Top 8 Tips for Faster Open Water Swimming
This article covers the top 8 tips I have found in my research to improve your longer, open water swimming speeds. Some of these tips may also be beneficial for shorter, sprint speeds and pool speeds. A basic understanding of how the water acts upon our bodies when we are swimming is crucial for improving swimming. Some of the concepts may seem complex, although I will attempt to describe them as simply as possible, however the solutions are much easier to implement. First of all, we need to be familiar with Netwon's Second Law: Force = Mass x Acceleration This means that for a body of mass (in this case, you) to accelerate (move) you must be acted upon by forces. In the instance of swimming, the main forces are thrust and drag. 1) Drag Drag is the force working against you. Within swimming, there is three types of drag acting upon us. These are: Pressure Drag, Friction Drag and Wave Drag. Pressure Drag is caused by turbulent waters cre...