced swimmers will occasionally touch the feet or legs of the person they are drafting behind, try not to touch too often (this can aggravate the person ahead of you and have them do any number of crazy things to get you off their tail).
Start Positioning
At the beginning of some races, you may hear the Race Director instruct you to place yourself by swimmers of equal swimming ability. If you plan to draft, this is not where you should be. Place yourself with the swimmers you want to draft behind (i.e., swimmers who are slightly – not greatly – faster than you). As these slightly faster swimmers pass, you can move in for a race-long draft. Starting too far ahead is not a good idea; faster swimmers will (more than likely) swim right over you.
Sprinting
Proper sprinting is not often learned by triathletes because focus is spent on efficiency and… oh yeah… cycling and running. Sprinting can is useful for triathlete swimmers of every level. Slower swimmers use sprinting to catch faster swimmers (to draft behind) and faster swimmer use sprinting to lose the slower swimmers (so they don’t pull along slower swimmers).
Sprinting is best used when most of the swimmers are close to one another (at the start and every single turn on the course). Though swimmers spread themselves out over the course, the highest concentration of fast, slow, medium-paced swimmers is always at corner buoys. These congested areas of the swim course present the perfect opportunity to find someone better suited to draft behind. The only problem is, faster swimmers don’t want to make your life easy, so they usually try to dart out of congested areas, your job is to stick with them (for a short while) until they find their pace.
While sprinting, speed (not efficiency) is the primary concern. Body positioning changes and your heart rate will increase. If you are swimming an efficient, steady stroke, your body should be rolling over onto its sides with each stroke, this enables the hole your body makes in the water to be much smaller and hydrodynamic.
When sprinting, remain flat on your stomach, raise your head so your eyes would be just above the level of the water if you were not moving (water should still go over your goggles because it will get pushed over your head). If you aren’t kicking, now is the time. Keep your legs straight, your ankles loose and your butt tight. Keep your feet just below the water. Very slightly increase your stroke speed. Just because you are sprinting does not mean your arms have to move at the speed of light. Moving your arms faster doesn’t make you a faster swimmer; pulling harder does. Try to think of it in terms of cycling, for a sprint, you need to push harder on your gears, you won’t be going faster just because your shift to first gear and your feet are going around fast, you need to push.
Sighting
A good draft WILL make your swim faster, if you don’t pay attention to where you are going, it may also make your swim much longer. Unfortunately, most lakes, oceans, gulfs and seas are not equipped with lane lines and markers so you will probably have to poke your head out of the water to see where you are going.
A proper sighting is (like breathing) very subtle. Without removing your entire head from the water, pull your head up so your goggles are out of the water. Do this for only one stroke, if you couldn’t find what you were looking for, take a look during your next stroke.
How often you look up is entirely up to you. Even if you “think” you know where you are going, try looking up ever twenty (or so) strokes. If you find yourself constantly off course, look more frequently. To improve your sense of direction, I recommend practicing in an open body of water before race day.
On the beach, many swim courses look very straightforward, this changes however when you are in the water, out of breath and your goggles are slightly fogged. Take some time before your race to look over the swim course, REALLY look it over. Count how many buoys are between each turn. What angle will you need to turn at the fourth buoy (more or less than ninety degrees). What permanent landmarks are visible from the water (buildings, parks).
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