Celebrating 18 Years!

The following article once appeared in Rodale's Fitness Swimmer magazine:

Breaking Waves

By Stephen Harris

Open-water swimming can be easy, exhilarating, and inspiring.You just have to find the right place and the right race. These helpful hints will get you out in the open.

Shortly before she began the first open-water swim of her life last summer, Ann Douglass stood on the banks of the Hopkinton (Massachusetts) State Park reservoir surrounded by a great many people who were crying.

Douglass herself held back tears, not because she was apprehensive about finishing the one-mile Against the Tide fundraising swim but because of the powerful emotion of the event.

"There were a lot of people in tears," says Douglass, 43, of York Harbor, Maine. "It was a very moving scene." Moving because the event raises money for the fight against breast cancer; poignant because so many participants had either battled breast cancer or were close to someone who has.

"It's a wonderful experience, just absolutely so uplifting," says Against the Tide participant and 1940 Olympian Dorothy Donnelly, 77, of Rutland, Massachusetts. "Almost everybody involved with the event has been touched in some way by breast cancer. People are there because they want to do something to help. It's so inspiring, absolutely the warmest experience you could ever imagine. It doesn't matter if you come in with the leaders or a half-hour after them. There's always somebody standing there to give you a hand and a hug.

"That hand and that hug have a wonderful effect on many first-timers. They may have been drawn to Against the Tide by its special cause, but they discover a love for open-water swimming. The non-competitive event, with its emphasis on safety, is the perfect place for lap swimmers to give open water a try.

"Until you've swum without worrying about the black line or bumping into the end of a pool, you don't know what you're missing," says Donnelly. "Try it. You'll love it."

Take it from the experts. "There's more to swimming than just going up and down a pool," says Californian Penny Lee Dean, a former English Channel recordholder and author of Open Water Swimming (Human Kinetics, 1998). "You get out into an ocean or a river or a lake, swim a certain distance, and see yourself accomplish something. The thrill of swimming with other creatures, the elementsÑ-everything-is a wonderful experience. It's a challenge and it's fun."

For newcomer Douglass, the prospect of a one-mile lake swim was also scary. "It just sounded so overwhelming. Swimming a mile-wow," says Douglass. "I just hoped that if I paced myself and took it slow I'd make it. But I didn't know until I got there and swam it whether I'd be able to do it."

Hoping to finish in about an hour, Douglass amazed herself by finishing in about 42 minutes. "Now that I've done it," she says, "I know anybody can."

Here are some tips to prove to yourself that you can swim any open-water event.

Scope it out

The day before she swam Against the Tide last summer, Martha Murdock of New York City went to the site and studied the course layout. "Really check it out," advises Murdock. "That makes a difference, because you can picture the course in your head during the swim." Before you swim a stroke, it's important to educate yourself about the body of water. Learn about the currents or tides. Ask what the bottom is like or wade in and check it for submerged rocks, weeds, or fallen trees. Make sure the water is clean enough for safe swimming. Ask the organizers about marine life-jellyfish or snapping turtles or, heaven forbid, sharks. "Talk to lifeguards, fishermen, or locals to find out all those things before you get into the water," says Dean. "It's silly to jump in without any idea about what to expect."

Shore up

If you're a newcomer, stay close to the shore. Test your mettle beforehand by going back and forth across a roped-in swimming area. "Don't start out by just heading straight out across a lake and then find out halfway across that you're having a panic attack," says Karen Smyers, 37, winner of the 1995 Ironman Triathlon and a regular at Against the Tide. "Start off by swimming along the ropes, where it's not that deep, so if you get freaked out you can always swim in a few yards and stand up." The recrevational swim at Against the Tide is two half-mile loops, and the organizers make it clear that it's OK for less experienced swimmers to stop after one loop.

Don't swim solo

"Never go out on your own," says Dean. "That's asking for disaster." Do your training swims as part of a group (the social aspect adds to the experience) or, at least, make sure someone on shore is watching you. At Against the Tide, the course is lined with a dozen or more people on kayaks and surfboards, keeping a close eye on the swimmers. If you get tired, you're encouraged to grab onto a board and rest.

Be sensible

Swimming with a buddy isn't the only smart way to enjoy the open water. It also helps if you wear a bright-colored swim cap, return to shore before darkness falls, put sunscreen on your back on sunny days, and make sure you have enough energy to make it back to shore. "The big thing in this sport is safety," says Jane Katz, 56, synchronized swimmer, Masters swimmer, aquatics instructor, and author of The Aquatic Handbook for Lifetime Fitness (Allyn and Bacon, 1996).

