pool versus lake times

Hard to say as often ows are not measured correctly.

Will  you wear a wetsuit?

Do you site well?

Me I'm usually slower in races in open water but for most wearing wetsuit I don't think that is the case.

It will be warm so Iwill not have a wet suit. Since I'm old, the olympic dist people start just after me, so I'll just follow them as they blow by me. I was looking at times from last year, so I'm trying to figure out where I'll be by comparing to my pool times.

Pool times are faster because there are no sighting or getting lost or wave issues.

OWS are faster because they are often wetsuit-legal and there are fewer turns and you can draft.

I usually am faster in OWS than in a pool.

It will depend on how well you sight and stay on course. I would equate the amount of time you spend in the pool making turns at each end with the amount of time you spend getting in/out of the way of other swimmers, adjusting goggles, etc. If you sight well and stay on course (and of course the distance is correct) in my experience you will be pretty close. Alot of factors though, wind chop, seaweed, etc. Don't worry about it though, you're doing it, and that's what's important. Even if it takes you 25 minutes, odds are you won't be last and if you are, who cares, you'll be cheered when you exit the water. Have fun and good luck on your first!

I'm typically faster in OWS than in the pool.  My turns in the pool are weak - weak going into the wall and a wimpy push off.  In the lake I sight well and just get into a rhythm that isn't interrupted by a wall.  Put me in a wet suit and I'm even faster.

It's hard to give a definitive answer since there's a lot that factors into swim times.  Aggressiveness of pool turns, sightng ability, water current, wind, waves, wet suit fit, etc. all affect swim performance.  The only way to know is to try out an OWS.

Try and get some OWS practice in before your race. When you put your face into murky water at the start of the race, then start getting bumped, then swim too fast, then lose sight of the buoy, then gasp for air....your time will be one of the last things you'll be thinking about. It's actually not that bad, sort of exciting. 750 is at the long range of most sprints, and depending how far transition is from the swim exit, a few more minutes could be added. Enjoy your first swim, my recommendation is to start a little at the back of your wave, at the start let the fast swimmers take off. Take about five easy strokes to get your excitement level in check, then try to think about getting into a smooth pattern.

Unless they are prohibited, I would wear the wetsuit.  Most of the time, it's not for warmth but speed.  I'm 10 to 15 seconds a 100 meters faster in a wet suit.  With practice, you can get out of a wetsuit quickly.

Ernie

Steve,

Since this is your first OWS triathlon, I would bank on swimming somewhat slower than your pool times.  You will experience frequent contact with other swimmers and sighting issues to name a few.  This will undoubtedly be a buzz kill, like it was for me.

After a few OWS races you should see significant improvement as you become comfortable in the water with several hundred other swimmers and better sighting technique.  By then, you will have probably purchased a good racing wetsuit which will make a big difference as well.

I tested my wetsuit speed at a local pool and it made me faster by 15 seconds per hundred yards. 

In a nutshell, don't focus too much on your speed during the first few races, you will have plenty of time in the future to work that out.

Enjoy yourself

This user's post has been ignored.

x3 - OWS times can be all over the place, normally because the swim is measure long or (much more often) short.  My 1500m PB is in a lake with a time of 20:xx when I was only a 25:xx swimmer in the pool.  However, the course was somewhere between 250-300m short judging by my time and other swimmers that day.  Since then, I've dropped my 1500m pool time down to mid 22's and my best OW since then has been low 23.

Assuming an accurately measured course, you should expect to be a little slower in OW, even with a wetsuit and good sighting.

Shane

Edited by gsmacleod 2010-03-13 10:48 AM