Open Water Swims

Dedicated to Krafty Single, who panicked and did the backstroke in his first swim.

The doc has me on one more day of rest for my bum knee, so I had a light swim workout and found myself with a great chance to focus on open water swimming technique. 45 minutes, about 2700 yards, doing a 4 length rotation of (1)forward spot (2)normal swim (3)blind swim (4)normal swim, all at about a 1:40 minute pace on 100 yards.

For me, there are three main challenges with open water swimming:

1. You can't see where you're going when you breathe on the side
2. You can't see if you're going straight with your face in the water
3. Water gets choppy swimming with 500 of your closest competitors/frenemies

Here's how I practice for open water swims when I'm at the YMCA:

1. Navigation is an afterthought in a lap pool - you have the big black line below you, a big black cross on the wall to swim towards, lane lines 2-3 feet away on each side, and the ability to see from one end of the pool to the other. Open water swims are typically marked with big floating buoys, each separate by 100 meters of water with 5-10 feet of visibility - no chance of spotting the next buoy underwater. So many swimmers will take a few breaths on the side, and then a few breathes in front while free-styling, or even breast stroke a few seconds to spot, re-orient, and course correct. When you breathe in front, your feet drop and it takes a good effort to get yourself level and swimming again, only to repeat the process again every 15-30 seconds. Instead, I try to spot forward without taking a breath. Here's the short explanation... I usually try to breathe every 3 strokes (breathe on the right, stroke, stroke, stroke, breathe on the left, repeat), and breathe every 2 strokes (breathe right, stroke, stroke, breathe right, repeat) when I'm really pushing it. When I start a distance swim race I force myself to breathe every 3 strokes as a method of pace control, and that happens to lend itself well to spotting forward. Essentially, I breathe left, stroke, bring my head up mid second stroke to spot, stroke, and breathe right. When I bring my head up, I look straight ahead and lift only high enough for my eyes to break the water, but not my nose or mouth. I use my stroking arm to help lift my head, and then tuck back in before I have to roll and breath to the side. This helps keep my body level in the water (feet don't sink) and maintain a good rhythm.
2. With your face in the murky water, you are essentially blind. When swimming in a lap pool, we all are constantly course correcting without even knowing it. I am always surprised how off-course I can get in 20-30 seconds out in the open water. To practice swimming in a straight, balanced line, I'll do "blind" lengths. When I push off the wall I streamline for 2-3 seconds to set myself straight, then close my eyes and keep them closed for 15 strokes (one length typically takes me 18 strokes) and see how far I drift off. I find that the biggest drift factor is which side I'm breathing on (another reason to alternate breathing sides). This exercise makes me consciously practice balanced swimming.
3. Not a whole you can do about choppy water practice, but today I had an unexpected workout bonus: the really fat dudes in the lane to my left and the high school swim team in the 5 lanes to my right. Plenty of chances to catch a face full of water mid-breath, especially doing blind laps.