Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Options
week off from swimming, what a mistake
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
[sticks BTF Official's hat on]
to clarify - tumble turns are NOT specifically banned under BTF rules. but most races do not allow them under Competition Rules which state:
"The competition rules are intended to:
a. create an atmosphere of sportsmanship, equality and fair play.
b. provide safety and protection.
c. penalise competitors who gain an unfair advantage.
d. endorse the principle that triathlon, duathlon and aquathlon events are individual sports, and encourage individual performance and initiative."
the key wording is fair play and provide safety. by not allowing tumble turns it creates a level playing field for all competitors as there are many fast swimmers who cannot tumble turn for whatever reason. it also prevents collisions and mayhem if you have a mixture of types of turn in an often crowded lane.
however, it is also down to the discretion of the Race Director and provided notice is given in advance to all competitors, then some do allow them (if numbers are low it's usually OK) but then often only for the fastest swimmers who are all likely to be tumble turners so they get evened out.
[takes BTF officials hat off]
simple answer - stick to open water events as there's no walls to get in the way...
pee yourself David..it soon warms up
Great news re tumble turns. Thought I'd have to learn how to do those too...
open water temperature and the distances allowed according to the temperature is also covered under BTF rules.
basically no swim if below 11C, full distances above 14C - but wind chill factor will also be considered.
nope - it will always come up - speed of exit will depend on tightness or if you have any nicks in the suit.....
the problem is when you come out of the cold water - if the air temp is low, then with a wet body there is a much bigger risk of hypothermia. not nice
your body will usually be pretty warm in a full wetsuit even in cold water but the longer you stay in it, the colder you'll get. but as you aren't allowed to race with foot or hand covering (unless the Race Director makes an exception which is rare), then those (and the face) will feel the full effect of the cold water - and try riding a bike when you can't feel your feet or have control over your fingers!
that's what most of us do anyway - although you can stretch from April to October if the weather's been kind. this year it hasn't so none of the open water swimming venues are open yet (most usually open in April) and I foresee a number of early OW tris becoming duathlons as the water will still be too cold under BTF rules. one race on the 1st weekend of May has already postponed for 3 weeks as the water is still only around 4C!! and the sea where I live is 5C.
rivers, lakes and sea all have their own characters - and the big plus point for me is that they aren't indoor.
I love sea swimming yet it freaks a lot of people out
you have to understand the currents and tides to do a safe seaswim.rivers are easier to predict........lakes easier again
btw where can i find places where i could practice ow swimming.....
there's a comprehensive list on this site - http://www.h2openmagazine.com/ - search OWS venues
excellent - thanks. searched on http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/ but couldnt find anywhere near me.
but depending on where in the sea you swim, it could be full of human shit from treatment plants....
that's called sighting. the problem with OW swimming is that are no lines on the bottom to follow so keeping a straight line is a big problem for many OW swimmers - that's why they lift the head at regular intervals to check their sightng marks to make sure they're heading in the right direction.
that assumes of course that the people ahead of you are going in the right direction to start with - which isn't always the case! but essentially that is what most midpackers do with the occasional look up to check as well.
Weymouth beach is a great venue, sight to the side and stay parallel to shore. Have nose at Bustinskin.com and Mark there will take you on one of his OW training swims or you can do their summer aquathlon series on the seafront.
Learn to sight, bloek in front of me is always Mr Zig Zag. Breathe front when sight, left and right otherwise, or whichever is free of water when you are in the waves. Very funny when it goes wrong.
Re full wettie. I am an utter wuss in the water but find that down to 17degrees, swimming OW is about the same as in a 28 degree pool, maybe 27.
Drafting in swim leg is allowed. Very effective if you can get it right.
I always use legs in water but mostly for stabilisation kicks. Escalate to full kick for last 50M to get things moving before getting out of the water.
Plenty of OW training lakes around junction M25/M3 area. All supervised and approved. Wetties for hire as well usually.
ANd what FB said
Mr Zig Zag has a wife too, Mrs All Over the Place with Random Breastroke kicks.....
I think a lot of cold OW is acclimatisation too. At Bala Middle a few years ago (THE 20% retirement race...) a lot were fished out of the swim freezing. But I'd done the charity swim the day before and thought it was fine - standard cool lake in June. BUT I had done quite a bit of cold water swimming in a similar lake in the preceding weeks. You definitely acclimatise. I think this is often over looked. If you only ever swim in the man made shallow lakes you will have a shock in the cold deep ones!
Mr Falconer you have it the wrong way around. Australia is too hot for triathlons.
I never really notice the cold after I've started. I'm usually far too engrossed in remembering how to swim and then trying to not fall off my bike. By run time I'm blessing the cool breeze of the motherland.
I'm Australian too, trust me - cooler is better.