Gray Guy/Girls Tri--Masters Sprint/Olympic Mentor Group CLOSED (Page 28)

Not sure I am the best person to ask about how the technique is coming seeing as how I wouldn't know good technique if it jumped up off the track and bit me on the backside!  In all seriousness though, I think things are improving.  With the help of a Sports Med Clinic we figured out the weird thing my right foot was doing was primarily due to poor flexibility and secondarily over-pronation.  The poor flexibility was a direct result of a prior blood clot in my right leg.  The clinic referred me to a physical therapist and I was given a number of specific strength exercises and stretches.  My medical insurance does not cover custom orthotics so I also invested in a pair of Brook's Beast Stability shoes.  That combination has helped immensely.  I am essentially having to learn how to run again.  When I am fresh and concentrating on my right foot position, it is  straight forward.  However, when I begin to tire, I have a much more difficult time keeping form.  It is getting easier with time and like I said, the stretching and strength work is helping.  I will know I have it when I don't have to think about it any more!

Originally posted by dustytrails

Originally posted by JREDFLY I had a great OWS today. Worked on some of the stroke tips I got from Scott's site. Again, I did better my last half mile where it seems to all come together. I really felt great, I hope it kicks in early for my sprint next week. Going to try and get there early to get a good warm up swim in which may help. Last year I volunteered at this tri and the waves were pretty big, lets hope for a nice calm day.

So with two dozen OWS's under my belt this summer I categorize the conditions as either 1) pretty calm and doable ( is that a word)...2) Beyond my ability.

Scott....are u any help here?

I watched a Youtube video of some chick swimming in San Francisco Bay and she explained some stuff about dealing with rough water. I guess its "work your way up to it" just like anything? I think the thing I dislike most about rougher water is ...trying to sight..and seeing only the back of a swell or wave and having to re-sight quickly again.

Not exactly sure what the question is but I think it has to do with rough water during an OWS.  If that isn't it, please forgive me, I am an old man.

James, your tri this weekend - where is it?  More specifically, where is the swim?  The ocean?  A lake?  A river?  You mentioned waves so that implies ocean, but I have seen waves in lakes and on rivers also.  I am going to base my comments on the ocean, but if you are swimming in some other body of water, the comments will equally apply.  In reality, if you can do it in the ocean, you can do it anywhere.

As you all have likely figured out by now, the "rules" change when you get into open water.  The biggest differences are -

a) you likely won't be able to see the bottom.  Even if you can, there isn't going to be a big line there to help you go in a straight line.

b) you may, strike that, you WILL encounter rough water - swell, wind blown waves, waves at the surf line, current, etc.

c) if there is significant swell (over a foot or so) navigation is going to be VERY DIFFICULT.

Before I address the question specifically, there is one thing I always do in an OWS, especially in rough water.  I like to have an extra pair of goggles around my neck (goggles towards my back to reduce any additional drag).  That way, if my goggles get knocked off in the scrum at the start or by a wave, I have another pair I can quickly put on and my day is not over before it started.  Unless you have designs on completing an OWS in the ocean with no goggles.

The best thing you can do as you prepare for an OWS that may be in exceptionally rough water is to simply accept that it is going to be rough.  You still have a bit of time, so if you haven't been working on bi-lateral breathing (breathing to both sides), this would be a good time to start and get in at least a couple sessions in the pool.  Having the ability to breath to the left or the right allows you to breath to the side that does not have wind and/or waves.  It also may help you to navigate as you can breath to the side the shore is on. You can then sight on the shore to help navigate.

Another thing you can do that I find extremely helpful to navigate in very rough water is to learn to do "water-polo freestyle."  What I mean by that is doing freestyle with your head up.  Yes, you legs are going to drop and you are going to slow down.  BUT - you will be able to see.  If you swim with your head up for a few strokes, the swell will take you to a high point where you can see, get your bearings, put your head back down and swim another 20-30 strokes then repeat.  The alternative is getting woefully off-course and losing time trying to get back to where you are suppose to be.

I learned this one the hard way!  If you have to go through a surf line with significant waves, go under the waves.  Meaning allow them to break over top of you.  If you try to go over them, they will simply throw you back towards the shore and you will spend a tremendous amount of energy going NOWHERE.  That is if you are lucky.  If you are not lucky, you will get tossed around like your inside a washing machine or simply get thrown back up onto the shore like some wayward cartoon character.  Use some common sense here - if the breakers are a foot, then simply step over them and swim through them when you start swimming.  On the other hand, if the waves are larger (3+ feet) then run through them until you are waist deep, then begin to go under them.  It will be significantly faster and you will be in charge instead of the waves being in charge.

Linda made the comment, "I guess its 'work your way up to it just like anything.' "  That is pretty much the way it is, however, being prepared and anticipating conditions will help to mitigate an otherwise bad day.

I will tell a little story, I think I shared this a couple months ago but I am not going to go back and try to find it.

Back in the summer of 1979, I was entered in my third 3-mile rough water swim as part of the annual Seal Beach Rough Water Swim Competition.  The 3-mile swim was from the base of the pier, out 1 1/2 miles around an oil platform and back to the beach at the pier.  At the time our swim team was logging 14-15,000 meters/day, so the three mile swim was nothing more than a warm-up.  Except it was in the ocean, and as they say, "surf was up."  There were 10 foot waves breaking on the beach (Seal Beach normally has 2 foot surf at the pier on a REALLY HEAVY surf day).  More than the surf, the wind was blowing 30+ MPH and there was a 6-8 foot swell out past the surf line.  To add to the intimidation factor, there were occasional waves breaking over the end of the pier - 200 yards off-shore.

My first mistake was that I did not adequately prepare myself for the conditions.  I mean mentally prepare.  I did not think though the ramifications of the extremely rough conditions and plan out how to approach it.

It was a group start, if memory serves there were 300-400 of us, and as we went through the 10-foot surf line on the way out, I took a mouthful of nasty, salty, sandy water.  I choaked and just that fast, I was in a full blown panic attack.  I couldn't stop because I would have been run over by 300 people.  Once I got past the surf line I started doing butterfly because it got me through the swells better and I could breath every stroke.  I struggled the entire morning.  Finally I got to the oil platform and one of the lifeguards that accompanied us on a paddle-board came over, put a fork in me and ended my day.

My point isn't to frighten you.  Rather it is to get you to think about the conditions on the day of the race.  When you get there, look and see what is happening on the swim course and plan accordingly.  Had I done that, I would not have blindly run into 10-foot waves and ruined my day before it even started.

Swimming in open water is no different from swimming in a pool in that you are swimming, nothing more, nothing less.  Being mentally prepared and having a couple tools available (a go-to safety stroke [i.e. - breaststroke, backstroke, etc.], water-polo freestyle, bi-lateral breathing, etc.) will help make an open water swim experience enjoyable instead of regrettable.

Hope that helps a bit.

Good luck!

Wow!!!  8.5 minutes off PR!  That is spectacular.

Glad the swimming tips helped.  Makes me feel good to know that someone is actually benefiting from them.

Keep up all the great work!  Surely a Kona qualifying attempt can't be far away!?!