Open Water Swimming After 50: What the Pool Didn't Prepare You For
Experienced pool swimmers regularly underperform in open water. The absence of lane lines, the inability to see the bottom, cold temperatures, chop, sighting requirements, and the presence of other swimmers all add variables that pool training does not address.
For 50-plus athletes preparing for a triathlon, an open water event, or simply expanding their swimming beyond the pool: the transition to open water requires specific preparation, not just more pool laps.
Cold water acclimatisation
Cold water shock — the involuntary gasp and hyperventilation response to sudden cold water immersion — is a genuine physiological response that can disorient even experienced swimmers. Acclimatisation reduces the severity of the response.
Introduce cold exposure progressively. Pool swimming at 78 degrees does not prepare you for a 62-degree lake. Open water sessions in the weeks before a race — even brief ones — make the race-day temperature manageable.
For 50-plus athletes: thermoregulation is somewhat less efficient than it was at 30. Wetsuits are not weakness — they are equipment that allows longer, safer sessions in cold water.
Sighting: the skill nobody teaches
In a pool, you navigate by looking at the black line. In a lake, you look up every six to eight strokes to orient yourself to a buoy or landmark. Sighting correctly — lifting your eyes while maintaining your stroke — takes practice.
Poor sighting technique adds significant distance to every open water swim. A swimmer who sights inefficiently and swims a crooked line can add 200 to 400 metres to a 1,500 metre course.
Practise sighting in the pool first: look forward, eyes at water level, then rotate to breathe. When you move to open water, use a stationary landmark — a tree, a building — rather than relying on buoys that are hard to spot in chop.
Wetsuit use and selection
Wetsuits provide buoyancy and thermal protection. For most 50-plus triathletes, they meaningfully reduce the effort required to maintain position in the water — which matters for the bike and run that follow.
Full suits versus sleeveless: full suits provide more buoyancy and warmth; sleeveless suits offer more shoulder mobility. For athletes with shoulder limitations (common over 50), a sleeveless suit is often more comfortable.
Fit matters significantly. A wetsuit that fits correctly is transformative. One that fits poorly restricts breathing and shoulder mobility and makes the swim harder than it needs to be.
Race day strategy
Start wide or at the back to avoid the washing machine of the mass start. The five minutes of time you lose avoiding contact is easily worth it compared to the energy and anxiety cost of fighting through a scramble.
Draft if you can. Swimming in the wake of another swimmer reduces effort by 20 to 30 percent — similar to cycling drafting. Legal in open water swimming events (not triathlon), and a significant advantage in rough conditions.
For Ironman and triathlon: exit the water with something left. The swim is 10 percent of a half Ironman. Blowing up on the swim to save three minutes is a losing trade.
