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May 10, 2022 - Open Water Sighting

Monday <https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/392-bonus-open-water-sighting> :09 - sight forward, breathe sideways :11 - lead arm extended and the following it around to the breath :13 - turning to breathe protects the mouth :18 - stay down for a couple strokes after the sight to regain balance :28 - mouth not coming out :34 - change in direction - into the current seems like the swimmer is standing still :49 - sight without a breath 1:01 - appearance of speed Tuesday <https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/315-water-polo-drill> :10 - Eyes and mouth forward :11 - try to keep the head stable :18 - slight offset head to get the air - less stress in open water - not like water polo for sprint freestyle :25 - initial press with the lead arm is down :30 - look at her kick, this is why she was so good. Most people kick more :39 - set a target Holding up fingers in the EP - moving the cones in long course no lane lines :51 - swimming a bit longer head up builds strength in the neck as well :54 - Orientation of the hand - pressing down Wednesday <https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/314-sighting> :15 - Starting with sighting in the pool with a target :24 - breaststroke :33 - head up breaststroke :44 - eyes up to sight - then turn and breathe Surfing on the lead hand - falling into the breath :54 - exaggerating the UP - the price the body pays 1:05 - eyes only up 1:33 - practice sighting with 25s. Just a couple each length 1:44 - if you’re going 100s or 200s… include a length of sighting 2:00 - aim to the coach 2:15 - the moving target 2:23 - changing directions Thursday <https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/3182-may-10-2021-drill-of-the-week-open-water-sighting> 1:04 - left hand forward sight - breathe to the right 1:08 - Leverage left breathe right 1:13 - only eyes out 1:23 - right hand forward sight - breathe to the right 1:28 - Leverage right breathe right 1:32 - only eyes out 1:45 - high head breathe right 1:48 - oops 1:54 - high sight mouth closed Head back down 1:57 - breathe to the right 2:19 - Austin - leverage right breathe right 2:28 - Darr - no leverage - right arm down - 2:29 - Eyes finally up when arm is halfway through - left arm in recovery 2:31 - falling over to breath Friday <https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/331-skills-for-open-water-sighting> :13 - left arm leveraging - breathe to the right :18 - left arm leveraging - eyes up mouth under - breathe to the right :33 - slight outward sweep to leverage :46 - picture perfect :57 - picture perfect 1:32 - rotation during sight 2:05 - coming around the buoy and immediately sighting for the next target 2:25 - no set rhythm with sighting - situation dependent 2:27 - when drafting - sight less He’s talking about swimming several hundred meters before sighting - talk about this race - he was so far ahead 2:43 - eyes closed swimming Victory the waiting for 2nd Saturday <https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/324-practicing-sighting-in-open-water> :13 - heading to the target :21 - know which side of the buoy you need to be on :30 - lead with left arm - double pull with right :38 - don’t swim at the buoy :53 - close to the buoy - sight more 1:25 - leverage left breathe left 1:40 - don’t over correct 2:01 - tread water or breaststroke to really get back on course 2:19 - big chop - sight more 2:23 - sight on the top of the wave 2:29 - sight on the top of the wave Sunday <https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/3314-open-water-breaststroke-sighting> 1:52 - swim 1:56 - head up breaststroke 2:20 - talking 3:42 - swim 3:46 - dive under - extra pull then UP to sight 4:02 - dive under - extra pull then UP to sight. Escape surface tension Been working on 2 strokes of underwater breaststroke at the freestyle speed - 1 high sight then back to freestyle <https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/334-skills-for-open-water-reading-the-pack>

Open Water Breaststroke Sighting

Using breaststroke to see where you're going in open water MAY be a little slower, but seeing exactly where to go can make your swim faster by not going off course. You'll feel much safer too!

Water-Polo Drill

If you get too far off course in open water and become disoriented, it’s time to lift your head completely out of the water until you get your bearings. A good way to practice this is with the Water-Polo Drill. Do a short set of 25s, swimming the entire length with your head out of the water. Try not to move your head from side to side. Keep your eyes focused on a water bottle or cone at the other end of the pool. This is a great way to build strength in your neck and make you aware of how your lower body sinks when your lift your head.

Practicing Sighting in Open Water

Once you’re swimming, the key is to stay relaxed and keep pointed in the right direction. If you’re headed to a buoy, decide which side it should be on when you get there and swim around it. If you want the buoy on your left, then keep it lined up with your left shoulder as you sight. If you swim straight at the buoy, you can get into trouble and run into it rather than be in a good position to swim around it. And if you come at the buoy from inside the course, you’ll be forced to make a sharp turn and will waste time. As you head to the buoy, sight as often as necessary to keep a straight line. In calm water, you might be able to take 10 or 20 or more strokes without sighting. Remember the sighting technique you practiced in the pool. Sight forward and then breathe to the side immediately after you sight. Lift your head just slightly to sight the buoy, then swing quickly to the side to breathe. When you lift your head to sight, always have an idea of where you’re going to look for the buoy. If you need to correct your direction to the buoy, don’t over-correct. Make a slight change in your angle and then sight again in a couple of strokes. If you think you’re really off course, there’s nothing wrong with treading water or doing a few strokes of breaststroke until you find the buoy. On a windy day with choppy water and waves, you need to make some changes. You may need to sight on every stroke in order to swim the shortest distance. In choppy water or big waves, try to sight when you’re on top of a wave to get the best view.

