Pool Swimming versus OWS (Open Water Swimming)

 Pool Swimming versus OWS (Open Water Swimming)

A newbie describes her OWS experience. 

You may find that you swim faster in OW or in the pool.  It varies by individual.  However, no one will argue that these two swimming locations are the same.  

Here are a couple of blogs that discuss why speed may vary between these two locations. 

Faster in the Pool than OWS

Faster in OWS than in Pool 

Clearly there are lots of reasons why your speed in one may be faster.  Let's just compare the differences between these types of swimming to begin.  

I made a table to compare the two types of swimming.  

Factor/Location	Pool	Open Water
Direction	Pools have clearly marked lanes and lane lines.  This keeps you swimming in a straight line.	You have the whole lake or river to swim in, there are no helpful lines to follow
Walls	You can flip turn or push off the walls at the end of each 25 or 50 yd(mtr) length, this gives you a brief rest and some extra speed.	You will be swimming continuously without any push off or rest unless you stop and hang on a buoy or kayak.
Clear Water	You can see to the bottom of the pool and in almost any direction with goggles.	Even with goggles, it is likely you will be nearly blind when you look underwater.  This will tend to disorient you and swimming straight becomes more difficult
Clean Water	Pools have disinfection processes and if you drink in some you will likely be okay	Natural waterways are often slightly to very unsanitary.  Accidentally drinking some can result in stomach problems.  Also things grow in this water, so you may get tangled in vegetation or encounter animals.
Distance	In a pool, you will know how may laps to swim. You will know how far you have gone and how far you still have to go.	In a lake or river, you may know where you are headed by watching buoys, but likely you will not know exactly how far you have come nor how far you still have to go unless you set your garmin to alert you to specific distances.
Entry and Exit	You can use a ladder or lift yourself from the wall easily	Muddy and shallow entrances can feel uncomfortable, exiting can be disorienting as you have been without much extrernal orientation for sometime and will suddenly be helped out or up stadium stairs, making you slightly dizzy
Turbulence, waves and current	The worst problem in pools may be in sharing a lane when you pass a particularly vigorous swimmer. The lane lines are designed to reduce waves and turbulence	Even lakes can have current, and swimming with a lot of other racers can have you bumping into people, getting hit, pushed or pulled and you can get splashed by other, waves or pulled or pushed by current.
Temperature	Pools are usually rather warm for older clients that do water aerobics.  Swimming in these warmer pools can actually cause you to be slower than you would be in cooler temps.	Natural waterways can be cold or very warm depending on the time of year.  Don’t assume a lake will be warm, deep lakes have thermoclines that can invert without warning, bringing very cold (32-50F) water to the surface.
Wetsuits and Lava Pants	We rarely swim in wetsuits in pools but it is a good idea to practice in the pool with them a few times.	Wetsuits can rub your neck, legs and arms and cause raw spots that hurt all day.  They can also feel very restrictive on the chest, especially during a race when you adrenalin and HR are high, creating a feeling of panic.
Foggy Goggles	Pools that are closer to body temp will cause less fogging.	Very cold waters, will cause the goggles to fog almost immediately, obstructing your vision for sighting on buoys, making an OWS even more stressful.

As you can see there are many differences between open water and pool swimming.  Fast pool swimmers may get a false sense of security that could fail them in OWS during a race.  Following the adage "NOTHING NEW ON RACE DAY" means you should always try to practice in open water when you can.  Don't skip the practice swim on the day before the race either.  This can give you valuable information about the swim that will not surprise you during the race.  For example, at HONU in Hawaii, I did the practice swim even though the water was the ocean and very choppy that day.  I figured out that while the buoys looked to be in a straight line from shore, you actually needed to turn slightly right to get to the second buoy properly.  Otherwise you could swim past it and not realize as it was nearly invisible at times due to the waves.  On race day, I hit that second buoy easily while many swam the wrong direction, missed it and have to turn around to get to it.  Skipping a buoy can be a DQ violation so you don't want to do that!  I saved valuable time on the swim because I was prepared for the idiosyncracies of that course.  

Panic Attacks

Rarely do athletes experience panic attacks in pool swimming, but they are fairly common in OWS.  Even seasoned athletes have them at times.  This is because of the combination of cold water that constricts your blood vessels, which causes HR to accelerate.  Since you are in a race, your adrenalin is already high and pushes your HR up, so that second HR increase can raise your HR to a very high level.  If your HR is up, your breathing speed increases to keep the blood that is circulating oxygenated.  That means you are trying to breathe faster as you are trying to swim fast.  Add the constriction of the wet suit or very warm water that can feel claustrophobic, and you can tip over to a full-blown panic attack.  It can feel like you are going to die like you cannot breathe and that you need help now.  

How to handle a panic attack.

First, stop swimming and float on your back if you can.  If the water is too turbulent, grab a buoy or kayak as soon as you are able.  Try swimming with breaststroke.  A panic attack originates in the lizard brain...the autonomic reaction is not one you can reason yourself out of.  It often requires either time or a short circuit of this flight or fight response.  One way is to laugh.   If you laugh, you are interfering with the fear reaction with humor.  Tell yourself a stupid joke that always makes you laugh or think of a ridiculous situation that's always been humorous to yourself.  Try not to chastise yourself for this event.  It's a normal human response.  Knowing how to fix it and go on is your best action! 

Know the signs of SIPE

One dangerous situation that can arise is SIFE.  Swimming induced Pulmonary Edema.  Symptoms of SIPE include coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain or tightness, and – in some cases – hemoptysis (coughing up blood). It can be fatal, but typically symptoms lessen after leaving the water and are completely gone within 48 hours.

Some people say they heard a crackling sound when they breathed.  If you experience these things, YOUR RACE IS OVER.  Get out of the water immediately and get help.