Cozy up to cold

The temperature in open water can be 10 degrees or more colder than a pool. Be prepared. Start with short swims and build up to longer ones as your body adapts. Dean suggests having a physical exam before you dive into chilly open water. Feel free to wear a wetsuit and insulated swim cap if the water is too cold. Be on the alert for symptoms of hypothermia-drowsiness, loss of coordination, confusion, and a general slowing down of physical and mental function-which can occur when your body temperature drops more than four degrees below normal. "When you go from an 80-degree pool into a 70-degree lake, there's a period of adjustment, even if you're in good shape," says Dean.

Race right

It's important to warm up completely before an open-water event. Test the water, get comfortable with its temperature, inspect the bottom, and loosen up your limbs. Do some dryland exercises to get your muscles moving. Before the swim at Against the Tide, Katz warms up the crowd with some calisthenics, which help dissolve pre-race jitters and build camaraderie.

Start right

The start of an open- water swim is always tricky: Scores of swimmers are diving in together and heading for the same distant buoy. "When I get with a pack of people all headed toward one spot, I get nervous," says Sheila Taormina, 30, a 1996 Olympic gold medalist who swims Against the Tide. "There's a lot of bumping." To avoid the mayhem, line up on the far outside of the starting pack and angle toward the turn buoy. After 100 yards or so, the group will have separated and you can find all the open space you need.

Breathe right

Beware of a weird and unpleasant phenomenon that can occur during the first few strokes of an open- water race: You may find you can't breathe correctly. Suddenly you feel as though you've lost the ability to swim. "That's exactly what happened to me," says Murdock of her first Against the Tide. "If the water is cold, it makes it even worse. I just kept telling myself, 'You know how to swim, you can do a mile because you've done it many times in the pool.'" Even athletes at the front of the pack aren't immune. "You feel as if you're hyperventilating or something, like you can't seem to breathe right," says Smyers. "That sensation happens even to really good swimmers." Murdock suggests you slow down, relax, flip on your back, or do some breaststroke. Take long, slow breaths and soon you'll settle into a normal breathing pattern and be on your way, she says.

Stay on course

It's easy to lose your bearings during an open-water swim, so be sure to pick out elevated landmarks-a tree, a building, a boat, docks-before entering the water. You can hone your navigational skills in a pool. Perfect your stroke technique so you can swim straight without following the line on the bottom. Practice raising your eyes straight ahead about every six to 10 strokes. Don't lift your whole head out of the water, just your goggles, to get a bead on where you're headed.

Join the draft

Unlike racing in a pool, you can draft off faster swimmers in open water. "It makes swimming a lot easier," says Taormina. "If you're drafting, you can use 70 percent of your energy and maybe swim five seconds faster per 100 yards without feeling like you worked at all," she says. The trick is to get behind someone of comparable speed or slightly faster and stay just behind without touching the other swimmer's toes.

Swim your own race

Concentrate on your stroke, not your competition, says Taormina. "I can't control what other people are doing," she says. "The minute I stop thinking about other people and focus on my tempo, my rhythm, my stroke rate, my hip movement, my speed picks up."

Smell the roses

"Take time to enjoy yourself," says Katz. "You're with nature, it's the big outdoors. The water is beautiful, it's warm and clean. No pool could have conditions as good. You can get into almost a meditative state-just you and your breathing, the water, the sky, and the trees. Against the Tide is a perfect event to get your start in open-water swimming because of all the extra safety and TLC. The people are so caring and loving and kind," she says.

In its six-year existence, Against the Tide, sponsored by the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, has hosted more than 1,400 swimmers-from Olympic gold medalists such as Taormina to novices like Ann Douglass-and raised nearly $500,000 for breast cancer research. To attract novices, the organizers stage a recreational one-mile swim in addition to the competitive mile, which requires swimmers to cover the distance in less than 30 minutes. The only requirement for either swim is that participants raise at least $100 in pledges. Douglass is a typical participant: no experience in open water, but far too much experience dealing with the devastation of breast cancer. Her mother-in-law had survived the disease, as had an aunt and the grandmother of her stepdaughter.

Before the swim begins, there are various tributes to the cancer victims, whether present or absent. Folks introduce themselves to each other, share their stories, and savor the camaraderie of a shared effort to help.

"There were a lot of survivors there doing the swim," says Douglass. "Seeing their courage, I just found the whole experience so peaceful and so positive."

