Mark Threlfall: Today, we are going to be taking the plunge into the open water, but
if you are new to swimming in the open water I imagine you have a few questions you'd like
to ask. Equally, if you're an experienced open water swimmer, but you've been out of
the water for some time you might like a little bit of a recap. Today, we're bringing together
a number of beginner open water swim tip, starting with this one from Professor Greg
Whyte. [music] Heather: It is scorchy here today and I'm
desperate to get in the water. I know we have to discuss a few things first. My first question
is, what do we need to do before we can actually get in and swim?
Prof. Greg: I guess that's the whole point actually. It is scorchy. The sun is out. It's
a beautiful day, but that doesn't tell you what the water temperature is. I think one
of the key things about open water swimming, about wild swimming is that you really need
to know what the water temperature is. Cold shock response is the killer. That's the one
thing that we really do worry about. Knowing the water temperature is really important.
The water temperature here is actually lovely. I see it's going to be great for us.
Heather: I should be all right in my wetsuit. Prof. Greg: You'll definitely be okay in the
wetsuit. I won't be wearing a wetsuit today. [laughter]
For me, the most important thing about wild swimming is local knowledge. It's knowing
where you're swimming and what you're swimming in. I think sometimes you can take that for
granted. You think, "This is a river. We're just getting in & swim," but there are lots
of things to think about. Number one, is flow rate which is crucial. How quickly is it flowing?
Local knowledge will tell you that, take a look at the, for us the Environmental Agency
website will actually tell you what the flow rate is. I like to do a little check.
Just as you look in the water, you can see the weed and it is upright. That tells you
there is virtually zero flow, which is a good thing. To some extent, it doesn't matter which
way we swim. In general, what I always say is swim upstream first. Swim against the flow
first, because you may not be able to get back if you swim with it.
Heather: When you say check the temperature, obviously here it's really shallow, so we
dip our toes and go, "It's nice and warm." How would I know what it's like out there
and if I'd be okay with that temperature? Prof. Greg: Again you're absolutely right.
Surface temperature is different to deep water temperature. There'll be a gradient as you
go down. Remember, you don't always swim at the surface. Also, what you are doing is you're
disturbing quite a lot of water. You're pushing cold water onto yourself. Does that matter?
Water is 25 times more conductive than air. In other words, it strips heat really, really
quickly. That's why water is so problematic. [music]
Male Speaker 1: Now, before you even enter the water, let's have a look at some fundamental
equipment that you're going to need. [music]
Mark Threlfall: Having a kit that is suitable for the conditions will help you massively.
Now, if you are embarking on a slightly cooler temperature water swim, then we would highly
recommend wearing a wetsuit. Not just for the added warmth, but also for added buoyancy
which will in turn increase your confidence in the water.
Heather: Yes. You might not be ready to go and buy a brand new wetsuit for your very
first open water swim. That's understandable, but if you go to your local dealer of quite
often open water swimming venue, they'll actually have wetsuits that you can hire to get a feel.
If say, at home you've got an old sailing or a surfing wetsuit, you can use that for
your first attempt. Obviously, it's not designed for swimming,
so it's going to be quite restrictive around the shoulders, but it will at least give you
an idea of what open water swimming is like. Then if you do want to borrow one, whatever
you're going for, just make sure you've got the right fit. Because if it's too small it
can feel really restrictive, and actually make it feel hard to breathe. On the other
end of the spectrum, if you've got one that's too large it ends up being a little bit like
a net and just slowing you down. ?Male Speaker 2: Yes. Now, regardless of the
conditions, it's actually really good practice to swim with something like this. Which is
a swim buoy, toe float, whatever you want to call it. Just so that people can see you
from a distance, or particularly if you are swimming alone or in the sea. Another thing
on that vein of thought is actually swimming with a brightly coloured hat like this one.
Again, so that people can see you from a distance really clearly.
Your goggles, you want to be able to see well in the water. Getting a good set of goggles
will make a massive difference, so that you can see everything. You can sight those buoys.
If your goggles fog up or they're a little bit worse for wear, we'd highly recommend
getting yourself a new set to make the whole experience a little bit more pleasurable.
Mark: You have all the local knowledge. You have the kit to go with it. Next thing to
think about is your confidence in the water. Heather has a great tip for this.
Heather: It's really helpful to remember that you can actually keep your head above the
water when you're adding your depth without having to swim. We all float to a different
amount, but you add in a wetsuit and we're pretty much all going to be buoyant. [unintelligible
00:04:37] in salty water, you'll find you're even more buoyant, but it's a good idea to
practice just getting comfortable with floating, and keeping your head above water when you're
still in the shallow water so you can actually stand if you need to.
