5 Skills Sharpened By Open Water Swimming

Photo Courtesy: Swim Barbados Vacations

By Leila Vaziri, Swimming World Guest Contributor

Warm weather signifies the start of outdoor swimming season. With the exception of a few exceptionally brave swimmers who endure the coldest temperatures year-long, most of us have been cooped up swimming indoors most the year.

Finally open water transforms into a welcoming oasis, calling both our mind and body, we enter its vastness. So, why is open water swimming so gratifying?

HERE ARE FIVE SKILLS OPEN WATER SWIMMING ALLOWS YOU TO PRACTICE:

1. Keeping a calm and collected swim pace.

Kane Radford during the 10km Open Water Race of the New Zealand Open Water Championships, Lake Taupo, New Zealand, Saturday 9 January 2016. Photo: Simon Watts/www.bwmedia.co.nz

Photo Courtesy: Simon Watts/www.bwmedia.co.nz/Swimming New Zealand

A smooth steady pace is required to traverse an open body of water. You’ll need both an efficient technique and mental composure.

2. Swimming without borders.

open-water-swimmer

Pool swimming allows you to frequently stop and pause. In the continuousness of open water you are held captive through the duration of the course – never stopping to lay on the wall or grab a drink of water. Open water forces you to adjust and endure the environment with more conviction than pool swimming.

3. Take cues from the natural surroundings.

Jul 12, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Eric Hedlin of Canada leads a pack of swimmers in the men's open water swim during the 2015 Pan Am Games at Ontario Place West Channel. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Courtesy: Erich Schlegel/USA Today Sports Images

In open water you must sight off the landscape to keep your direction straight and stay along your course. Be wary of veering off course or swimming in a zig zag pattern.

4. Mental adjustment to various water environments and depths.

open-water-womens-10k-pan-american-games-2015

Photo Courtesy: Tom Szczerbowski/USA Today Sports Images

At times you’ll get a glimpse at what lies below – other times you’ll have to charge forward without any indication of where the bottom lies. Remain focused on your course and take in the water environment without losing your focus.

5. Reading and responding to current.

A competitor in the Swim for Alligator Lighthouse race swims next to his support kayak Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014, off Islamorada, Fla., in the Florida Keys. The eight-mile roundtrip open water swim served as a fundraiser for local student college scholarships and to create awareness for the need to preserve six aging lighthouses off the Keys island chain. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO)

Photo Courtesy: Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau

Experienced swimmers know you don’t win the battle against the ocean’s waves and current. You learn to swim with the current, rising at the crests, and surrendering to the swells. “Riding the water” is a learned skill swimming in wavy waters.

Open water offers gratification and a great swim practice. With experience you’ll develop comfort and skill.

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7 years ago

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