Open Water Swimming Tips for Beginners

Open water swimming grows more and more popular each year. If you’ve just signed up for your first event and you're starting to think, ‘what on earth have I got myself into’ - don’t worry, you’re in safe hands! Preparation is key to get you feeling confident for your Great Swim. Check out these tips to get you set for event day.

Get the right kit

If this is your first open water event, getting to grips with the kit can be one of the most daunting things . If you’ve never had the pleasure of donning a full body neoprene suit before (and lets face it why would you!) picking the right wetsuit can be tricky.

The key to a well-fitting wetsuit is ensuring it is nice and tight. Getting into your suit for the first time will be tricky, so you may want to have a few practise runs at home.

In the cold waters of the UK many of you will sensibly chose to wear a wetsuit. As well as helping fend off the cold, they will often make you faster in the water by floating sinky legs up making you more streamline in the water. If you’ve not bought one before, it’s important to consider a few things. Fit; too lose and it’ll fill up with water, too tight and it’ll restrict your breathing so try on a few sizes, makes and models before deciding which is right for you. Arms should sit well above the wrist and with a few ruckles under the arm pit to allow the shoulder to move freely and the neck should be low enough to limit neck rub. A good wetsuit should be almost unnoticeable once in the wet stuff and fill you with confidence – not water!

Swim the distance

A lot of people who sign up to Great Swim events may already consider themselves strong swimmers, but it’s important to know you can swim the distance before you get in the open water. Not only is regular training the key to staying fit, it will give you the confidence to know you’re capable of completing the challenge and hopefully mean the start line nerves won’t get the better of you!

If you haven’t had a swimming lesson since jumping into the school baths to retrieve a brick in your pyjamas, it may be worth getting a refresher. Many local pools offer adult swimming lessons and very minor adjustments to your stroke can make you much more efficient in the water.

Strength and Conditioning

Technique is still king as it is how you translate strength into the water, however, anything you can do to get the major swim muscles stronger is good. Lat pull downs, tricep extensions, inclined rows and dips are all good exercises. The key is to make sure that gym work builds strength specifically and to do this you should be doing low reps (3-5) with very heavy resistance for around 3-5 sets. Take lots of rest to keep the quality high and while resting you can do some core or flexibility work. Finally, dry land swim trainers like the Swimbeam (swimbeam.com) can also be great for swim specific strength work.

Get out in the open water

Just because you are a good pool swimmer doesn’t mean you will be great in the open water, so you need to practise. Just like in the pool, you need to focus your session and work on your ability to swim well – plodding aimlessly around a lake is of minimal use. Work on sighting, drafting & turning as well as performing paddle work, reps and drills just like you would do in the pool. This will also give you the chance to get used to your wetsuit. Again, getting a coached open water session can be hugely beneficial and there are lots of group sessions for all ability.

This one can be a little trickier depending on where you live and the time of year, so we’d say it’s a nice-to-have if possible, but not essential. Getting out in the open water before your event will give you an idea of what its like to swim in a wetsuit - which for first timers is actually pretty great!

Not only will it keep you buoyant, you will also feel surprisingly warm and insulated. Coping with water temperature is often the biggest concern for novice open water swimmers. We strongly recommend you find a venue that runs specific open water sessions which are lifeguarded and have proper safety provisions for your first experience in the open water, also go with a friend if possible.