Just did my first open water swim tri today. I was obviously concerned about how I would do with the choppy waters since I don't have easy access to that type of water to practice. I'm still not sure how well I can swim in it. PEOPLE WOULDN'T STAY OFF OF ME!!!! What is wrong with these people? I started in the back of my wave to stay away from people. I swam 30 yards away from the bouys to stay away from people. And it was still a constant stream of idiots running into me. These people couldn't hold a straight line if they were being pulled by a speedboat.
I must say I am very turned off by the sport of triathlon right now. My first event was a pool swim and I had a great time. I know the easy answer is to swim faster so that you are not at the back with the yahoos but unfortunately I think I will always be one of the slower swimmers (yahoos?). Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Just did my first open water swim tri today. I was obviously concerned about how I would do with the choppy waters since I don't have easy access to that type of water to practice. I'm still not sure how well I can swim in it. PEOPLE WOULDN'T STAY OFF OF ME!!!! What is wrong with these people? I started in the back of my wave to stay away from people. I swam 30 yards away from the bouys to stay away from people. And it was still a constant stream of idiots running into me. These people couldn't hold a straight line if they were being pulled by a speedboat. I must say I am very turned off by the sport of triathlon right now. My first event was a pool swim and I had a great time. I know the easy answer is to swim faster so that you are not at the back with the yahoos but unfortunately I think I will always be one of the slower swimmers (yahoos?). Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I don't think swimming faster is the answer-there will always be yahoos, and if you're fast enough, you'll just catch the yahoos in the wave ahead of you. I'm not expert, so I don't have much to say other than it gets better. My first OW race was awful, but each one has gotten better and better and it is probably my favorite leg now. Oh, maybe you need to sight more? I don't explicitly look for others while looking up, but I do notice how close people are so I can adjust accordingly.
Run like a kid again!
heffa:
I love the sport and the idea of the three different events. However, this is the one part of the sport I cannot find myself to like. Not sure why anyone wants to spend a lot of money to have people kick and hit them while trying to swim. I think the challenge of swimming in open water and trying to sight is really cool. The wet suit is awesome.
It annoys me enough when I run and I have slower people who jump to the front of a race when they know they should be in the back. In this case you even tried to place yourself correctly and it still did not help.
With all of that said I look forward to my first Olympic tri and then 1/2 and full iIonman! Until them I will still strive for the BQ with some swimming at the pool and in the lake.
Triathlons have been around for 30 years.......Open water swim competion for much longer. It's alwasy been this way.
Getting bumped, hit, swam over has always been a part of open water swimming........It's just part of the beast. Even the best swimmers can have difficulty holding lines. For obvious reasons, the bumping and criss crossing is much worse in a tri because you don't have seasoned swimmers. But again, this is nothing new.
Triathlons have gained a lot of popularity in the last ten years but even with the increased particiapation, the wave sizes have remained pretty much the same.......except in the few races like the WTC's where it's one huge mass start.....I think Ironman Wisconsin went from 1100 to 2200 in the last 7 years.
So my opinion is HTFU or get out............sorry if this seems offensive but this has always been part of the sport.
There are a few Tri's I know of that do a time trial start. You seed yourself according to your estimated swim time and they send you off in groups of two. Personally I don't like this for several reasons.
You wouldn't show up to a rugby game and not expect to get hit........don't show up to an open water swim and expect a clear lane either.
So my opinion is HTFU or get out............sorry if this seems offensive but this has always been part of the sport. You wouldn't show up to a rugby game and not expect to get hit........don't show up to an open water swim and expect a clear lane either.
Not offended at all. I kind of expected this was going to be the response. I guess I was just hoping I was doing something wrong. As time is passing I'm changing my opinion of the swim. I'm now thinking I am most upset at myself for not being properly prepared. I did expect to show up to an open water swim and have a clear lane. I don't currently see a time that I will really enjoy the swim portion but at least I know what to expect now. I've changed my swim training significantly after this. My swimming pool is now full of every obstacle I can find for my practices. I swim over floats, around noodles, have my son throw crap at me....it's actually kind of fun. I have one more open water swim this year (river instead of bay so it should be a little smoother) and I will have to wait and see how I feel after that one.
IronMan ;)
Clif Bar Triathlon Training
Tri-Kev Here are my favorite links: My "kick @ss" running club ;) Swim 2.4 miles. Ride 112 miles. Run 26.2 miles. Then brag for the rest of your life. -Commander John Collins, Ironman Triathlon creator
I just posted this in another thread, but I'm listening to the OWS episode of this guy's podcast:
http://www.latalkradio.com/Simon.php
The last half is an interview with a guy who talks about the issues you bring up.
Check this video out for how one should train for Triathlon swims: Clif Bar Triathlon Training
This would not have made as much sense before, but it is hilarious now.
Heffa- I just posted this in another thread, but I'm listening to the OWS episode of this guy's podcast: http://www.latalkradio.com/Simon.php The last half is an interview with a guy who talks about the issues you bring up.
That was some awesome advice. I wish I would have listened to this before my first OWS. Thanks.
I did my first open water swim last night. It was frickin cold at first, but I settled in dealt with it. One problem I had was my goggles fogged up and I couldn't see a thing when I tried to sight the buoy I was going to swim towards. I ended up stopping short and making my way back to the big blue and yellow blob in the swimming area, then back to shore.
How the hell do I keep my goggles from fogging up?
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
2014 Goals:
Stay healthy
Enjoy life
How old are they? I did a practice swim last week and had the same issue-it is a real problem in open water. I bought new googles and that solved the problem for my race. You can buy a solution, but I find that new googles don't fog up without the solution.
WOw that is hilarious
How old are they? I did a practice swim last week and had the same issue-it is a real problem in open water. I bought new goggles and that solved the problem for my race. You can buy a solution, but I find that new goggles don't fog up without the solution.
Maybe I need to start tracking the age of my goggles? I'm not sure on the age of them, but I do recall that they didn't fog up when they were new. I had thought about that before but can to the conclusion that my workout intensity may have been lower then as my swimming has improved over the last few months. I seem to sweat pretty heavily after my pool workouts, but yesterdays OWS temps were pretty cold and I definitely didn't sweat like normal.
I'll have to get some of the anti-fog spray and see if that works