Poise Is Power In The Open Water

Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

In a competitive open water race with a mass start, sometimes swimmers get boxed in swimming within a pack.

In the words of national champion Eney Jones, "Poise is power."

That is, stay cool, calm and collected. Understand the situation and resolve it.

When describing what to do when one gets boxed in swimming within a pack, Eney Jones recommends, "Sometimes no matter what preparation you have done, you can get boxed in rounding a buoy in a race. It is your reaction that counts, not the situation."

"Your training should include working "power catches" with a halo machine or head-up water polo drills or 0-60 acceleration drills. You can also work on mermaid turns where you flip at the flags, or in open water, do an actual flip turn and work on acceleration at the beginning of the stroke to initiate forward propulsion. Power towers or baskets also help increase strength. Sometimes, proper placement entering the turn will not result in what you intend because you have no control of the others rounding the buoys. Just deal with your placement, but resolve it with the correct mental control, power and finesse."

Photo shows Eney Jones racing against Olympic gold medalist Brendan Hansen in the Race for the Oceans in Ft. Myers, Florida.

Copyright © 2009 by World Open Water Swimming Association

Another Sign of the Times

In another example of the increasing cross-over between pool swimming and open water swimming, the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) and PMG Aquatics are working with Olympian Brendan Hansen and Rowdy Gaines to promote, host and expand the 39th Annual Ft. Lauderdale RoughWater Swim.

"We are very excited to be a part of this race with its incredible history and to partner with the International Swimming Hall of Fame in promoting a great open water event while simultaneously promoting a worthy cause in drowning prevention," said Bobby Brewer, Vice President of PMG Aquatics.


The Ft. Lauderdale RoughWater Swim on January 3, 2009, will feature one-mile race, a 5K race, a 3-person team race for the Ocean Mile and 5K race, and ¼- and ½-mile swims for the younger kids. It was started back in 1969 by the legendary Buck Dawson (shown on left), founder of the International Swimming Hall of Fame and one of the early open water swimming visionaries.

Photos of the Ft. Lauderdale RoughWater Swim start and turn from the Ft. Lauderdale RoughWater Swim website.

PureSport in the Pool and Open Water

While the Russian open water swimmers will take 3 different kinds of hydration formulations during the course of the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim, the American team has been experimenting with PureSport drinks.


PureSport drinks are also used by Olympic champions Michael Phelps, Aaron Peirsol, Ian Crocker and Brendan Hansen. They use PureSport Workout and Recovery nutritional performance sports drinks before, during and after their workouts.

Because the open water athletes will be swimming at a punishing pace for nearly 2 hours under smoggy, hot and humid conditions in very warm water in the outdoor Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing park, proper hydration during the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim will be a key element of success.

Under such conditions, the open water athletes usually come out of the water looking extremely drained and in pain...but nothing a gold medal performance cannot cure.

Photo of Mark Warkentin after the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Championships by USA Swimming.

Copyright © 2008 by World Open Water Swimming Association