Open-water swimming is not always easy for those used to swimming with their eyes fixed on the black line along the bottom of the pool.
So, even though the triathlon and open-water swimming season will not be starting for some time yet, we would like to give you a few good tips about how to prepare for your first races. The sooner you overcome your fear, the more specific your preparation will be and the better you will perform in your races.
The first step is to stop avoiding what you are afraid of and to face up to your fears.
An invaluable piece of advice is to “simulate and isolate”, this can make everything less stressful.
- Work on your swimming technique, isolate the problem and simulate what might happen in a race. Breathing on either side is extremely important in open-water swimming, so learn how to count to 3. As we all know, three is the perfect number. Breathing every stroke will leave you imbalanced, while breathing every 5 or every 7 strokes might be complicated if you are an inexperienced swimmer.
Always incorporates breathing exercises in your training sessions, such as 6/8 x 50 m freestyle breathing every 3 strokes for the first 25 m and then every 5 strokes for the second 25 m with 20” rest.
