This Is Why You’re Swimming Slower In Open Water!

It can really knock your confidence when you've been training all winter in the swimming pool but when you finally get into the open water, you're SLOWER?! You expect to feel great, all that added buoyancy, fresh air, and nature but you're just not as fast as you were in the pool. In this video, we explain why this might be and offer some suggestions to bring back the speed!

0:00 - Intro
1:44 - The Stroke
3:19 - Kit
4:38 - The wetsuit
5:09 - Goggles
5:36 - Your mental state

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Do you feel like you swim slower in open water? 🏊‍♂️ Let us know in the comment section below! 💬

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[gtn]

Do you feel like you swim slower in open water? 🏊‍♂

[jadeobrien-smith]

I swim faster in open water because I'm scared of getting eaten/bitten/attacked by something.

[eamondennehy]

Tow float also massively slows you down if you are using one. I always assumed it had a small effect but realised with some testing that it was costing me almost 20 seconds per 100m in certain outdoor conditions. Still use it more often than not though

[swimbikerunrepeat]

Many open water venues are shallow with water plants interrupting your stroke. My pull phase often feels cramped as I try to avoid grabbing a handful of weeds on every stroke

[pal_lokomotivet]

As a amateur that couldn't crawl 50 m without a break i have the opposite experience. I swam much longer and faster outside due to the wetsuit

[turtlturtle]

Thanks for your honest opinions and insights. Agree that endurance is so much more than physical! Planning my first 70.3 in Dec this year! Interesting you think buying power meter is sonething you would change . I was on the fence but watching your vid gave me an excuse to get one 😂

[oweningarfield]

What if increasing stroke rate elevates HR and decreases form? I found slowing down stroke rate in the pool has really helped - I'd hate to undo all of that. I get a quicker stroke rate in choppier conditions but what if it's nice and calm?

[sigaroo]

An issue I realized I had in my first Tri was the spotting. It always broke my stroke form and I would have to reset.

[jassaljs]

The depth and with nothing to hold on to, it scares the jeebies out of me 😢

[PatrickWoerner]

On sunday i swam my fastest session ever. In open water. Because the lake was calm and relaxed, there was no choppy water. And even if I already got 100k bike ride in my legs, I was still able to put down my first 750m swim with a pace under 2 minutes per 100.

[bikeanddogtripsvirtualcycling]

well done on your snowdon ultra. will there be a video for us?

[blubbblubb]

As a total beginner I don't own a wetsuit yet.... however, I am really looking for better weather to train open water with free style, which I couldn't swim last summer. The last couple months have been in majority cold and wet.... currently 12°C and of pouring rain... biking feels like open water today ;-P

[AccordGTR]

I think stroke technique matters more in open water

[vitalnexusnl]

I thought i was much faster in open water but then i realized my fenix wasnt very accurate and instead of swimming 3k i swam only 2, 5k😅

[nickc]

“Increasing stroke is one of the easiest to fix”. Except it’s not, and we’re not going to address how you would go about it😂…

[marcuswills]

You forgot to mention to swim in a straight line in open water 🤣