Do you swim faster in the pool than you do in a wetsuit in open water?
You should be seeing speedy gains from about 7-10 seconds per 100 metres from swimming in a wetsuit, with some clients seeing a lot more up to 30 seconds where it's helping change their body position for the better!
Does your open water swim pace not represent what you are able to do in the pool?
Surrey Quay Mychett Lake 1-2-1 Open water swimming lesson bookings are now available from Tuesday 20th September 2022
Please email Nick to check there is a time slot available first before booking here: speedyswimming@gmail.com
Find out more here and how to book
If you answered yes, something is a bit amiss, and we would love to help you fix it!
It could be one of more of the following:
Your wetsuit might not be fitting correctly, (Ie not pulled up enough so it's pulling on your legs) restricting movement and also your biomechanics
Navigation and not swimming in a straight line
Sighting too high or incorrectly, causing your legs to drop and affect drag and resistance slowing you down, or not sighting regularly enough
Pacing (we see so many triathletes who actually seem to physically slow down in open water or seem to do their zone 2 training in open water)
Slowing down around swim buoys
Not acclimatising to the water temperature first, or with enough swims in open water
Not warming up before a triathlon or open water swim (especially important if you are not given the chance to warm up in the water
Not drafting on the feet or hips of another swimmer or being drafting on and hence slowed down by the extra drag of another swimmer (we can show you how to lose a swimmer on your feet or hips doing this! )
Or your swim technique in open water changes due to the cold
Potentially breathing as well if you usually breathe from your chest instead of your diaphragm, or you end up taking lots of short breaths when you start building up levels of carbon dioxide in your lungs and therefore going into oxygen debt quickly
Kicking too much and bending your knees using up precious levels of oxygen much better needed by your upper body and arms
Not rotating enough from your hips on a long axis and therefore maximising your distance per stroke
Are your swims in open water effectively like your base training? long and slow steady-based sessions instead of race-paced targeted and structured training sessions? Do you do the same session each time, and feel like you have hit a plateau with your swim fitness?
Setting off too fast at a pace for you to sustain, (going into the red zone and then taking 10-15 minutes to recover back to a level where you can push the pace again at tempo or threshold level)
Not doing the right interval training sessions at your targeted race pace (we can work this out for you with a fitness test and set up your training zones in Training Peaks)
Did you know that you can add 20% or more to your overall open water swim race distance by not sighting effectively?
Did you also know you can save up to 18-25% of your energy by drafting correctly?
Big Open Water Lesson News Announcement!
We are now able to teach 1-2-1 and small groups Open Water Swimming lessons at Quay Swim lake in Mychett!
Improve your open water skills and drills, gain more confidence, have some stroke analysis, learn how to swim in a straight line and navigate, perform mass starts effectively, drafting turning around buoys and T1 transition practice
This image is actually how high / low you should be lifting your head to sight, any higher and your legs drop, increasing your drag and resistance and slowing you down quite a lot!
Taking bookings now....into October. block booking sessions will be valid for 12 months into the 2023 triathlon and open water season
The lake is still 19-20 degrees, (20th September 2022) and has a nice 1000m and a 200m loop is
To find out more and how to book:
We often see GPS swim tracks where swimmers have gone further than they expected.
Sighting every 6-8 strokes and checking on your navigation reference regularly is key to swimming and sighting effectively.
It’s best to sight on something higher like a darker tree, building, or spire, than a buoy in the water!
Have you swum further than your race distance, undoing all those months of swim training? We’d like to help you to swim straight and navigate effectively so you achieve your personal best!
Bohdi (Point Break Film): "Fear causes hesitation, and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true. Bodhi: If you want the ultimate, you've got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. But it doesn't have to be that way....!" I hear you say...
Yes, it's true that mass triathlon swim starts can strike fear into the pit of your stomach like nothing else, yet there are ways of managing this fear and learning to overcome it!
We can teach you the skills and drills you need to manage an open water mass starts much more calmly and better. It is said that a lot of open water swimming is in your mind and your mental resilience.
Positioning, warding, starting off to the side, at the back, and waiting 30 seconds are just some of the methods we can teach, plus the best position to start in too!
Prior planning and preparation prevent poor performance.
To find out more and how to book your 1-2-1 open water swimming lesson click here:
Get in touch with Nick today to arrange your open water swim lesson, by calling him on 07958635142 or emailing speedyswimming@gmail.com
Nick is an STA Nowca Open water swim coach, British Triathlon level 3 coach, and Training Peaks level 2 accredited coach. He has over 17 years experience of teaching open water swimming. he can help all levels of open water swimmers, from beginner to advanced levels. In each open water session, he'll take you through a progressive range of skills, drills and techniques specific to you and your particular skill set.
Here is a link to my website with a bit more information on open water lessons
https://www.speedyswimming.co.uk/open-water-swimming-lessons
We also do 1-2-1 Open water swimming lessons in the Solent at Hayling Island beaches during the summer months, for more info follow this link: https://www.speedyswimming.co.uk/open-water-swimming-lessons
