{"id":30577,"date":"2014-08-07T07:15:12","date_gmt":"2014-08-07T11:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=30577"},"modified":"2016-07-14T16:01:50","modified_gmt":"2016-07-14T20:01:50","slug":"conquer-fear-open-water-swimming-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/fitness\/conquer-fear-open-water-swimming-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Conquer Your Fear of Open Water Swimming"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Conquer
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Congrats! You\u2019ve signed up for your first triathlon or open-water swim. But now you need to actually jump in.<\/p>\n

Swimming in an ocean or lake race, with hundreds of other participants jostling and kicking to get ahead of you and over you, can be very different than your calm pool workout.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven the most experienced swimmers experience a heart-rate spike at the beginning of a race when a crowded pack of swimmers is trying to round that first buoy and get moving along the racecourse,\u201d says Laura Hamel, Communications and\u00a0Publications Director at U.S. Masters Swimming<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We kicked and stroked our way to the best swimming experts for tips to help you conquer your fear of the open water so you can have your most confident race yet.<\/p>\n

1. Get comfortable in the pool.\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

A pool has clean, clear water, so the lane markers on the bottom of the pool are visible. You know where you\u2019re going, and your feet can likely touch ground at any time you choose. There\u2019s also nobody else trying to swim behind you or pass you. Therefore, it\u2019s really imperative to make sure that you\u2019ve practiced and honed your technique in the pool first, says John Stewart, a triathlon coach with Race Day Coaching<\/a> and the lead swim coach at JackRabbit Sports.
<\/a><\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/b> 6 Tips to Improve Your Swimming Right Now<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Acknowledge open water swimming is different.\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Treat open-water swimming like a technical sport where mistakes could have very real consequences, says Hamel. Be cognizant that there are<\/i> dangers out there. Whether you\u2019re hitting your local lake or trying the open waters on vacation, learn more about the body of water by talking with locals or using apps to track conditions in the area before heading out.<\/p>\n

The temperature is also something to contend with. It could be warmer or colder in different locations, says Sam Cardona, Corporate Wellness Director for the New York Health and Racquet Club<\/a> and 10-time Ironman finisher. Even a slight change like this could throw your body into panic mode. Cardona recommends taking a moment to get familiar with the water before even trying to swim.<\/p>\n

3. Practice your fears.\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

It may sound kind of crazy, but try your best to stimulate what scares you, says Sam Zizzi, professor of Sport and Exercise Psychology at West Virginia University and certified consultant with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology<\/a>,who has worked with Ironman-level athletes to address their fears. \u201cThe natural tendency is to avoid the anxiety,\u201d but you want to make sure you\u2019ll have control in case the situation arises, he explains. For example, if you\u2019re scared of your goggles slipping off, then knock them off yourself or have a buddy do it during training. Practice finding the goggles, reset mentally, begin swimming again and repeat the whole process. This will help make you feel more comfortable should you lose your specs during a race.<\/p>\n

4. Learn to sight.\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

You don\u2019t want all that hard work perfecting your stroke to be for naught when you swim off-course, right? Sighting is a technique that will help you swim as straight as possible by raising your head so your eyes are just above the water level and finding a landmark to assure that you\u2019re swimming in the right direction. Stewart recommends two different techniques:<\/p>\n

Technique 1: Sight first, then breathe<\/b>. You\u2019ll start reaching forward with your right arm, while simultaneously sighting a target ahead of you, such as a buoy, and then finish the motion breathing and pulling to the right. With practice, this should become one fluid motion.<\/p>\n

Technique 2: Breathe first, sight right after.<\/b> This uses two arms, but some people like it because they like to breathe first. \u00a0You\u2019ll take a full stroke, breathe, sight your mark, and then take your next stroke on the opposite side.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re training for an open-water swim, you should also be doing at least 500 yards of sighting practice in the pool every week, just as you do your other drills.<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Set yourself up for success. \u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cYou’re going from a really calm environment to a very different environment, says Cardona,\u201c When you get to open water, you can\u2019t see as well. That could start to freak you out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before any race, Cardona recommends taking the allotted warm-up time to get into the water, become familiar with the temperature and swim around a bit to get your heart rate up. This way, you\u2019ll decrease the chances of it spiking come go time.<\/p>\n

Next, decide where you\u2019re going to start. If you\u2019re confident, you can go up front. If you\u2019re freaking out because of the crowds, Hamel recommends hanging off to the back<\/a> and side of the pack, and taking your time to get in the water, letting the faster swimmers go ahead of you.<\/p>\n

\"Open
Photo: MarathonFoto<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

6. On your mark\u2026get set\u2026GO!<\/b><\/h3>\n

Much like running, most people start off the swim too fast and wear out early. Try to begin at a more leisurely, attainable pace and gradually build up your speed, Cardona says. Another key difference between the pool and the open water is that you can \u201cdraft,\u201d or swim in the wake of the person in front of you. \u201cA swimmer who’s not as strong can benefit from a really strong swimmer,\u201d he says. \u00a0If you notice a stronger swimmer in front of you, get directly behind or on the hip side of them and get in the draft of their wake. Bonus: you don\u2019t need to sight as much if you\u2019re swimming behind someone who is<\/i> sighting.<\/p>\n

If panic does set in\u2026<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve panicked myself,\u201d says Stewart, \u201cand it happens to lots of pros.\u201d If you start freaking out in the water, find a stroke that feels comfortable to you, such as breaststroke, or even just roll on your back and take deep breaths until your heart rate drops a bit. Focus on the clouds in the sky or something else in your environment that can calm you. You may want to use a calming word such as \u201cstrong\u201d or \u201csmooth\u201d and repeat it over and over to yourself until you\u2019re feeling more comfortable.<\/p>\n

Open water swimming can be daunting, but once you\u2019ve mastered it, you\u2019ll have a skill you can take to any body of water \u2014 and the knowledge that a few choppy waves can\u2019t stop you!<\/p>\n

For more information on open water swimming, check out the <\/i>U.S. Masters Open Water Swimming 101.<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Want to tackle your next open water swim with confidence? Follow these expert swimming tips to conquer any lingering fears.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":30583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,24,6],"tags":[159,110,141,128,341,343,156],"class_list":["post-30577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardio","category-exercise","category-fitness","tag-anxiety","tag-race","tag-sports","tag-swimming","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2exercise","tag-triathlon"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}