Start off by swimming a few strokes and then just flip over onto your back and just try
and relax in that position. Imagine trying to push your stomach up to the sky and that
will help just lift your hips. Yes, you want to keep your head up, but not all of it because
if you lift your head right up your legs are going to sink. Try and put your head back
and relax in that position, just keeping your face out of the water. Obviously, if it's
wavy, it's going to make it a little bit harder. Then have a play around with your breath.
Take a deep breath in, and you'll feel your lungs inflate. It'll ctually make you a little
bit more buoyant in the water. Obviously, you do need to let the air out, so you're
going to feel yourself drop slightly, but play around with that and just start to feel
as relaxed as you can. Adding in a little bit of very gentle leg kick when you're floating
on your back will just help your legs to float as well. Before you head out into the deeper
water, just practice this several times until you're nice and confident so you know how
to control yourself when you get into that deeper water.
Mark: Now, understandably putting your head under the water in the open water, it's very
different to putting your head under the water in the swimming pool. Here's a little bit
of advice for you. Mark: Open water swimming can sometimes be
beautifully clear, as we've got here [at Vobster but other times you can struggle to even see
your hand entering the water. Even if it is lovely and clear, at some point very often
you will lose sight of the bottom. It's this big unknown that is drastically different
to swimming in the pool, and it's something that we want to make sure we get used to.
This might sound very basic, but if you stand shoulder depth in the water, submerge your
head slowly into the water. Then start taking a look around, and start getting used to that
feeling and the environment around you. Breathe out a little bit to help you relax, and this
will really help you just get used to all that feeling of being under the water. When
you're actually swimming, you can very often see at least part of your arm, if not your
whole arm and your hands entering the water. Try and focus on this and the things that
you can actually see. [music]
Mark: Of course, it's always fun to share the experience with others and Fraser's brought
us a great tip here on swimming with buddies and in groups.
Fraser: Swim with others. Now, ideally the best thing to do is to get into an open water
environment your local lake or down by the beach at the sea, and try and swim as a group
for the length of your session. It makes a huge difference to become more comfortable,
and more spacially aware an an athlete if you're swimming with others in training. So
when you get into a race, you're not getting really panicky and anxious before that swim
start. Of course, if you're not able to get into
the open water that often, you can still practice this in the swimming pool. Something that
we used to do quite a lot in our training sessions would be swim as three or four of
us in one lane. Swim from one end to the length up to the other as a little group of swimmers,
to just get used to being nice and close in that confined environment.
Male Speaker 1: You've researched the location. You've got the kit. You've worked on your
confidence. You've maybe even got a session in with others, but were there any problems
along the way? Hopefully not, but here's some advice should you need it.
Mark: Hopefully this isn't something any of you will need, but should you find yourself
in difficulty in the deep water, just roll yourself onto your back as we just described.
Then put your hand in the air and wave to catch someone's attention. This just keeps
you in a nicely buoyant and relaxed position whilst making you obvious.
Mark Before we head back in from our swim, let's pop back to Heather's chat with Professor
Greg Whyte regarding exiting from the water. Prof. Greg: Getting out is the danger point
really. The interesting thing is that even in cold water. So you know, I've swum down
close to zero before. When you're in water, core temperature actually remains quite stable,
because what you're doing is you're swimming. You're generating lots of heat. You can just
about maintain core temperature. When you get out, what then happens is you stop swimming,
you stop generating heat. Then all of a sudden, you start to perfuse
those really cold areas of your body. You get this thing called, the after drop. When
you get out of the water, that's the danger point because then what happens is core temperature
plummets away and that's called, the after drop. Critically, what you should have with
you is that when you get out of the water, you've got something that you can dry yourself
with, number one and also you can wrap up with. Again great day today, because we got
the sunshine but if it was windy and it was raining. I've seen hypothermia on days like
today. Don't think just because it's relatively warm you're going to be okay. Safety first.
Make sure you get everything with it. Male Speaker 1: Open water swimming is an
absolutely amazing experience. One that really allows you to feel connected with nature,
but also a great environment for training and getting quality workouts in. Here at GTN,
we feel like these are some of the fundamental tips and advice that you need to get yourself
started in open water swimming, but if you have any of your own advice and tips, please
feel free to share them in the comment section below. If you have any more questions, please
also drop them down there and we'll do our best to get back to them for you.
Some takeaway advice, just final points. Make sure you've done your research on the location.
You've got the necessary kit for swimming in that particular location. You're visible
and you're not pushing yourself too much. You're staying within your ability and your
own comfort zone. We hope you have enjoyed today's video. Please hit that thumbs up button,
if you have. Make sure that you are subscribed to GTN, or you're following us on social media
to see all our other content. [00:10:07] [END OF AUDIO]