- You might not be lucky enough
to have somewhere warm and sunny
or an open water venue near to where you live
but don't worry, you could actually replicate
a lot of your open water skills in the local pool,
meaning you're nice and confident
and ready for race day.
- So we've put together some great techniques and drills
that you can do that'll simulate that open water environment
that you can do in your next pool session.
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So at the start of a lot of triathlons
a lot of bodies in the water together
and unless you're on the front row of he grid,
you're likely to have someone's feet
in close proximity to your face.
- Yeah, you are are
and there's often nothing that you could do about that
but you can be prepared.
And it's actually quite a good thing to do
to practise in training starting right behind somebody else
so when it comes to race day
it's not quite so much of a shock.
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Treading water's quite a valuable skill to have
especially for triathlon,
as often a race will have a deep water start
and the organisers try and get you into the water
well before, sometimes up to 10 minutes.
So you don't want to be like
frantically wasting your energy,
you want to try and stay nice and relaxed
and focused on your race.
- Yeah, and the general technique for this
is you need to tread water by using
a bit of a backstroke leg kick
or an egg beater kick as we call it,
and sculling with your arm.
But don't fret, you're generally gonna have a wetsuit on
so you can be nice and buoyant anyway.
- Yeah, but it's a great exercise to actually practise
in the pool,
and you should be able to be nice and sociable.
You can even have a conversation whilst you're doing it.
- An once you've been treading water,
you'll start coming to a more horizontal position
and start sculling with your arms
and kicking with your legs
as you're ready for the starter's horn.
- Yeah, this is a great activity to practise in the pool.
You can do it with fellow athletes.
All line up in a line and basically get your coach
to count you down as it would be a start
and it's all about accelerating straight into your stroke
from this position.
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- Now you can also replicate swimming 'round a turn buoy
but using the black tee at the bottom of a swimming pool.
- And obviously if you can take a lane row path
it makes it even more realistic.
Try doing it with a few other people
and then it turns into more of a race day situation.
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One of the most annoying things in open water swimming
is when your goggles start to leak or come off.
You probably save more time by actually stopping
and clearing them.
You can either do this by just stopping outright,
treading a bit of water,
clearing them and putting them back on
or if you want to try and keep moving,
and why not flip onto your back.
You can do it while swimming along
and then back into your stroke.
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- Drafting on feet is probably the most effective way
you're gonna knock off seconds on your swim time
and save energy.
- Yeah and it's quite a fun one to practise in the pool.
You just need to find another swimmer
of similar pace or a little bit quicker,
and then you can practise drafting off the hips
or going behind and drafting off the toes.
If you're used to just doing all your training in a pool
and maybe in a fairly quiet lane,
and when you get to race day
you might get a little bit of a panic
when suddenly there's loads of swimmers around you,
everyone's trying to get in that same small space.
- Yeah, and the best way to replicate in the pool
is to get some friends,
swim in a close proximity to each other,
but don't take it personally if you get
the odd whacker on the head.
- Some open water races finish with a pontoon exit,
and you can actually practise this
at the end of session, when you're tired and out of breath.
Getting it efficient means you can save
quite a few seconds in a race.
You okay, bucko?
- Yeah.
- Sure?
(blows air)
- So these tips will you make you a lot more confident
and relaxed going into your next open water swim race.
- Yeah, if you've enjoyed this video
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and if you want to watch a video
on other open water swimming tips
just click down here.
- And to see a myth busters video, click here.