Heather Fell: Even strong swimmers can struggle with the triathlon swim start. It's something
so far removed from normal swim training that it becomes quite hard to practice
and prepare for. Diving into the unknown, almost literally, can bring on that feeling of fear and
panic. Now don't worry if you get a bit of anxiety around the swim start, you aren't
alone. The good news is this anxiety can be addressed, and that's why we're here
to help. [music].
In order to overcome your fears, you need to identify them. Working out which elements of
the swim start actually challenge you is going to be the first step. Maybe it's the fact that you're
worried you're going to lose your goggles or you can't breathe enough, or maybe you're not
going to see where you're going, you're going to struggle to find your rhythm. The list goes on,
and it's quite likely that there's going to be more than one from that list or something else
that you are going to struggle with. By picking those out, you can then start to tailor that plan
and working to overcome these fears. [Music].
You need to know what you're dealing with. What is the style of start that you struggle with the most
and what is the type of start you've got in your next race? It's unsurprising that the master is
the style that most people struggle with. Everyone is in the water at once, leaving at the same time,
and this is when a bit of preparation comes in. You want to assess the course beforehand,
so you know the line, but also where that first buoy marker is in relation to the start line.
Because most, probably the faster, stronger, and majority of swimmers are going to want to take
the shorter, most direct line to that buoy. You want to avoid that area unless, of course,
you put yourself in that bracket with those fastest swimmers and you're happy battling it
to there. Then the further away you go from that point, the quieter it is likely to be. You might
want to think about where you position yourself in the line from the front. You don't have to be
right at the front. If you've got faster swimmers behind you, you don't want them swimming over you.
Maybe just take a couple of places back if it's a big event. Do bear in mind
that you'll need to maybe work out the paces of other swimmers. Have a bit of a chat beforehand,
maybe speak to people who've done that race before just to get that placement correct.
You might swim a little bit further if you're further down the line or a little bit further
back, but it should be far less stressful and actually take up less energy. Well,
the rolling start tends to be preferable, but there are several takes on this. Some events we'll
put it as a whole age group in one go, and age groups go one after another. Sometimes it can be,
say, groups of six going every six seconds, so you're in pens beforehand and they release a pen
per time frame. At other times it's simply a rolling start where all the athletes are in a
queue, a little bit like when mark and I competed at Helvellyn and you are being set off by a star,
say every second or so. It is pretty continuous, but you're all in a line.
Now, this does require a little bit of research. Also, if you're in pet pens as well,
because you ideally want to find swimmers of a similar ability. You don't want to be going
out to the front where you've got all the fast swimmers swimming over you. At the same time,
you don't want to be trying to overtake a lot of swimmers, so you need to have a little bit
of a chat with your fellow competitors. They're probably going to be doing the same as well,
so self-seed. Then you need to make sure you're ready in a rolling start because once you get
to the start or where the swim is, you've got to go. You need to make sure that your goggles are
on, your hat is on. If your timing it, your watch is ready to go, there is no time for fluffing.
[music] Preparation is key to anything we do in life,
and knowledge is power. The more you know about the course, the more calm and prepared you're
going to feel. If you can watch any races that go ahead before you, make sure you study those
and take a close look at the course. Then if it's an in-water start, use this opportunity
to get into the water and just suss out how it all looks because it's amazing how different
the buoys and landmarks you might've chosen will look when you're down in the water than they do
from being up above. Have a plan. Make sure you know how you want to approach a start.
Are you going to go out hard and try and get in front of the masses and then maybe ease off and
find a rhythm? Or maybe you want to back off a little bit and take it steady to warm up into it,
and then build as you go. If you're going to be going off hard, make sure you've done a decent
warm-up, you put your heart rate up, and you're ready to go. Then stick with that plan because it
is really easy to be influenced by those around you. You think you're going to do something,
everyone goes off fast, you get taken with them. Stick to what you have committed to.
[music] Once you've worked out that plan, that race
strategy, it's a good idea to just walk away from the start. Take yourself to somewhere quiet and
sit down. Maybe even close your eyes if it helps. Then I want you to visualize every part. Even
a little bit of your warm-up, walking up to the start line, putting your goggles on. Being ready,
getting in the water, where you're positioning yourself. Then even imagining the gun going off
and those first few strokes, how it's going to feel in the water, the intensity of your work
in that. That'll just help you to be that much more prepared when it does physically happen.
Now, some swimmers even go to the extent of, some athletes full stop, going through in their
mind at all things that could even go wrong. This might sound a little bit pessimistic,
but once you've done that and you've checked it off in your head and said, "What happens
if my goggles break? What happens if I go off course, or if another swimmer collides with me?"
If you've thought about all of those and have some solution or coping mechanism,
they're probably not going to happen, you'll be much calmer anyway, and if they do happen,
you'll know how to deal with them. [ music]
However, we are not saying that a smooth triathlon swim start is all in the head. There's obviously
the physical aspect to consider as well. It's very different to swimming in a pool,
one behind the other. It's even quite different to swimming in a group in an open water setting.
However, you can replicate certain scenarios depending on what race start you've got coming
up. Try to mix that into your training. Get a few friends to swim in a group with you,
and maybe try to get in your way. Swim at the wrong pace, swim across you.
It doesn't sound very helpful at all or very nice, but if you can
deal with that in training, if it does happen in a race, you'll be far better prepared and you'll
be able to calmly get on with that scenario. Then you want to think about how you're going
to actually approach a race. We talked about the start and what pace you're going off. If you're
going to go off hard, you need to make sure you've practiced that in training. You need to
actually do some replication of a swim start. Going off hard for however long you want to,
and then getting into your rhythm. There's no point and just doing a section of say,
going off hard for 100 meters and stopping because that isn't a real-life scenario." Then
come to the actual race day, and you need to be physically prepared again then.
If you're doing a water start, try and get in a little bit earlier and do a little bit
of swimming. Get your heart rate up if you're going to be going off hard, anything to get
your body warm and adjust it to what it's about to hit as soon as that gun goes off.
[music] Finally, make sure you've got the
right kit for the race ahead. If it's cold, make sure you maybe have a thermal cap if you need it,
and you've checked that all of that kit works properly. Then you give yourself
long enough to actually put that kit on. You don't want to be rushing, trying to do your
wet suit zip up and it's not done out properly, or your goggles aren't on securely.
Just allow yourself plenty of time to be warmed up, be dressed, and ready for that race. It might
seem a little daunting that we've made a whole video just about the start, and we've covered
so many aspects for a tiny part of the race. However, if you start your race the right way
with the right mindset, and you're nice and calm, it's going to set you up for the rest
of the day and the rest of the swim. The bike and the run will actually feel a lot better,
so it is worth investing a little bit of time now. Well, hopefully, you guys have had good race
start experiences already. If you haven't, share with us what went wrong and maybe what you have
learned from that. You can do that in the comments section below. Hopefully, you've enjoyed it. Give
us a like. Why not follow us on our social media to see what we're up to? You can also subscribe
and get all of our videos here on YouTube. [00:08:16] [END OF AUDIO]