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Race Prep Swimming: Open Water Swim v. Pool (17.5m & 50m)

thekidduxcthekidduxc
in General Training Discussions

If I have access to open water swimming year round? How often should I swim in the open water during my Race Prep? Also, how short of a pool will people swim in before it does more harm than good? Is a 17.5 meter pool too disruptive to do any good? 

Given the details below - how would someone mix in everything to get their work done? Would you schedule your week to get 1 x open water swim, 1 x 17.5m pool swim, 1 x 50m swim? Should I do everything in the open water?

Here are some details:

  • I am blessed with being < a 5 minute walk to the beach where I can swim 365 days a year (December - January is probably wet suit swimming). No cost, can swim anytime during the sunlight, and low logistical investment.
  • I am blessed with having < a 2 minute walk (downstairs) to a 17.5 meter pool. Is 17.5 meters too short to do any good? No cost, can swim anytime during the sunlight, and low logistical investment.
  • I have a third option with a 50m pool which is about $50USD a month but about a 45 minute drive each way.
  • I start my Race Prep in Janaury

Thank you for your input and time!

Comments

  • Edwin CroucherEdwin Croucher
    David, if you have a buddy to swim with, I would do more OWS than pool. I would look to recruits a group if that is possible. If you work your drills in the 17.5 meter pool, you can get good quality work done. Hit the OWS hard for form and endurance. Just my opinion.
  • Mike RobertsMike Roberts

    David,

    The easiest decision is to ditch the 50m pool.  That's too much wasted admin time, time you could be spending on the bike.  I swim in a 20y pool right now.  Not ideal, but definitely doable.  More so than the other two sports, swimming is about intervals - namely, swimming in a straight line at a particular pace (usually within 5-10 sec/100 of TP) while maintaining form, stopping when/before form starts to fade, rest, repeat.  The pool is definitely the best place to accomplish this.  For me, open water interval work ain't happening.  My recommendation is that when R has you swimming 2.4 mi straight on a Friday later in the race build, try to do some/all of those in open water,   Rest of the workouts, hit your short pool downstairs.

    MR

  • Al TruscottAl Truscott

    Since I routinely get close to a body length past the flags before I really start swimming, I'd be going about 8-10 strokes (each arm = one stroke) per length. The rest:work ratio would be nearly 1:1. Not worth it IMO. I would be down in The Gulf every day, if I had the chance like that.

    Ed's idea of drills in the pool makes some sense. OTOH, Mile appears o have had great success training in a 20 yd pool; maybe he's onto something?

  • Paul HoughPaul Hough
    The longer I've been in the sport, the less value I find with OWS practice. Too much admin time for the long course pool. As to a short pool, Olympic swimming coach Gerry Rodriguez believes age grouper should swim short course pools because each push off the wall is a chance to practice streamline and setting up a perfect stroke....provided you are doing flip turns.
  • tim cronktim cronk
    Race Prep = Race Specificity = OWS........ specially in the last month pre-race

    I live on a lake in NH , admin is ZERO vs. going to the pool , plus its just so much more enjoyable , so I swim exclusively OWS from May - Oct mostly w/wetsuit ... every year the first POOL swim is a wake up call due to NO/wetsuit and not having done intervals in the OWS , definitely takes a couple of weeks to get ramped back up again... This year I was able to apply better OWS intervals via measured 1/4 mile segments done in EN type ON/OFF intensities and the wake up wasnt so harsh so you can do OWS intervals....

    In a perfect world with your set up ? 3 swims per week .... 1 -OWS , 1- 50 meter interval swim , 1- your choice short pool or OWS and call this one recovery day.....
  • bob hillerbob hiller

    David, it's nice to have choices.  I recently read that Sean Ryan, who finished 4th in the FINA open water worlds and qualified for the 2016 US Olympic team, trains almost exclusively in the pool.  He was an outstanding NCAA swimmer for Michigan, so the pool is what he's used to.   I only do OWS in my races, but I have been doing tri's for a long time and played water polo in college.  Water polo gave me experience picking up my head and not having high anxiety about getting bumped around before I started doing tri's in 1983.  If you swim in the almost 20 yd pool, you can certainly do flip turns, but unlike Al, you may not want to push off that hard or dolphin off the walls.  Good push offs reduce the number of strokes you get to take.  Best of luck.

  • thekidduxcthekidduxc
    Guys - I appreciate all the awesome feedback.

    Just about wrapping up two weeks of swim camp and here is where my head is at..

    +1 @Al/@Tim/@Ed - given my current skill set (or lack there of) - I need to focus on OWS as much as I can in the OWS. That translates to a minimum of 1 OWS a week.

    +1 Mike - I've read your swim posts and listened to the podcast. It has been a huge help for me. Thank you. I agree with you that swimming intervals faster than CSS/TP, while maintaining good form, at a repeatable distance is key for me to improving my swim. My swim is going to be a project in the off season (summer), so I have to work with what I have. The local swim coach was a massive bump for me this year.

    I feel more comfortable in a 50m pool than a 17.5m pool. I just feel like I am getting an a great rhythm when I swim.

    I will try to hit the 50m, OWS, and 17.5m once a week as Tim suggested.

    Thanks!
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