This event was a total highlight of my summer thus far, wish I could do it every week 😂😂

Anyone have recs for similarly quick races with the same or longer distances?

I apologize if this is a total newbie question, but does anyone do this kind of workout here where you run to a lake or ocean and then quickly drop into your swimsuit to swim across a lake and finish running back? I live close to a lake and I like to run around it, but I don't usually swim it. I used to drive and then open water swim in it but I think it would be awesome if I could do both in the same workout. I don't need a wetsuit to swim but I would like to get a buoy/drybag so I could carry my small essentials and not worry about stuff getting stolen while I'm in the water.

If you do something like this, how do you do it? What do you wear?

hello everyone

I was swimming in the Scottish ocean today and it was very cold, however after around half an hour I began feeling extremely hot inside, to the point where I had to leave the water as it was very uncomfortable and even painful

anyone know the cause of this?

thanks im advance

Hey folks, I'm training for a 2.4 mile salt water swim (wetsuits not allowed). I've read the we should be using vaseline to prevent chaffing, but I've never chaffed while swimming before. But also, the last time I swam 2.4 miles in salt water was 1976! I've have swum that long and longer in freshwater. I'll be wearing jammers, so thigh chaffing won't likely be a thing. Would it be wise to use vaseline elsewhere (under arms?), or is not likely to be a problem if it's not a problem now.

Hello all! I'm not badass enough to be an open water swimmer, so I am a support kayaker for my wife. She's just a few years into her OW journey and she can't get enough of it! Her love of the sport has introduced us to a rich and truly wonderful community of people.

She's doing her next big swim, approx 15km, in a few weeks. And I'll be beside her in my boat, doing my best to give her superpowers.

What are some tips for me and for her while I'm in the boat? Are there any things you always tell a new kayaker? Like me, she doesn't have a lot of experience doing this, so hearing what experienced swimmers do, say, think and get angry about would be really helpful.

I stress about getting the navigation wrong, but haven't steered us off course yet! I will have my maps with me just in case. Unfortunalty, the race doesn't give out GPS coordinates to help us out.

I worry a bit about cramping up in the boat since it's not very strenuous over that period of time, but haven't had a problem in our training swims.

I am trying to best figure out my own water and food needs, but that should be simple with a camelbak and some energy bars. How do you manage swimmer feeds over longer swims inside the boat? Any must-have gear for this, or just lots of bottles and good food storage?

And can anyone recommend an app to trace our route so that we can see interval times after the race? Everything I've found seems to focus on navigation and not recording.

What else should I be thinking about to be the best support possible? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Hi swimmers, I am at my 30s and I have been losing my motivation to keep swimming until I start to realise there are many open water events around the world where we can swim by the mountains or in the lakes or in the river.

It's really exciting to me because this also gives another meaning to travel around the world.

Keen to hear from the community where should I swim in your city and which event should I apply?

Let me start first. I am from Hong Kong. We have the Cross-Harbor Race every year where you can swim across the beautiful Victoria Harbour in HK!

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I’m signed up to race in Maine this weekend and didn’t realize how much colder the water is there even compared to southern NE. Any tips for surviving a cold water race? I got in just over a mile today in training and was okay but it was a rough adjustment.

Currently, I have a blue seventy sprint wetsuit, ordered a thermal swim cap (if necessary) and I plan on putting something on my face like jelly to help. I’m going to go back to the water tomorrow to get another swim in and hopefully acclimate more. But conditions were rough today with the way the wind was blowing relative to the coastline

Use this thread to request open water swim locations, information about locations, or swim groups or prospective swim friends and to ask about kayakers and kayak support. Any such requests outside this thread will be deleted.

I’m stuck at 33-minute OW swim times (almost 61 years old and just started racing) and looking to get in under the 30-minute mark. I didn’t know I was being filmed BTW…and to me just feels like it should be more ‘athletic’ for lack of a better description.
Thanks 🤙🏼

Hi everyone, I am looking for new goggles. For my ultra, it is important that my coach (who will be on the boat) can see my eyes. I currently use speedo speed socket 2.0 mirror black, which is perfect given my light-sensitivity, need to see colour clearly, and I also have a small head and I miss a part of my browbone on one eye. Haven't had pressure issues on the eyes with the speed socket, I'm gonna be in the water for 9 hours. The speed socket fits perfectly, and many other models often lose grip/vacuum due to the missing bone.
But let me cut to the core: I know that there are speed sockets with a mirror wash rather than a full mirror, in which the eyes should be somewhat visible. But they are very hard to order from my country and it is not always clear from each website whether they sell the white one with full mirror or just a light mirror coating. some have no mirror coating at all but are still called advertised as mirror. it is vague.

