While ice swimming and channel swimming have their own challenges, so does competitive open water swimming.
One of the most tactical aspects of competitive open water swimming is the concept of positioning. This concept can refer to:
- your position relative to a turn buoy
- your position relative to the onshore finish to finish pad
- your position relative to the lead pack or trailing pack (or chase pack)
- your position relative to your competition
- your position relative to the sun’s glare
- your position relative to the surf or currents
When a swimmer moves into a position (a place or location), the move can be:
- strategic and intentional
- tactical and the first of a series of moves
- unintentional or accidental
For example, when Maarten van der Weijden was describing his tactics and strategy at the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, his overall strategy was to be in position near the front around the last turn buoy with 800 meters to the finish. His lap-by-lap tactics were more detailed: drafting where possible, sighting where the leaders were, taking in a lot of hydration throughout the race, saving his kick for the end.
In his case, nothing was performed unintentionally or accidentally. His moves were calculated and deliberate. For example, he did not move staying back in a trailing pack in the early stages of the race – as long as he knew how far and what pace the lead pack ws swimming.
Racing Tactics
Tactics at local competition and Olympic races include:
- dolphining
- drafting or slip streaming
- bodysurfing
- purposeful impeding
- negative splitting
- railroading
- sheltered-side breathing
- shooting the gap
- ziplining
- veering
- side-dolphining
Specialty Moves
Specialty moves in the sport of open water swimming can include:
- lateral laze
- Tack ‘n Turn
- The Ilchenko
- Circle Move
- Seek and Spot
- Reach and Roll
- Gulp and Go
- Toss and Turn
Physicality
Physicality, unintentional or not, is part of open water swimming.
Physical contact is due primarily to too many swimmers trying to swim in the same location at the same time, especially at the start, around turn buoys, at feeding stations, and towards the finish.
Bumping, impeding, scratching, pulling, veering into, tapping or touching, slapping, clipping, conking, swiping, whacking, obstructing, ziplining, interfering, pummeling, nudging, punching, kicking, elbowing, pushing, jostling, shoving, crowding, banging, smacking, smashing into or pressing against another swimmer or triathlete happens among athletes of all ages and abilities, and nature of competitions.
Most swimmers shrug off physicality, ignore the situation, and simply chalk up bumping to the inherent nature of the sport. Most acts of physicality, of course, are entirely unintentional as most swimmers cannot swim perfectly straight and the locking of arms and touching of legs happens frequently in the large races.
But there are times when swimmers purposefully act aggressively towards their competitors, and other times, when swimmers intentionally retaliate for some kind of physicality. The act of aggression or retaliation can be a pull back (zipline), an elbow, or a slap on the head. “You have to stand your ground,” says one competitor with a hint of a smile and a penchant for physicality.
While such a mindset is not condoned in age-group, masters or international competitions, such acts are dealt with quickly with warnings, penalties (yellow cards and red cards for unsportsmanlike conduct.), or disqualifications when observed by officials.
And that is the primary issue that faces physicality in the sport: the act of physicality must be observed and acknowledged by race officials (referees) for adjudication of the general rules of open water swimming to occur.
That is, physicality must be seen in order to be adjudicated.
But there is so much physicality in a competitive or crowded open water race (or triathlon) that is unseen and is beyond the senses (visual and auditory) of the officials on the race, that the physicality still exists and continues especially as the number of competitors increases. Sometimes as a form of self-protection and other times as a form of aggression, a handful of swimmers “buzz” their rivals and competitors. To buzz an open water swimmer is to swim very closely and commit an act of physicality on that swimmer as a purposeful act of aggressiveness or in retaliation to a previous act of physicality. This can be
- a “hey-I-am-here” nudge to the body
- a “don’t-mess-with-me” elbow
- a “don’t-do-that-again” quick slap to the head
- a “that-is-totally-unfair” zipline.
There are always consequences to act in an unsportsmanlike manner, but until the sport of open water swimming has developed, trained and certified a suitable number of officials and referees, and the rules and interpretations of the sport are uniformly understood and adjudicated, physicality will remain part of the competitive niches of the sport.
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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It is one element of the concept of interleaving in the training of open water swimmers and triathletes.