Frustrated with my open water swimming times?

Question

I just completed my third triathlon this week. All three have been open water swims (1000 - 1500 m) and in all three I've noticed a large drop in my swim time compared to what I do in the pool. Some drop in time is a given (having to sight, bumping people, no push off the walls every 25 m), but I've had fairly big drops in time. I felt like I didn't sight too much and that I swam pretty straight. It's more like I'm somehow loosing my typical pace without realizing it. I can do 1000 in a pool in under 20 minutes, but my time in the triathlon was 27 minutes. If I didn't do so well in the bike and run I'd be even more frustrated. I've been swimming about 3 x per week for the past year. Unfortunately, open water areas to practice in southern AZ are almost non-existent.

Any suggestions???

Answer 1

Swimming is so technical, a lot like golf.  If you're still frustrated, do what I did, and get a local Masters swim coach (especially one with a tri background) to do a stroke analysis and work with you on your stroke for  30 minutes.   He/she should be able to give you 3-4 concrete things to work on, and then go back in 2-3 weeks for a follow up.   You can go to the pool three days a week forever, but you won't get faster unless you improve your technique.  Think of how much you slow down when you lift up out of aero on your bike to grab the water bottle on a downhill, from 34 to 28 mph in no time, right?  Swimming's the same way, you may be sighting too often, holding your head too high in the water.  There's so many things that may be going wrong.  Just like golf, your swim stroke has so many elements that getting help from a pro makes a huge difference.  Want to see what $75 bucks with a Coach got me?  These are my descending 4x 100 meter times from a recent workout.

5/7/08:  1:40.0 / 1:38.1 / 1:37.3 / 1:36.3

I worked with a Coach for 30 minutes on May 19th.  

Here are my times for the same workout.

5/28/08 1:33.7 / 1:30.2 /1:29.2 / 1:26.7

I could give you the specifics of what he has me working on, but that won't help you, you need to work on your stroke flaws with the help of eyes that are outside the pool.

Answer 2

Tri Swim Coach offers several programs to assist triathletes with their swimming. All of our programs are designed to help the beginning swimmer all the way

if you are looking for triathlon swimming coach then http://www.triswimcoach.com/ a worth the visit

Answer 3

Most triathletes tend to swim more vertical when they transition from the pool to open water swims.  It's also very hard to measure your pace without the familiar pool markings.  You will be able to swim much faster in a pool that in open water, its a given.  To help minimize the difference, try to find a long course pool (50m long) to practice in, and whenever possible, hit whatever open water you can find.  As you swim be sure to keep your hips up - especially when sighting.  You can practice sighting while maintaining a good body line while in the pool.  When you get to the middle of the length, lift and sight in on the end of the lane.  This will help you be able to focus on technique and identify flaws in your swimming.

Answer 4

you're going to have to find a way to train in open water.

"Train like you Race"

you must bridge the gap in your comfort level from the pool to the open water.

if possible do an open water race

http://www.10kswim.com/