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Original poster

Would any swimmers like to help me beat DH?

55 replies

MyNameIsInigoMontoya · 02/05/2015 21:16

Just wondering if there are any good swimmers here (especially outdoor/distance swimmers) with good advice!

We have both signed up to do the Great North Swim in mid-June (1 mile, in Windermere). So far, swimming has been the ONLY sport which I am better at than DH - he is much fitter than me generally (runs, bikes, climbs, etc etc and can wipe the floor with me at any of those), but my swimming technique is better, thanks to swimming club in my schooldays, so I can usually beat him at that.

However... lately he has been getting into triathlons, so has been doing much more swimming training (and general exercise), and has improved quite a bit and already done several open-water swims, up to 1500m. Meanwhile, I have not been doing much swimming at all... and am not especially fit, nor used to open water. So I want to make sure he doesn't sneakily overtake Grin

I have already done 1 mile without stopping in the pool, so I know I can do the distance, although of course open water is a bit different. Also got a wetsuit sorted. But as I've not trained properly in a long time, I'm not really sure of the best way to improve my speed or prepare for it. I'm hoping to manage maybe 2 sessions a week, unlikely to fit in much more than that though.

I've had a look for training plans online and found lots of plans for getting up to 1 mile, but not much to help you do it faster. So thought I'd see if anyone here has any good tips as I will be slightly gutted if he beats me! Wink Thank you!

OP posts:
CMOTDibbler · 02/05/2015 22:07

Actually outside. Obv a swim coach would be able to give you drills to do in the pool, but theres no sub for being in a yucky cold lake and heading off into the murk.

I had a panic attack on my first open water event, and I wish that I'd done some work in a lake before hand. I did complete the event, but I was kicking myself about it. I have my first session in 3 weeks

Original poster
MyNameIsInigoMontoya · 02/05/2015 21:57

Oh thanks CMOT too (and like the name!).

Intervals sounds good, I did a bit of that yesterday but then got a bit unsure what to do next after a while. Maybe I should hunt out a float and do some kick/pull drill too, guess that would help?

Silly question but about the coaching, do you mean in a pool but focusing on open-water technique, or actually outside? The former would be easier to arrange than the latter, but either way it's worth considering I guess!

OP posts:
Original poster
MyNameIsInigoMontoya · 02/05/2015 21:54

Thanks pootle!

I have tried practising sighting a bit in the pool (read about this online), I will do a bit more work on it though! I think looking up/forwards at the start of a breath seems to work best for me.

We are having a week's holiday near the sea soon so I am hoping to get a bit of practise in then too. Actually I saw some people going out for a swim near us recently - in the North Sea, without wetsuits, in April Shock They are braver than me though!

Rightly or wrongly I am not too worried about panicking as I am generally fairly confident in water, though more worried about setting off too fast and then running out of energy later, I've no idea how you pace yourself when it's over a long distance with not many reference points.

OP posts:
CMOTDibbler · 02/05/2015 21:49

I think the main thing for getting faster is really concentrating on your technique (loads of youtube vids on head position etc) all the time - its easy to let it slip as a session goes on, and doing intervals so you do 100m warmup, then 50m really hard, 50m normal speed etc. Its easier to keep up the intensity if its only 2 lengths at a time.

Also, could you run to a couple of open water coaching sessions?

pootlebug · 02/05/2015 21:33

I don't have many ideas on getting faster - I seem to only have one speed! But there's a fair amount of technique to open water.

  • Practice in open water a few times (fairly obvious, but there you go)
  • Practice sighting (i.e. looking up to see where you're going) - both in the pool and in open water. Some people do it in-between breaths and some people on the breath - you can youtube for ideas and try both - but get in the habit of doing it. Zigzagging wastes a lot of time
  • Are there any practice aquathlons or similar you could do? I'm assuming it's a mass-start, which brings its own problems….the main two being a) bashing into people, and them bashing into you, and b) the feeling of panic that you're being left behind where you try to go out too fast then can't breathe, then panic, then end up clinging on to a safety canoe for dear life.