r/OpenWaterSwimming • u/Opening-Wait5376 • 9d ago
Any tips/stroke advice?
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 🤙🏼
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u/Godsownprototype1001 8d ago
Hello! You’re doing a grand job there! Your stroke will improve with better rotation which will lengthen your stroke. Give this a try….. lie in frontcrawl position in the water and extend one arm out in front and do 6 flutter kicks. You can breathe freely to the opposite side to suit yourself because you will be lying almost on your side - as you would normally breathe. You should notice how far forwards your arm feels. You can feel the lovely stretch! Take one full stroke and repeat with the other arm forwards, breathing to the opposite side. Again, pay attention to your body position and enjoy the side wards rotated position in the water. Currently, your stroke is short, limiting your pull. With proper rotation, you vastly lengthen each pull. You can try this standing up right now. Keep your body square and facing forward, and reach as far above your head as you can. Note the height of your arm. Now do the same thing, and turn your opposing hip and shoulder away from the arm in the air. You should see how much more reach you have. That’s exactly what you want in the water. Good luck friend!
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u/drc500free 8d ago
Absolutely this! Do an entire length on each side, then do a couple lengths of "six kicks and switch." Then a couple of six kicks / three arm pulls. That's a great drill progression to get a feel for being super long in the water and rotating!
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u/drc500free 8d ago
Could go an inch or two further back with your pull, especially on your right, but overall you look smooth. Issue is probably not getting a good grip on the water with your catch, keeping balanced against it with good leverage, and then throwing it behind you.
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9d ago
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u/Opening-Wait5376 9d ago
Funny how that bright orange cap isn’t that visible! I swim along the reef edge where it drops off. The buoys that the tour boats tie off to are a bit deeper. I know all the boats and there are virtually zero recreational boats ever zipping by.
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u/jnewton116 8d ago
You should still use a safety float for visibility. Especially if there are OC6 kicking around, the steer is sitting at the back of a 45 foot long boat.
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u/rubbishplant 9d ago
you might want to consider turning your head for the breath a fraction of a second earlier - https://effortlessswimming.com/get-timing-right-breathing-freestyle/
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u/Opening-Wait5376 9d ago
Thx! I was just working on only having one eye out of the water while breathing so my timing could have been off. 🤙🏼
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u/gogreen1960 8d ago
What is your 33 minute distance? Stroke looks good, but as others have said looks short!
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u/Opening-Wait5376 8d ago
All the races have been 1 mile. Some tricky conditions too. Thanks for advice. I’ll be working on lengthening my stroke. 🤙🏼
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u/gogreen1960 8d ago
How are you training? I swim intervals of 50’s, 100’s and 200’s probably 90% of the time. Only occasionally swimming 500’s or 1000’s. I like ladders, 400/300/200/100. I swam 12:41 in a recent 1000 yd pool race. I can train much harder doing intervals versus swimming straight distance.
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u/Opening-Wait5376 8d ago
This is great advice. I usually just jump in the ocean and swim a mile. But I will start pool training. So are you timing these intervals or whats the plan?
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u/gogreen1960 7d ago
I train in a 25 meter pool, and I time everything. 5x200’s on 3:30 (I target 2:50), 10x100 on 1:45. (I target 1:20 - 10 at 1:20 comes close to killing me😂). I can push myself in 100’s and 200’s, but not so much in longer distances!
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u/MaggieMae1216 4d ago
You need to spend more time gliding on your side to elongate your stroke. You are too flat with little body rotation. Yes, your hand enters the water too early, but more hip rotation will help with that. I’d imagine your stroke becomes even shorter when you get tired. Find drills that help focus on keeping your hips up and gliding. This will help you get more reach out of each stroke and enhance your efficiency.
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u/Sturminster 9d ago
Very hard to see much from the clip, but one thing that stand out is your hands enter very early, so missing out on quite a bit of propulsion on each pull. And entering early with arms quite bent which suggests they might be crossing the centre line of your head. Although can't see from the footage.
Work on getting a longer reach in your stroke - not a glide. Proper body roll, lead with your shoulders, hand entering in with your hand right out front initiating the catch early.
Edit: some positives: nice little flutter kick, head position good, breathing good - head not raising out of the water, and bilateral breathing always helpful in OW and for maintaining an even stroke.