How to Train Effectively in Open Water
Tips and session ideas to practice this summer season!
Hey Swimmers,
Training in the open water can feel liberating—no black line, no chlorine, no crowded lanes. But as I learned the hard way in 1998 while preparing for the British Junior Triathlon Championships, there’s a catch: if you’re not careful, open water swimming can make you slower.
I spent an entire month swimming in the sea, thinking that race-specific preparation would pay off. It didn’t. I exited the 1500m swim nearly two minutes behind my usual rivals. Why? I’d lost fitness and technique from neglecting the structure of pool training. That lesson still resonates today.
With open water participation booming worldwide, many swimmers are asking:
“How do I train well outside the pool without losing form or speed?”
The answer lies in planning with purpose.
The 3 Elements of a Balanced Open Water Program
At Swim Smooth, we frame all training around three key pillars:
🟢 Technique
Maintaining good mechanics—even when visibility, fatigue, or conditions change—is crucial. Without pool feedback, flaws can creep in unnoticed.
🔵 Fitness
You still need structured sets to build and maintain endurance and threshold pace. Don’t just swim long and slow—include effort changes and interval patterns, even without lane ropes.
🟠 Open Water Skills
Sighting, drafting, pacing in packs, turning around buoys—these are skills, not traits. They need regular practice to become instinctive.
Training Outside Without Losing Your Edge
Too many open water swimmers let technique and fitness slide. But with a little planning, you can build or even improve them outdoors.
Here’s how:
🏊♂️ Open Water Technique Set
Mark out an area roughly 50m x 25m in calm water. Use a GPS watch or landmarks. Here’s a progressive 12x100m drill sequence:
Set 1:
– 25m kick on left side + 25m kick on right (with fins) – posture and alignment focus
– Repeat twice
Set 2:
– Same as Set 1, but add a Freestyle Paddle to the lead hand
Set 3:
– '6-1-6' Drill (6 kicks on side → 1 stroke → 6 kicks other side)
Set 4:
– 25m Scull (with pull buoy) + 75m freestyle focusing on “feel for the water”
📎 See the drill breakdown here →
A Simple But Powerful Drill Sequence
Here in Perth we frequently use a simple drill sequence with the Swim Smooth squads, it's a progression that you can easily introduce into your technique sets or during the warm-up of any session. You may already be performing a similar drill and not truly appreciate the dramatic improvement it can make to your stroke with a different focus.
🌀 Stroke Contrast Set
Improve self-awareness by exaggerating then correcting flaws. Try 4x200m like this:
100m “braking” with palm forwards → 100m correcting to fingers down
100m pressing down on catch → 100m bending elbow into a strong catch
100m thumb-first entry → 100m fingertips-first
100m lifting head to breathe → 100m breathing into the bow wave
📎 More on stroke contrasts →
Stroke Contrasts Revisited
It is very hard to be aware of the flaws in your own stroke technique because they tend to occur in parts of your stroke where you have holes in your proprioception or body awareness. Way back in December 2009 we posted a classic blog to help you self-diagnose such flaws using something called 'stroke contrasts'. This is a very useful method for those w…
💪 Open Water Fitness Set
Set your watch to beep every 3 minutes. Swim at best maintainable pace for 8–10 reps with 30s rest. Track consistency in distance or GPS feedback.
If you're in a lake with marker buoys or flat sea with fixed points, use those for measurement.
Can’t Get to the Ocean or Lake? Train Open Water Skills in the Pool
It’s not always easy or safe to access open water. Jellyfish, sharks, algae blooms—or just logistics—can limit your chances. But that doesn’t mean you can’t prep for open water races.
You can simulate open water conditions in the pool:
Remove lane ropes for pack swimming
Practise buoy turns and drafting
Add sighting practice into drill sets
📎 Here’s a breakdown of how to do that →
Too Cold To Train In The Open Water? No Problem!
Your open water skills are just as important as your stroke technique and swim fitness because you can lose 5, 10 or even 20 seconds per 100m swum in a race by swimming off course, missing out on a good draft or suffering a panic or anxiety attack. For some evidence of that, see
Pros and Cons of Pool vs Open Water Training
One of the major benefits of swimming with the Swim Smooth GURU on your Apple or Garmin device is that we can still provide information on your stroke technique using our patented Stroke Insights℗ in the open water as well as the pool - a great way for you to see where you might need to make some adjustments to swim better in either/both environments:
Takeaway: Combine Environments for Best Results
The best swimmers are adaptable. They refine their mechanics in the pool, then apply and evolve them in open water. While it’s tempting to train only where you feel most comfortable—or most “free”—real progress comes from blending structure with experience.
Next week, we’ll look at something just as important: how to avoid overdoing it, especially when your enthusiasm outpaces your recovery.
Until then! Your Coach, Paul.