Tips to kick-start your long-distance swimming

With the Christmas 10K ocean swim occurring this weekend at Coogee Beach, we thought now would be the perfect time to start preparing for the long distance swims happening early next year.

Upcoming Events:

Christmas 10K Swim – December 15 2018: This ocean swim offers a smaller challenge for the long distance swimmers with 3.4km, 6.7km and 10km swim options available. The event is set in an around the bouys structure, where the 10km course can also be used as a qualifier for the Rottnest Channel Swim or Port to Pub swim.

Rottnest Channel Swim – February 23 2019: The Rottnest channel swim is an open water event and starts off from Cottesloe beach to Rottnest Island. The whopping 19.7km swim can be performed as a solo, duo or team event. The swim is definitely one of the largest open swim events in WA, amassing over 1000 swimmers earlier this year.

Port to Pub swim – March 16 2019: This long distance open water swim event includes two huge lengths, a 19.7m direct cross from Leighton Beach to Rottnest Island and a 25km ultra-marathon which is the longest swim available in WA. The event also invites solos, duos and teams.

If you are interested in competing within one of these 2019 events or simply just curious for what it takes to participate in a long-distance swim, below are some of our key preparation tips!

1. Start Early – Just like preparing for anything in life, there are definitely multiple benefits for getting started early. Although teams may be able to hold off their start training date until later, for solo swimmers, they should really start increasing their training just short of a year before the big event. Training then needs to be built up to swim around 25km per week in weeks leading up to the open water swim. 

2. Increase in increments – Increase your swim distances gradually each week, building up to your maximum training distance 3 weeks prior to the event. By increasing your training in increments week by week will gradually enable your body to complete your desired distance as you become fitter and develop a better stroke technique.

3. Perfect your stroke – Perfecting your stroke technique is vital to saving energy and covering more distance as a result and can help prevent injuries. Perfecting your technique for more than one stroke that you are efficient in is also important as a slower stroke such as breastroke is great to use when you start to get tired as it utilizes less energy. 

4. Build up your no-break swimming ability – in the open water there is no real oppurtunity to take a break from swimming other than taking a moment to scull in the water and catch your breath. In weeks leading up to the big event try to replicate this in the pool when training. Start by building up your endurance to complete longer distances with less breaks in-between.

5. Train with a friend – Even if you are partaking in a solo swim, teaming up with another solo swimmer is a great way to increase motivation. Training with somebody else can also help keep your training on track by being able to compare your abilities to theirs at different stages of training. 

So if you are looking to start something new or just looking for inspiration to get back into training we hope these tips have helped!

Wanting to get your training started or searching for a new spot to swim? With pools built to cater for high performance use and lane availabilities updated regularly, HBF Stadium is the perfect place to train for your big long-distance event! Find out more about our swimming pools in Claremont today.