Ghost of Open Water Swimming Exorcised

One of the reasons I was interested in doing endurance mulit- sports is not that I am a strong endurance athlete. Far from it. I was a particularly bad swimmer and whilst in my younger days I was keen on scuba diving, I have not swam for more than 13 years after getting married for more than 200m without stopping to sun bathe or have a beer. The thought of swimming in open waters was particularly terrifying when you do not have flotation devices( B.C or breathing apparatus; aka SCUBA gear) and the prospect of drowning after being swept away by a current of dragged under by some unseen force seems so real.

I figured I needed to face my fear and one of the things was I swam a heck of a lot. Taught myself front crawl; took some lessons and watched stacks of videos. Even after having a number of races, I still struggled and could not swim comfortably to get out of the water without a heart rate of less than 140 which of course affected my bike and run legs.

The particular difficulty at the aquatholon where I struggled with 750 m of OW swimming did little for my confidence.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take part in the Aviva clinic.It was the most valuable lesson in OW swimming I ever did. I realised the problem with my swimming is that I sighted more than what was necessary and because of that I tired very quickly. I also subconsciously followed the pace and cadence of other swimmers. Bad mistakes which took up valuable energy.

Yesterday in the lengthy swim i learnt to draft, sight judiciously and stay relaxed during the swim to keep in the aerobic range. I actually enjoyed the swim and got out refreshed and for the first time a heart rate of 140!