ADMIN


								*Celebrating 18 Years!*


The following article once appeared in Rodale's Fitness Swimmer magazine: Breaking Waves By Stephen Harris Open-water swimming can be easy, exhilarating, and inspiring.You just have to find the right place and the right race. These helpful hints will get you out in the open. Shortly before she began the first open-water swim of her life last summer, Ann Douglass stood on the banks of the Hopkinton (Massachusetts) State Park reservoir surrounded by a great many people who were crying. Douglass herself held back tears, not because she was apprehensive about finishing the one-mile Against the Tide fundraising swim but because of the powerful emotion of the event. "There were a lot of people in tears," says Douglass, 43, of York Harbor, Maine. "It was a very moving scene." Moving because the event raises money for the fight against breast cancer; poignant because so many participants had either battled breast cancer or were close to someone who has. "It's a wonderful experience, just absolutely so uplifting," says Against the Tide participant and 1940 Olympian Dorothy Donnelly, 77, of Rutland, Massachusetts. "Almost everybody involved with the event has been touched in some way by breast cancer. People are there because they want to do something to help. It's so inspiring, absolutely the warmest experience you could ever imagine. It doesn't matter if you come in with the leaders or a half-hour after them. There's always somebody standing there to give you a hand and a hug. "That hand and that hug have a wonderful effect on many first-timers. They may have been drawn to Against the Tide by its special cause, but they discover a love for open-water swimming. The non-competitive event, with its emphasis on safety, is the perfect place for lap swimmers to give open water a try. "Until you've swum without worrying about the black line or bumping into the end of a pool, you don't know what you're missing," says Donnelly. "Try it. You'll love it." Take it from the experts. "There's more to swimming than just going up and down a pool," says Californian Penny Lee Dean, a former English Channel recordholder and author of Open Water Swimming (Human Kinetics, 1998). "You get out into an ocean or a river or a lake, swim a certain distance, and see yourself accomplish something. The thrill of swimming with other creatures, the elementsÑ-everything-is a wonderful experience. It's a challenge and it's fun." For newcomer Douglass, the prospect of a one-mile lake swim was also scary. "It just sounded so overwhelming. Swimming a mile-wow," says Douglass. "I just hoped that if I paced myself and took it slow I'd make it. But I didn't know until I got there and swam it whether I'd be able to do it." Hoping to finish in about an hour, Douglass amazed herself by finishing in about 42 minutes. "Now that I've done it," she says, "I know anybody can." Here are some tips to prove to yourself that you can swim any open-water event. Scope it out The day before she swam Against the Tide last summer, Martha Murdock of New York City went to the site and studied the course layout. "Really check it out," advises Murdock. "That makes a difference, because you can picture the course in your head during the swim." Before you swim a stroke, it's important to educate yourself about the body of water. Learn about the currents or tides. Ask what the bottom is like or wade in and check it for submerged rocks, weeds, or fallen trees. Make sure the water is clean enough for safe swimming. Ask the organizers about marine life-jellyfish or snapping turtles or, heaven forbid, sharks. "Talk to lifeguards, fishermen, or locals to find out all those things before you get into the water," says Dean. "It's silly to jump in without any idea about what to expect." Shore up If you're a newcomer, stay close to the shore. Test your mettle beforehand by going back and forth across a roped-in swimming area. "Don't start out by just heading straight out across a lake and then find out halfway across that you're having a panic attack," says Karen Smyers, 37, winner of the 1995 Ironman Triathlon and a regular at Against the Tide. "Start off by swimming along the ropes, where it's not that deep, so if you get freaked out you can always swim in a few yards and stand up." The recrevational swim at Against the Tide is two half-mile loops, and the organizers make it clear that it's OK for less experienced swimmers to stop after one loop. Don't swim solo "Never go out on your own," says Dean. "That's asking for disaster." Do your training swims as part of a group (the social aspect adds to the experience) or, at least, make sure someone on shore is watching you. At Against the Tide, the course is lined with a dozen or more people on kayaks and surfboards, keeping a close eye on the swimmers. If you get tired, you're encouraged to grab onto a board and rest. Be sensible Swimming with a buddy isn't the only smart way to enjoy the open water. It also helps if you wear a bright-colored swim cap, return to shore before darkness falls, put sunscreen on your back on sunny days, and make sure you have enough energy to make it back to shore. "The big thing in this sport is safety," says Jane Katz, 56, synchronized swimmer, Masters swimmer, aquatics instructor, and author of The Aquatic Handbook for Lifetime Fitness (Allyn and