Race Day Swim Tips

The open water swim for many people is the most stressful part of a triathlon. But it really shouldn’t be. 

First off, you’re more fresh and rested starting the swim than you will be at any point in the rest of the race, which is nice. 

And secondly, you have hardly any equipment that can fail you, unlike on the bike where it seems that every mechanical issue known to humankind only comes out on race day. 

With that positive, happy, unicorns and rainbows framing in mind, here are some really simple tips to help you crush the swim leg.

What to consider in the days before the race

In the build up to the race, there are a few things to consider:

• Is the race wetsuit legal or not? See our answer to that question here.
• If it is wetsuit legal, how cold will the water be? Apart from influencing what you wear on the swim – like a neoprene cap under your race cap, this could also determine what you pack to wear on the bike. 
• How is the swim course laid out, and are there any special considerations such as currents or large waves you need to be aware of?

And most importantly, what access will you have to the swim course before the race, if any?

If you do have access, use it; it’s the perfect chance to get used to your wetsuit and get familiar with sighting points on the course.

A running start will look something like this 

There are two common start procedures:

• An in-water start, where different groups of athletes are called into the water just off the shore, and held in a rough line until the starter sets you off. This is ideal, because it gives you a chance for a final pee before the race gets going. 
• A running start, where waves of athletes run towards the water and start swimming. These starts can be very smooth and well-orchestrated (in Ironman® events for example), or be a bit of a free for all (in smaller local races). 

Take your time running down the sand; firstly, you’re an endurance athlete, not Usain Bolt. Also, it’s usually uneven, and you don’t want to trip directly in front of all the spectators and their cameras.

Once you reach the water, don’t dive headfirst as soon as your feet get wet. Aim to run in at least as far as your mid thigh, before falling forward into the water and starting your swim. 

Note the term ‘falling forward’ rather than diving – it’s really not recommended to dive headfirst into any open water. You could scrape your face on the floor. Or headbutt Nemo. 

How will you ever look your kids in the eye again if they found out you headbutted Nemo?

Positioning as you swim to the first turn

You may have heard horror stories about triathletes getting swum over or kicked in the face during a race, and this absolutely can happen.

There are key moments in the race where this is far more likely to happen however, and the general melee between the start and the first buoy is one of these moments. It’s a pretty easy situation to manage, however.

Swimmers are all bunched up at the start, and everyone’s trying to find their line and get into some kind of rhythm. So it really can be a bit of a mess, particularly in races with larger groups of swimmers starting at once. 

Position yourself on the opposite side of the field to the first turn buoy

In this example, the first turn buoy is ahead to the right. 

This means the field will gravitate towards the buoy, which almost always leads to a bottleneck of swimmers stuck on the inside of the turn. 

From the start of the race, you should therefore position yourself on the opposite side of most of the swimmers relative to the first buoy – you want to be swimming on the left, in the area and direction of the green arrow. 

Where you absolutely don’t want to be (part 1)

Why all the focus on the first turn? 

The same ideas actually apply to any turn on the swim course. But it’s that first turn where the field is most bunched up and where you can get crowded in.

Taking the race scenario from above a little further, look at the picture below to see what happens once the field reaches that first turn buoy and tries to turn right. 

As you can see in the red box below, there are now four swimmers climbing over each other to get from the inside of the course to the correct side of the buoy. They can’t pass the buoy on the wrong side as that’s cutting the turn and will lead to disqualification. 

This is exactly the scenario in which you can get hit or kicked, so don’t go anywhere near that inside line.

The gentleman circled in white is where you want to be.

Avoid the inside line into the first turn

Where you absolutely don’t want to be (part 2)

Sticking with the same first turn scenario, there is a second danger you need to be aware of, and this one’s a little harder to spot. The breaststroke kick. 

Around buoys, everyone is trying to work out where they are, where they should actually be, and where the hell they’re supposed to go next. 

This means there’s a lot of stopping to look around, and when a swimmer stops, they almost always get started again with a breaststroke kick.

This is incredibly common – so much so that there are five swimmers in the pic below in the process of doing it. 

The breastroke kick of death

In the red box is where fingers (or noses) get broken, as the person swimming directly behind the breastroker isn’t looking where he’s going, and is about to swim straight into the back of a breastroke kick.

The solution is again to stay on the outside of the field, and stay the hell away from everyone else.

Social distancing, people – you know what to do.

This is your chance to practice drafting if you’re not used to it. Swimming directly behind the swimmer in front’s feet can dramatically reduce the water resistance you’re pushing through, making the swim much easier.

A good strategy here is to look for someone who has just eased past you, and is going only slightly faster than you are. Move behind them and see if you can stay with them, at their faster pace. 

Whatever you do, don’t continually touch the feet of this person, however. Triathletes are usually a very friendly bunch, but not if you sit tapping their feet for 1800m of a 1900m race. 

One more quick thing about drafting. Don’t assume that because someone made it this far around the course, they know where they’re going. The reason they’re so fast and yet are only catching you now might be because they’ve been swimming zigzags all day and don’t have a freaking clue where the hell to go from here. Do your own sighting.

From water level, finding the swim exit is tricky

Too soon