BONUS - Open-Water Sighting

For Karlyn, the most effective way to sight in open water is to look up…sight…turn and get a breath. Look up…sight…turn and get a breath. The idea is to stay low so that you don’t upset your balance. Take quick snapshots and get your head back down and your hips up. Look up…sight…turn and get a breath. Look up…sight…turn and get a breath. If you sight without a breath, there’s less chance you will catch a wave and inhale water – and nobody wants to do that.

Freestyle Breathing

Dominik shows how he breaths in this above water clip of video.

May 10, 2021 - Drill of the Week - Open-Water Sighting

Glenn gives some options on open-water sighting.

Sighting

Whenever you practice sighting in the pool, make sure you have something to sight. This can be as simple as putting your water bottle, a cone, or a kickboard at the end of the lane. The easiest and surest way to sight is to stop swimming freestyle and do a couple strokes of breaststrokes to find your way, then continue with freestyle. Try to keep moving as you do this, so you don’t lose too much time. The fastest way to sight is to look forward and then turn and grab your breath -- all in one smooth motion. When you look forward, try not to come up too high with your head, because this will make your legs sink and will slow you down. Lift just enough to get your goggles out of the water and take a quick “snapshot” of the buoy, then turn and get your breath. By staying low, you maintain your momentum and body line and you save energy by not having to kick so hard to get going again. A good way to practice this technique is with a short set of 25s, where you sight two or three times on each length. In a longer set, it’s good to throw in a length of sighting on every repeat. If you practice this skill on a regular basis, race-day sighting will seem natural and easy. Another fun way to practice sighting is to pretend that your coach is a big, inflated buoy. It helps if she can wear a bright T-shirt... or hold a big beach ball or traffic cone. As you swim, the coach moves back and forth on the pool deck. When you sight, you have to find the coach. Lift the head forward, scan the horizon for the coach, then turn the head to the side for a breath and continue swimming.

Skills for Open Water - Sighting

I don’t think there’s a clear-cut way... or 100% right way... to sight in open water. Here’s how I do it and it’s worked well for me. And I make a point to practice this on my own for a few minutes at every practice, usually during warmup or warmdown. I sight with my left hand extended forward. As my left hand enters the water, I lift just my eyes to get a sight. All I want to do is get my eyes up. A lot of swimmers want to have their whole face out of the water -- like this. This causes your legs to sink and can be a huge energy drain over the course of a race. All you need to do is get your eyes out of the water. And you want to do this with as little head movement as possible. Notice that I keep my chin tucked and my neck pretty much straight, even as I sight. You can also see that I keep my lead hand up near the surface when I sight. Even when my eyes are above the waterline, my hand is still up there near the surface. This allows me to turn my head, catch a normal breath, and then start a normal pull -- just like in the pool. Here it is again. Left hand enters, extends, and stays near the surface as the eyes come up. I’m not breathing just yet. I turn my head and get my breath HERE...to the side... just like I would in the pool. Then I get my head back down as my lead hand starts to pull and my body starts to rotate. As much as possible, I want a sighting stroke to be the same as a normal stroke in the pool. I don’t want to change my head position or body position when I sight. When I come up to sight, I’m looking for the next turn buoy, to know that I’m in line and swimming straight. I don’t take a set number of strokes between sights. It all depends on the race and the conditions. In heavy chop I might sight every 3 to 5 strokes. If I’m drafting behind someone and I know they’re sighting, I might swim several hundred meters between sights. One way to test how straight you swim is to swim with your eyes closed. Just close your eyes and swim 50 strokes and see if you can swim straight. If you know that you always go a little to the right or left, you can factor that into your race-day sighting. You can also use landmarks to help you swim straight. On the day before a race or during warmup, I usually scope out a landmark or big building on shore, just in case the buoys aren’t big enough to see because of chop or waves. But generally when I sight, I’m looking for the next buoy and setting up my turn, which is the subject of the next chapter.

Freestyle Technique - Keep Your Head Down

Even in open water, when you’re looking up to sight every 3 to 5 strokes, it’s important to keep your head down, and this is something I work on every day. In this clip, block out everything except my head and eyes. Notice that my eyes are looking directly down and that I’m leading with the top of my head. From years of swimming, I know that I’m faster when I keep my head down, and this is something I always work on. When I breathe, I try to have a good pocket breath with one eye in and one eye out. I work on this in the pool, and try to breathe the same way in open water. From this angle, you can see that I have my neck straight in the back. If you could put a board on my back, it would be able to sit flat because my neck is straight. My focus is to keep my chin in and have a flat neck. When I sight, I still try to keep my chin tucked in and my neck straight. I come up just enough to get my eyes above the surface, then turn for the breath, and get right back into position with my head down and chin slightly tucked. Keeping my head down is such a critical focus point for me that I work on it every day on every length. I think about looking directly down, leading with the top of my head, and keeping one goggle in during the breath. It helps me maintain good body position and speed.