Refining Body Balance in Open Water
By Nic DietrichAs a matter of convenience, triathletes often perform the majority of their swim training in a pool. This is very good for the beginner, or for someone trying to fix their stroke to become more efficient, but there are certain challenges to open water swimming that do not present themselves in the static, calm environment of the pool.
Swimming is a sport of balance. The trick to being good at the swim portion of a triathlon not only lies in the ability to produce power and to propel oneself forward, but in the ability to apply this power in the most efficient manner possible. Consider the balance beam competition in gymnastics. If the athlete trains on a fixed beam they will continue to develop skill sets in this manner. However, if the beam is suddenly moving on the day of competition their skill sets are no longer valid, as the ability to steady themselves has been removed. Swimming in open water is very often the same way. Once swimmers lose their balance, they have to compensate in various ways to maintain efficiency.
There are many elements of open water than can cause someone to lose their balance. Water current, water turbulence (natural fluctuations such as swells and waves or just the result of other swimmers nearby), or drag (either from bad stroke mechanics or from the suit/clothes an athlete chooses to swim in) are examples of situations that can challenge a swimmers rhythm. Some of these situations can be prevented from the start, but others can challenge the swimmers ability instantly.
Form drag and natural fluctuations of the water, are the biggest causes of swimmer instability in the open water. Knowing how to adjust to these elements can allow you to be more efficient that a swimmer who does not. The first thing to do when challenged while swimming is to remain calm. When faced with a difficult situation a beginner triathlete may panic or stop and change to a different stroke. This causes the body to be taxed quickly and energy stores are depleted. It is important to maintain your horizontal position and better to slow down, take a few breaths, and get your swimming rhythm back. Once you have again achieved your rhythm attempt to get back to your normal swimming speed.
The fastest swimmers maintain a horizontal alignment which allows for their push on the water to be applied more forward than any other direction. In basic terms, there are two main phases of the stroke in swimming. The first portion is called the recovery phase and the second portion is called the pull phase.
The recovery phase is the part of the stroke begins after the swimmer completes the underwater pull and the arm is traveling over the water. At the end of the recovery phase, the hand enters the water and extends in front of their body.
The pull phase starts at the end of the recovery phase when the lead arm in front of the body. As the recovery arm moves over the water and passes the head, the swimmer should move their hand outward away from his body into slower moving water which allows the swimmer to “catch” the water. Once a swimmer grabs the water, they can pull this water towards the hip. Once at the hip, the swimmer pushes the water back towards his feet (it is in this phase that horizontal alignment is important).
Once the pull phase is complete, a transition is made between the two arms. The recovery arm becomes the pull arm and the pull arm now exits the water to begin the recovery phase. The timing of this transition phase between the two arms is what is absolutely critical, and is what needs to be maintained when balance is lost. In distance swimming, it is important that the lead arm stays in front of the body until the recovery arm is passing the head.
There are two mistakes that are often made to compensate when the timing is lost. The first mistake is made when one starts the pull phase with their lead arm before the recovery arm has reached an appropriate point. When the pull is started too early, it causes the arms to be in opposition. This disrupts not only rhythm, but more importantly distance per stroke. The swimmer now has to take twice as many strokes to cover the same distance that they normally would with just one.
The second mistake a swimmer can make in open water is to shorten the stroke by ending the pull phase early. This also disrupts the distance that a swimmer can travel on one stroke. In this instance, when balance is compromised, the swimmer stops the pull at the hip or before instead of extending the arm back towards the feet. This mistake also compromises the distance that a swimmer will travel on one stroke causing the stroke rate to increase and the swimmer to use more energy.
Pool training allows for the physiological training that a triathlete needs to be prepared to complete the swim, but it does very little to challenge the swimmer with different conditions that may arise during the swim portion of the race. Because swimming conditions can be very chaotic, even when conditions for the bike and run may seem perfect, it is important to practice swimming in conditions where one’s balance and stability are challenged so that the swim portion of the race can be completed as efficiently as possible, either in open water or in a current pool which forces more turbulent water towards the body.
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