(upbeat music)
- Now, if you do all of your swimming
in a swimming pool, or the majority of it at least,
and that lean rope and a trusty black line as a friend,
there's a very good chance that the last thing
you're thinking about is how to swim in a straight line.
However, if come race day, you don't want
to blindly swim off in the wrong direction,
being able to swim in a straight line
is definitely a skill that you should want to have.
So today, I'm going to run through five simple tips
for swimming in a straight line out there in the open water.
(peaceful music)
So first things first, before we get in the water,
you need to make sure your venue is going to be
safe for you to do your open water swimming.
So whether you're at the open beach,
a river, or a lake like we are here,
just make sure you read any signs,
or even have a chat with some locals
if it's a new venue for you.
And just double check that everything is going to be fine.
If you're a little bit unsure,
then maybe look for somewhere else.
(upbeat music)
So tip number one.
Now that we're in the water, we need
to find some markers to swim towards
to do our straight line swimming.
So the first obvious option
when we're somewhere like this is buoys.
If you don't have any buoys,
then hopefully there's some boats.
We've got some boats in here too.
And failing that, if you don't have either of those,
pick something in the distance on the horizon
that might be a marker.
That could be a building, or even tall, like a crane,
or a big tree even, that you can see
in a straight line from where you're standing.
And use that as an object to swim towards.
(upbeat music)
So tip number two I'm going to talk about now is
in an ideal world, have somebody come along with you.
Now whether that is a coach if you're lucky to have that,
or even just a friend or a family member,
but somebody who doesn't get in the water with you,
but watches you try and do this straight line swimming.
Because from experience, I know very well
that when you're down in the water,
it's very easy to tell yourself
that you're swimming in a straight line
from point to point when you stop and have a sight
or have a look to see where you're destination is.
But in actual fact, what you're doing
is creating this banana-type shape
or a circuitous route that doesn't get you
there in the most direct, straight line.
And that person on the shore will be able to say,
no, actually, my feedback, you did this big
banana-type loop to get there, rather than
a nice straight line, which is what we're trying to do.
(upbeat music)
Tip number three, and that is sighting.
Now this is key to be able to see
what it is we are swimming towards.
And we do this by lifting our head
simultaneously as we're taking our stroke,
rather than turning our head to take a breath,
bringing our eyes, nose, and mouth up above
the water surface, so you can really get
a good view of what it is you're swimming towards.
I aim to do this every four, five, or six strokes
when you're swimming in the open water.
You have to be diligent with this and just keep
repeating that the whole way through your swim
as you get towards the marker you're going towards.
Now what this will do, because your head is heavy,
the counter is to then drop your legs
and make you almost feel like you're sinking momentarily,
and it does slow you down, but you're saving energy here.
Because you would use far more energy
if you started swimming off in the wrong direction
and not taking that direct line
towards the buoy that you're aiming for.
So all in all, I'd say sighting is a fundamental skill
to this straight line swimming we're aiming for.
(relaxing music)
So tip four, and it's the old adage
that practice makes perfect.
Now right here in the lake what I mean by that
is finding your buoys, know your marker,
that I've talked about, and then simply repeating
going backwards and forwards from the buoy
that you want to swim towards, and really getting
a feel for swimming there in a straight line.
Think about it as if you're in
the swimming pool and doing a session.
You're more than likely going to do eight
or 10 or maybe even 12 times a 50 or 100.
Absolutely the same when you're in the open water
environment, you just don't have that black line.
And similarly, you need to think about
practicing in other environments too.
Should your race be in the sea,
you'd have to think about possibly currents and waves.
And equally, in a river environment,
you're likely to have a flow in there too.
And all of these things are going to have an impact
on how you can steady your course and swim straight line.
So get in and practice in all
the different environments that you can.
(upbeat music)
Tip five, try and swim in a group environment.
Whether that be a club,
or even just a group of your friends.
Because swimming in a group is more than likely
what's going to happen when you're racing,
and that's what you do need to practice
your skills of open water swimming and sighting in.
More than likely, you're going to want to follow feet,
but that doesn't mean you're going to
be swimming in a straight line.
That person you're swimming behind could well
have no open water sighting skills at all.
So be confident in your own spacial awareness
and be independent if you have to be.
If you feel that they're going the wrong way,
swim in the direction that you think
is going to take you in a straight line.
And equally, be mindful of the fact that most of us,
although we like the idea of bilateral breathing,
will likely swim with one breath to one side
or to the other side most of the time.
I know I'm guilty of always swimming
with my breaths to my right,
and that will likely mean that you will
pool in one or the other directions.
So all of these things are stuff
that you have to take into account.
And you can only do that by getting
in there and swimming with others.
So there you go, that is my five tips
for open water swimming in a straight line.
And as I've said throughout here,
it is a key skill to be able to get
the most out of your open water swim session.
And in particular, when you go
and get yourself on the racecourse.
And as a final little bit of fun,
we actually got a tip from Bart Aernouts recently.
And he was remembering when he used to have
a swim coach who would say to him,
close your eyes and swim for 50 strokes
in the direction you think is where you want to go
and see where you end up.
I think you might be surprised.
Hopefully you've enjoyed this video.
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including how to sight, you can find those here.