Bacon, 1996). Cozy up to cold The temperature in open water can be 10 degrees or more colder than a pool. Be prepared. Start with short swims and build up to longer ones as your body adapts. Dean suggests having a physical exam before you dive into chilly open water. Feel free to wear a wetsuit and insulated swim cap if the water is too cold. Be on the alert for symptoms of hypothermia-drowsiness, loss of coordination, confusion, and a general slowing down of physical and mental function-which can occur when your body temperature drops more than four degrees below normal. "When you go from an 80-degree pool into a 70-degree lake, there's a period of adjustment, even if you're in good shape," says Dean. Race right It's important to warm up completely before an open-water event. Test the water, get comfortable with its temperature, inspect the bottom, and loosen up your limbs. Do some dryland exercises to get your muscles moving. Before the swim at Against the Tide, Katz warms up the crowd with some calisthenics, which help dissolve pre-race jitters and build camaraderie. Start right The start of an open- water swim is always tricky: Scores of swimmers are diving in together and heading for the same distant buoy. "When I get with a pack of people all headed toward one spot, I get nervous," says Sheila Taormina, 30, a 1996 Olympic gold medalist who swims Against the Tide. "There's a lot of bumping." To avoid the mayhem, line up on the far outside of the starting pack and angle toward the turn buoy. After 100 yards or so, the group will have separated and you can find all the open space you need. Breathe right Beware of a weird and unpleasant phenomenon that can occur during the first few strokes of an open- water race: You may find you can't breathe correctly. Suddenly you feel as though you've lost the ability to swim. "That's exactly what happened to me," says Murdock of her first Against the Tide. "If the water is cold, it makes it even worse. I just kept telling myself, 'You know how to swim, you can do a mile because you've done it many times in the pool.'" Even athletes at the front of the pack aren't immune. "You feel as if you're hyperventilating or something, like you can't seem to breathe right," says Smyers. "That sensation happens even to really good swimmers." Murdock suggests you slow down, relax, flip on your back, or do some breaststroke. Take long, slow breaths and soon you'll settle into a normal breathing pattern and be on your way, she says. Stay on course It's easy to lose your bearings during an open-water swim, so be sure to pick out elevated landmarks-a tree, a building, a boat, docks-before entering the water. You can hone your navigational skills in a pool. Perfect your stroke technique so you can swim straight without following the line on the bottom. Practice raising your eyes straight ahead about every six to 10 strokes. Don't lift your whole head out of the water, just your goggles, to get a bead on where you're headed. Join the draft Unlike racing in a pool, you can draft off faster swimmers in open water. "It makes swimming a lot easier," says Taormina. "If you're drafting, you can use 70 percent of your energy and maybe swim five seconds faster per 100 yards without feeling like you worked at all," she says. The trick is to get behind someone of comparable speed or slightly faster and stay just behind without touching the other swimmer's toes. Swim your own race Concentrate on your stroke, not your competition, says Taormina. "I can't control what other people are doing," she says. "The minute I stop thinking about other people and focus on my tempo, my rhythm, my stroke rate, my hip movement, my speed picks up." Smell the roses "Take time to enjoy yourself," says Katz. "You're with nature, it's the big outdoors. The water is beautiful, it's warm and clean. No pool could have conditions as good. You can get into almost a meditative state-just you and your breathing, the water, the sky, and the trees. Against the Tide is a perfect event to get your start in open-water swimming because of all the extra safety and TLC. The people are so caring and loving and kind," she says. In its six-year existence, Against the Tide, sponsored by the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, has hosted more than 1,400 swimmers-from Olympic gold medalists such as Taormina to novices like Ann Douglass-and raised nearly $500,000 for breast cancer research. To attract novices, the organizers stage a recreational one-mile swim in addition to the competitive mile, which requires swimmers to cover the distance in less than 30 minutes. The only requirement for either swim is that participants raise at least $100 in pledges. Douglass is a typical participant: no experience in open water, but far too much experience dealing with the devastation of breast cancer. Her mother-in-law had survived the disease, as had an aunt and the grandmother of her stepdaughter. Before the swim begins, there are various tributes to the cancer victims, whether present or absent. Folks introduce themselves to each other, share their stories, and savor the camaraderie of a shared effort to help. "There were a lot of survivors there doing the swim," says Douglass. "Seeing their courage, I just found the whole experience so peaceful and so positive."
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