Start:
·
Always
wear a new pair of goggles or a pair of goggles you know will not fog up (never
race in your training goggles).
·
On
the start line always position
yourself directly beside someone you know is slightly faster than you.
·
When
the race begins, get in the slip steam of that swimmer straight away (directly
behind him or her) and stay there for as long as you can.
·
Don’t
be aggressive (it wastes too much energy).
·
Think
happy thoughts.
Pack Swimming:
·
Don’t
be afraid of it.
·
Because
most triathletes are inexperienced in open water swimming, packs will always be
very tight and rough. If you’re a stronger swimmer you can get away with swimming
on the outside of the pack, where there will be a little less drag. You will
have a lot more room to move and will not have to be jostling with someone
either side of you the whole way. If you’re a weaker swimmer it will be more
beneficial to sit in the middle of the pack working as hard as you can to stay
there. Getting dropped can make it a long and lonely swim.
·
If
someone hits you or is annoying you don’t
hit or annoy them back - just swim away from them. If you get angry with them
it will just take your focus and energy from your race. Don’t even try and look
at who it is as it will only make you even angrier. Just swim away from them
and pretend it never happened.
·
Conserve,
conserve, conserve . . .
·
When
you’re swimming in the pack you shouldn’t have to lift your head to site buoys much
at all. The person leading the pack will do that and everyone else just follows
him/her.
·
If
you’re leading the pack lift your head every 4 – 6 strokes just to make sure
you’re keeping a straight line.
·
A
big mistake a lot of swimmers make is trying to breathe while sighting. This is a big no-no. You sight then turn your head to the side to
breathe.
·
When
sighting, you only want the bottom of your goggles to be above the water.
Lifting your whole head out causes your hips to drop, which causes drag and
breaks up the rhythm of your stroke.
Drafting:
·
When
drafting behind someone you want to be as close to them as possible without
touching their feet (touching their feet will just annoy them and it takes away
the element of surprise). You’ll get
more of an advantage and save more energy drafting off someone.
Turning
buoys are the most important thing in any race. They’re where you can make up a
lot of ground or potentially lose a lot of ground . . .
·
When
turning a buoy you want to be as close to the buoy as possible (the closer you
are to the buoy the less distance you have to swim).
·
Do
not lift your head when turning a
buoy (unless you want it knocked off)
·
15-20
meters before a turning buoy pick up the pace. You want to have fast momentum
when turning a buoy.
Things to remember:
·
Simplicity
. . . keep it simple.
·
When
you feel yourself starting to hurt or fall apart, whether it is in training or
a race, go back to basics. Remember all the small things (the catch, the pull,
touching your thumb on your thigh every stroke, high elbows, body position . .
.).
·
Only
worry about things you can control . . . you can’t control your competitors so
don’t worry about them.
·
In
open water swimming the fastest doesn’t always win or come out the water first,
the smartest does. Race smart!
Grimsey’s Adult Swimfit conduct
regular open water sessions. We provide
sessions via correspondence and also video analysing.
Check us out @ www.grimseysadultswimfit.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment