Alan Lightfoot
Swimming in Open water presents challenges that are very different to conditions in a pool environment. Rather than just swimming why not try to mix up your swimming sessions to get more out of the swim by following the following sessions.
Once you have acclimatised to the temperature of the water, swim to the first buoy and use this as your start point. Sight off landmarks behind where the turn buoys are to give you a larger object to sight off. Sight every 6 – 12 strokes so that you don’t go too far off course.
Session 1
- Warmup
- Swim to the first buoy as fast as you can. The distance will vary depending upon what lake you are at. If you have a measuring device on your watch record how far this is.
- Easy swim focusing on reach and glide to the next buoy.
- Swim to the next buoy as fast as you can.
- Keep alternating between swimming hard to one buoy then easy to next. Repeat for as many circuits as you can, or time allows.
Session 2
- Warmup
- Swim 1 lap hard
- Rest for 2 minutes
- Swim 2-5 X small laps with 90 seconds rest between each lap. Try to keep all your lap times as consistent as possible.
Session 3
- Warmup
- 2 – 3 laps increasing speed each lap
Session 4
- Warmup
- 1 lap easy, 1 hard, 1 easy – no rest between each lap
Session 5
- Warmup
- 1 lap hard, 1 easy, 1 hard – no rest between laps then do some shorter harder sprints concentrating on sighting.
Session 6
- Swim continuously for as long as your session is booked for without stopping. Focus on controlled breathing and a long stroke.
If you have any questions please reach out to Ralph.
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