Open Water Swim Feedback

Pool swimmers get immediate feedback on their swimming performance. It’s called the clock. They get a time. They know how their time compares to the other swimmers in the event. They know how their time compares to their previous times.  They can make adjustments for the next race. Open water swimmers see the clock at the end of a swim. By then it is too late to adjust.  Open water swimmers must make their adjustments during their swim.

My non-swimming friends and pool swimming friends ask me what I think about during an open water swim. I tell them I think about what condition my condition is in. Or, in short, how do I feel.  I say “Boiler room, this is the Bridge. What’s going on down there?”  If the boiler room reports back things like the right shoulder hurts, the left leg is drifting left, the chest is tight, hands are slapping the water, hands are pushing down at the catch, head is popping up too often, left arm is crossing the center line, feet are pulling me out of horizontal, I am drifting right, well, then I have to adjust.  All this without benefit of a clock. 

Usually the adjustment is a matter of paying closer attention some part of my stroke. Adjustments can be small or large.  Confirm high elbows on the recovery, ditto high elbows during the push, reach for the catch, rotate into the reach, start the exhale sooner, breathe at 90 degrees, at least twitch those legs, find the rhythm and let it flow.

And then we check back with the Engine Room and start the process all over again.