Ok... congrats... you have just spent Liberia’s GDP on a load of Tri Gear. And you have signed up for your first Triathlon. You have probably joined a gym with a swimming pool and feel that that you have this swimming thing somewhat under control. You are not going to be leading the pack but you are able to get through 750m in one go and you are going to be fine.
WRONG! VERY WRONG!
Fist warning; never underestimate the swim.
I have never been a competitive swimmer but I would have classed myself as a strong swimmer. I remember being a kid and getting all my swim badges and was very proud that I could swim from one end of the pool to the other under water. Unfortunately, that was the last time that I really thought about my swim “stroke” as I am lead to believe it is called. So I knew that this was going to be an uphill challenge to say the least. Never mind, I did not get in to this whole Triathlon thing just for it to be easy.
So I did my prep. I dutifully pitched up the North Sydney pool 3 times a week and get my swim in some sort of shape to be ready for my first Tri. By the way this pool is great. It is a salt water pool, open air, and the view is stunning. I chose it as it was on the way to work, but to be honest I would travel out of my way just to use it. It is an Art Deco building, built right under the harbour bridge. Talk about a dramatic setting!
What you need to know!
Swimming and a pool is not swimming in open water. There is so much more you need to be aware of that and this will all impact how you swim. The main thing is that a pool is tame and everything is set up to make swimming easier. You only have to swim 50m until you can have a little rest and stop if you like. There is fresh water by the side of the pool in case you drink some salt water and need to freshen up, there are neatly marked lanes with a line at the bottom of the pool to follow so you never have to look up.
This is not the case in the open water. You will not have the creature comforts to hand. Instead, you will be nervous, probably a little sleepy and will have to share the water with anywhere from 20 – 200 other guys. This changes the game.
My advice, find some open water practice and mark out a course that you feel is about 750m. If in doubt, just swim for about 20min at full pace and this will give you an idea of what you will be up against.
My Experience
It is 5:30am, I have registered for my first triathlon and I am starting to have butterflies in my stomach. I am looking frantically for something to calm me down. So I reckon that as long as I am not last, I will be able to save face and put this down to an experience. So I do the only MAN thing and start checking out the competition. I am thinking to myself.... I could out run him, and look and fat guy, I can out bike him, and so on. I am starting to get a bit more relaxed when I notice something odd. They all have red caps in their hands, and I have a black one. Why is this?
I tell myself that they must have run out of red ones and that it is just the luck of the draw. How mistaken I was.
So as we watched the pro go off, then the pro girls, the guy who was running the shop announced that they were going to get the real competitive age group off first, the 20-29s and called for everyone with a black cap to get in to the water.
Bollocks!
I am 29 and new to this..... My safety net had just been yanked from under me and there I was with a bunch of 21 year old guys, high on hormones with arms the size of my thighs. This was going to be a long day. Now I was telling myself until this point to “run your own race” but this plan went out the window. Not only could I not let these little smucks get the better of me, but there were only 15 of us and all eyes were on me.
I a swim like I never have never swum before. I make to the fist marker alright and aim for the second. All the way i am just holding on to the guy in front of me’s legs for a direction. I can’t see a thing and all I can manage to is to assume that if there are people with me I am going the right way. This seemed to work for about half of the course, but there came a point where I could no longer hold on and I was between groups. This was OK, I though, the group behind will catch up and we will swim to transition and all will be well in the world. Only trouble is that I had been a while and although I was swimming I was not really looking were I should be going. When I did stop to look around, I soon realised that I was about 50m or more off course and that I would have to swim back. This was not so easy, as every time I put my head down, I would get lost again.
Needless to say, between the waves, the kicking, getting lost, and generally not being a swimmer, this was tough work. I go to the shore and was so glad that I could now get on my bike. This I knew how to do and was going to make up for lost time there. Only trouble was that I was in such a daze that just remembering where my bike was, proved to be tricky... but that is another story.
Advice:
· Practice open water swimming at least once a week
· Work with a coach or swim school to get you stroke and breaking down, as technique is all important here.
· Time in the water is the only way to get strong.
· Swim distance –and swim race pace.
· Look where you are going and build it in to your stroke. Not something to only think about on race day.
· Be safe, and call for help if you need it.
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