I bet Linford was good at open water swimming..

Open water swim training is now well under way at Rock and Rive and whilst coaching this week I had some thoughts that i felt compelled to share..

I’d put money on the fact that at some point in your triathlon life you have walked through public changing rooms in the swimming pool, hoping that the pool is empty and you can get the space by the wall to swim uninterrupted up and down the pool.. lane ropes are great.. no idiots getting in your way.. and then you move from that environment to open water...

One of the key things to successful open water swimming is being comfortable in close proximity to others, remember the old Linford Christie technique of tunnel vision? Simply refers to focusing internally on yourself and not focusing on what’s going on around you.. In open water events most people think too much about what’s going on around them... who’s bumping into them.. who is too close.. and if you are thinking about them.. you aren’t thinking about yourself.. the head start lifting and you start to panic.

When you begin your open water swimming this year, change your mental focus and think about your stroke and your breathing (especially exhaling) and ignore others.. Tunnel Vision.. it’s the future.. and there is light at the end of it!

Here endeth theenduranceblog..