Conquer the Bosphorus: 6 coaching tips to prepare for open water swimming

It won’t be long before the swimming season can be declared open. But what if your goal for the summer is much more ambitious than a weekend picnic with friends? Open water swims are a great way to combine the pleasant with the useful: relax, swim in the company of friends, overcome your fears and become even stronger and tougher!

There are plenty of locations for such starts: the legendary Bosphorus, the beautiful Lake Sevan in Armenia, Baikal, Volga and many others. But do not forget that participation in such a swim is a big responsibility, and even if you can easily swim 10-15 pools during training, it does not mean that you are ready to participate one hundred percent.

Not long ago we attended a training session at the OLYMP fitness club in Bolshoy Kislovsky Lane. During the session we were able to work on technique, perform a number of special exercises, practice breathing and get to the bottom of the question of what can get in the way at the start.

Together with a professional coach, aquatic program instructor, CMC in underwater sports Yulia Lysogorskaya we formulated 6 universal rules that will help you to prepare for the start in open water without leaving the pool.

Work on technique

The main thing is to work on two parameters: breathing and technique, because it is easy to learn how to inhale and exhale in standing water. Here the water does not knock you down. So breathing needs to be practiced. It is work on hypoxia, that is, on the lack of air. Try to swim and hold your breath underwater as much as possible. For example, perform breath not through two rows, but through three. Or try to train with additional equipment – a snorkel. This is also very useful.

Another important point is the turn of the head in the crawl. You need to raise your chin higher, you need to increase the strength of the row, because it is possible that you can start against the current. All this should be practiced in a complex on calm water, the more often, the better.

Warming up with exercises

Elementary exercise for warming up – fix your hands on the board, swim exclusively on your feet crawl. Legs should be flat, the work involves only the front part of the thigh. This is the foundation of the basics. This is a warm-up that everyone should have. Similarly, you can train your legs if you lock your arms and swim a few pools of breaststroke or dolphin.

It’s also, of course, important to learn how to stay on your back. Alternate between swimming on your back and on your chest.

The first thing that is always initially taught to both children and adults is breathing in the water and how to stay on your back. Then you can move on to more complex exercises.

Overcoming the psychological barrier

Psychological barrier, fear – these things can seriously hinder you at the moment of competition. Perhaps it all comes from the past, if you have ever drowned. Some people in childhood were just thrown into the water and told “swim”, so they have a psychological barrier in their head, it is very difficult to work with it. The coach, of course, will do everything he can, but you must also put a lot of effort into it.

We work in a complex

I believe that training in a complex can help a lot while swimming. Stretching is very important for a swimmer, so pool classes can be safely combined with other directions: pilates, yoga, stretching. Cardio exercises: running, cycling, triathlon – will also have a positive effect on your endurance growth.

I’m not against “iron”, but then you have to choose what you want. You can do everything in a complex: and swim, and pump muscles. But if you do only “iron” and do not stretch, there will be no use of these muscles in swimming, because they are not stretched.

Getting rid of fears

Another fear that can arise right on the court is the fear of the number of people. Try to abstract yourself from the whole situation and switch to positive thoughts.

Learning how to distribute your energies

I believe that before participating in competitions you should first work in the pool. For example, take a distance of 400 meters and swim it without stopping, see how it is more convenient to do it and distribute your strength. Each person is very individual: someone swims quickly start and finish, someone – the whole distance is even. And, of course, during training, be sure to keep an eye on your heart rate.

Swimming is an ideal cardio load for your body. Take care of yourself, work on your body and do not be afraid to set yourself the most ambitious goals. By finding the right approach to the training process and consulting with a professional instructor, you will easily conquer even the most unrealistic, at first glance, distance!