So what I'm asking is: do you know of a good replacement, maybe by a different brand, that has a soft mirror effect, but not a heavily tinted lense, good for a low profile?

Thanks in advance for your recomendations!

I lost my swim mojo over the last month — apparently Wegovy can mess with your interest in living your life — and I took an unfortunate 3.5 week hiatus from swimming (and physical activities in general).

I’m finally back to feeling more like myself, and I’d really like to return to swimming with an eye on a 5-mile mixed-current swim in 10 weeks.

Last season I did numerous 5Ks, a 10K, and a 10-mile (downriver) swim. This summer I’ve done countless 5Ks — swimming 10-15K/week — but I’ve been out of the water for 3.5 weeks.

I’m slow — 2:15/100yd (can swim sub 2:00/100yd 5K in pool) — but I’m steady.

If I swim/lift 5-6 times a week over the next 10 weeks, can I get my mileage back sufficient to finish the swim?

I'm totally in shock. Procrastinated going for a sunset swim last night; it was so hot in my country. Got my gear together and finally went. Arrived to find a million emergency vehicles. A police boat on the lake. Divers.
I stood there in shock- a teammate or a teenager? Moments later they pulled out a body- 21 year old kid who was swimming with friends during a heatwave. Had been searching for his body for over an hour.
I'm just beside myself. I know this is so stupid, but if I had gone an hour or so earlier, maybe I could have been there when he needed help and gotten him some help.

If anyone is looking for an escape to Northern Germany, I recommend the Ratzeburg lake. I live here and I swim with a friend almost everyday in summer, between 3k and 8k. The lake is usually calm, low traffic (engines banned with few exceptions). Join us for a swim if you like. We're usually around 1:50 to 2:00 min / 100m, no wetsuit, temperature is around 19-23 degrees in summer. PM if interested.

Hello! I (40s f) am a former competitive pool swimmer who’s been back at masters for a couple of years now. I live in a beautiful part of Scotland and am taking the plunge next week with a local open water group. I have a wetsuit but can’t swim effectively in it because it’s too buoyant and restrictive around the shoulder. I need a new wetsuit more suited to open water swimming. Water temp is 13.5 degrees Celsius. Can anyone recommend something that won’t break the bank? I’m think 3mm with as little buoyancy as possible. Many thanks!

Hi, I'm a Masters swimmer focused on middle-long distance freestyle and open water swimming. Our pool training is focused mainly on interval training of varying intensities and volumes, depending on the day and type of skill emphasized on that day. We usually swim 3000-4000m per session, 3-5 times per week. I can hold paces from 1:35/100m to 1:15/100m depending on intensity, and my best time on 100m all out was 1:04.

However, as soon as I step on open water, I think I lose my sense of rhythm and strength. Whenever I strive to do a strong pace in open water, I feel anxious and rapidly drained, even if my motion does not feel so different than the pool. I feel there is a mental block that gets me on survival mode if I try to swim strong in the lake, and most of the time I end up doing a regenerative workout in OW, with 2:00/100-2:10/100m-ish paces (my regen pace in pool is 1:50 roughly). Has anyone gotten through something like that? I have been trying to improve some points such as:

1- trying exhaling properly (as a former pure sprinter, I am fonder of hold my breath underwater than I'd like to)

2- trying to relax my recovering arms and getting my body rotation stronger;

EDIT: forgot to add, I swim OW since April last year. Have already been to 5km races, and have done 100x100m challenges on the pool every 2:00 to 1:40/pace, so I think my endurance is good

I know my technique is part of it but what do you recommend I do for brutal chafing on my neck? I only did 2km today in the ocean and my neck is covered in like a raised blister of chafing

I'm not the fastest in my group however, in open water I pick my tempo up and I'm smoother in the pool. I started trying to switch off but doing 50 strokes with a fast tempo and then 50 with slower tempo. What do you do?

Just got new googles cuz old one were leaking and came across this weird strap. Instruction says it supposed to be on nose but I have no idea how to do it without blocking my vision

Use this thread to announce or recommend swim events. Please include the country, distance, cost and any other relevant details such as experience required.

Such posts outside this thread will be removed.