How to prepare for the transition to outdoor swimming

With the first open water events not long away, now is a good time to refresh your open water skills, which you can do in a pool

For northern hemisphere swimmers, spring is approaching, bringing the possibility of longer outdoor swims. However, natural water temperatures are still too low for meaningful training. We might enjoy slightly longer dips outdoors than we could in mid-winter, but for training, a heated pool is still the best option.

With the first open water events less than two months away (or less if you’re travelling) now is a good time to refresh your open water skills, which you can do in a pool.

Integrate into your current training

As discussed in our Jan/Feb issue, whatever your swimming goals, there are benefits to both sprint and endurance training, although the balance between them will vary. The easiest way to start working on your open water skills is to incorporate them into the training you already do.

Navigating and sighting

Navigating in open water is the ability to get where you need to efficiently. The key subskills are sighting – so you know where to go – and swimming straight. You can practise both in the pool.

Sighting requires lifting your head, engaging neck muscles, and altering body positioning, which can strain your lower back and hip flexors.

If you get to your open water event and you haven’t practised sighting, not only might your skills be rusty, but the relevant muscles may be out of condition. Some sighting practice in the pool now will pay dividends later.

A simple trick is to place a water bottle or marker at the end of the pool and try to spot it as you’re swimming towards it. Repeat once or twice every other length.

Swimming straight

Maintaining a straight line in the pool is easy. Follow the lane lines or markings on the bottom of the pool. Take away these cues and you may find you quickly head off course.

The micro adjustments we make in the pool to keep swimming straight are mostly subconscious. We therefore frequently think we can swim straighter than we do.

You can’t replicate open water conditions and test how straight you swim in the pool but try to raise your awareness. Test yourself (when safe) by closing your eyes for a few strokes. Consider if your swimming stroke might be lopsided, especially if you are a single-sided breather. Even if you only breathe one side in a race, practise breathing on the other in training to improve symmetry. Small improvements in the pool can make a big difference outside.

Speed variability

While long distance swimming is predominantly a steady state activity, there are times when being able to change pace is an asset. This is especially true when you race in open water if you’re swimming in a pack. Open water races tend to start fast, then slow down. You sometimes get a change of pace after a turn. And who wouldn’t want to unleash a sprint for the finish?

To improve these skills, practise changing pace in the pool. Can you swim half a length fast, then settle into a slower but still strong pace while recovering your breath? Or accelerate in the middle of a swim, hold a faster pace for 30 to 60 seconds and then drop back to your steady pace? How much can you wind up your pace for a blistering sprint finish?

Doing this will not only improve your physical capacity to utilise pace change as a tactic but will heighten your awareness of pacing and what you’re capable of.

Drafting

You can only practise drafting with other people, and only with their consent. Don’t annoy the people you swim with by following them too closely down the pool. However, if you do swim with other people, you may be able to persuade them to allow you to practise drafting, and you can return the favour.

When you practise drafting, try to do it by feel rather than sight. I don’t mean you should touch the person in front’s feet to gauge distance but feel the movement of the water and how that changes depending on how close you get. It’s better to do it by feel as looking forward disrupts your stroke and you may not always be racing in clear water. As a bonus tip, try combining sighting and drafting practise.

It’s not the real thing… yet

No amount of pool swimming will fully prepare you for open water but a little preparation will go a long way. Start now to be ahead of the curve for when the water outside is warm enough for longer swims.

Further reading:

• How to sight in open water
• Take your front crawl outside