Open water swimming essentials - #1 Breathing
Swimming in open water is not as simple as it may look like, and neither it is simple to directly translate your skills from the pool to the lake or ocean. It is clear that only training in open waters will make you a real open water champion. However, we decided to compose a number of tricks that are good to know and may boost your performance. Here is tip #1 that is about breathing.
It may be too obvious but still it seems often forgotten by beginners who e.g. start with triathlon; in open water swimming there are no lanes and the water may not be as crystal clear as it is in your local pool. Therefore, you need to practice looking ahead during your swim to find a marker buoy in the distance to follow; referred to in our training plans as water polo crawl. At the same time, avoid wearing goggles that are tinted too dark. In order to best orientate during swimming, it is beneficial to also practice breathing to both sides during front crawl. This allows you to obey your fellow swimmers at all times, and keeps their feet out of your face. And until you can breathe to one side only, be clever when choosing your position at the start: If you prefer to breathe to the right, queue / swim at the left side of the pack, and vice versa.
