Swimming distance

[outofofficeagain]

I swim regularly 30 lengths. Breaststroke, head under, not especially fast.

I’ve just signed up to an open water thing with a friend at the end of July and it’s 2km.

I thought that was the maximum
and there would be a shorter option.

Can I build up to that in the time?

You should be able to, but you're going to need a plan and stick to it. E.g. swim 3 times a week, one session focus on going faster (20-30 lengths, but do them in blocks of 4 with a breather in between); one session where you add 10 lengths every week; and one normal 30 length session. You're going to need to check there's no speed cut off. You might be too slow doing breast stroke. If you can get some lessons to do crawl, it will be much easier

Is it swimtrek? They're amazing, I'm very jealous!

30 lengths of what size pool?
You definitely need a plan to build up your distance and you need some open water practice as it's very different - you'll be swimming / floating constantly for 2km and you loose the advantage of a push off the wall that you get in a pool.

I’ve gone from swimming 35 lengths of breaststroke to 70 lengths of front crawl and 10 breaststroke to being up up to 2km within 6 weeks so it’s possible.
You need to swim 3 times a week and keep pushing yourself though.

Thank you. Yes it is Swimtrek. Time to get practicing! It’s a lake and they say there’s no time limit so hopefully they mean it!

You'll be fine with swimtrek, all the guides are lovely and encouraging. You still need to build your distance up but there's plenty of breaks where you can hang onto the boat for a breather and they adapt the routes based on who's there. The first time I went I'd never done open water swimming before apart from paddling at the beach but you get into the swing of it very fast. Depending where you're going, buy a wetsuit now and take it for a trial run. It gives you buoyancy which is a bit weird but helps. If you're going slowly you could get cold.

What temperature will the lake be OP? Lakes can get quite warm in summer - 18/20 degrees - but if you are not used to swimming outdoors that might be a change for you. If the lake is deep it could be surprisingly cold and you might need a wetsuit (even a half wetsuit, T shirt length sleeves and knee length legs would protect your core). I’d suggest finding out and practicing swimming in a wetsuit if you need it.

It’s easier swimming in a lake in a wetsuit. I swim 1.5k in the pool but 2k in the lake. So I’d get comfortable with 1.5k and you’ll be fine in a lake in a wetsuit.

I am quite a good swimmer and usually do about 70 lengths of crawl a morning, takes about 35 mins. But I do think I'd really struggle doing 2km in open water. It's a different kettle of fish. You need to really train in open water and practice things such as sighting and dealing with temperature etc.

There are training plans online for different distances, such as this one for 2km: https://oceanswims.com/training/how-to-train-for-a-2km-ocean-swim/

It might help to give structure to your swim sessions and guidance on how to build up what you’re doing at the moment so that you’re ready for your swim.

Is it a one-off swim, or a swimming holiday with several swims each day?

As others have said, find out if you might need a wetsuit, as it will be important to get used to it beforehand if necessary.

You’ll be fine distance wise. Just swim 3!x week and gradually increase your distance. I do an extra 10!lengths usually then up it week by week.

I would find the open water thing more of a challenge tbh but I don’t like deep water despite being a strong swimmer. Is it fairly shallow? That I could just about cope with. There’s a 30m flooded quarry near me and the thought of that terrifies me!

I’ve done a bit of open water and have a wetsuit already.

it’s just 1 x 2km swim so I can collapse afterwards.

i’m hoping there’ll be opportunity for open water practice before then.

In contrast with previous posters, I find open water easier to do the distance because there's a clearer target and more distraction. I'm always tempted to quit early in the pool or on the treadmill and the last bit feels like a drag.