Fitter & Faster Podcast: The Open-Water Swimming Special

Welcome to Triathlete’s training podcast, Fitter & Faster, where we cover one training topic in-depth each month—from the basics to your questions, plus all the gear you need. This month it’s our open-water swimming special.

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You can listen to past episodes with Dr. Stacy Sims, Jay Dicharry, Dean Karnazes, Matt Dixon, cycling guru Matt Bottrill, sports psychologist Jeff Troesch, ageless wonder Dede Griesbauer, coach Ryan Bolton, and plenty more.

In this episode of Fitter & Faster, we dive into all aspects of open-water swimming, including the key skills you need, such as sighting, drafting, and pack swimming, as well as how to overcome that all-too-familiar anxiety that so often is part of swimming in the open water, and how to find the right wetsuit for you.

We chat with coach Megan Melgaard, from triathlon swim program Tower 26, and she highlights the importance of learning the key open-water skills in the pool first before transferring them to the open water. She advises that regularly practicing these skills in training will help lessen the nerves that so many triathletes often feel standing on the start line on race day. We also talk about swim safety and all the things you need to know about swimming in a wetsuit.

We wrap up the show with our gear guru Chris Foster who gives us the lowdown on wetsuits: what to look for in a wetsuit, the best ones he’s tested, as well as the other gear you need for open-water swimming, such as goggles (and choosing the right ones for the conditions) and safety buoys. Like Megan, he also talks about the importance of training in all the gear you’ll be using on race day.

Be sure to check out some of our other open-water swimming resources too:

How Can I Stay Safe Open-Water Swimming?

Learn to Love Open-Water Swimming

Triathlete Live: Open Water Guru Gerry Rodrigues Shares Swimming Tips