TRI: Open Water Swim (continued)

In most cases, the morning sun will be your enemy; blinding you at turns and making the entire beach appear as one gigantic blur. Take nothing for granted, the more you familiarize yourself with the swim course, the better.

Walking

A common question is, “How far should I run when starting?” and “How soon should I stand up when finishing?”

When starting, try to run out as far as you can until you can no longer pick your feet out of the water, at this point you will be faster swimming than running.

For finishing, the story is a little different, you don’t have a running start so you’ll have to swim farther to get running. Swim until your hands can touch the bottom. Once you stand up, start removing your wetsuit.

Wetsuits

I’m a big fan of wetsuits. A common misconception about wetsuits is they are used only to keep you warm; wetsuits enable you to swim faster and help poorer swimmers most. Wetsuits also offer the most bang for your buck; a two hundred fifty dollar wetsuit could improve a non-wetsuit-wearing triathlete’s time (in an Olympic-distance tri) by more than two minutes, most race wheels cost far more and offer less improvement.

Wetsuits offer a huge increase in buoyancy which allows you to focus on moving forward rather than staying afloat. Increased buoyancy also means more hydrodynamic body positioning. Many triathlete swimmers have a tough time keeping their legs at the top of the water; your wetsuit will keep them (i.e., your legs) up there.

Triathlon wetsuits are designed for swimming and fast removal so you won’t get tired while swimming in it and they are removed relatively easily. An important rule to remember is “the more body parts the wetsuit covers (i.e., legs, arms), the more it will help your swim.”

Conclusion

Though the swim can be intimidating, with a little practice, the first discipline of your triathlon can be mastered. The key here is to relax (i.e., keep your stroke and breathing under control) and have some fun.