Photo credit: ©JoKleindl
Due to the temporary closure of swimming pools due to Covid19, open-water swimming has suddenly become extremely important. At the moment, lots of people who usually swim in the pool and as well as many beginners are discovering outdoor swimming. But training in this different environment poses various challenges even for more experienced swimmers.
We asked Bernd Berkhahn, a German national team coach and trainer of the world champion Florian Wellbrock, to give us some tips.
From the pool to open water: what are the technical flaws we need to focus on most?
My advice is to use your best swim technique in open water, just as if you were swimming in the pool. The main difficulty in open water is to try and swim the same way you swim in the pool, while at the same time raising your head to see where you are going. This means you need to maintain a good body position in the water, so you must not let your arms or legs sink too much. When swimming freestyle you need to rotate properly along the longitudinal axis and recover your arms properly. Your leg kick should be as economical as possible; do not kick too hard or you will waste energy, but make sure you use your legs to stop the muscles from getting cold.
