how far should be able to swim before you take up open water swimming?

paky

i noticed a lot of people do sea swimming in salthill galway and i must say they're pretty brave to tackle the sea especially in winter! how far should somebody be able to swim in a pool before they go out swimming in the sea?
plus is there any places in dublin where they practice this?

lorcan122

Best place to practice would be in a 50 meter pool, I would probably go to westwood clontarf for that, as the 50 meter in the NAC is only open for a certain amount of hours.

I would suggest swimming 800 meters without stopping, otherwise you just want to be really swimfit, as the ocean is completely different to a pool. And there is no set distance you should be able to swim in a pool to swim in the sea, you just want to be really fit.

martin6651

I'm probably one of the swimmers that you saw swimming in Galway as I go every day. You don't need to be very fit (I'm sixty and don't consider myself fit) all you need is the confidence to know that you can do it. What I suggest is swim in an area where you can put your feet on solid ground if you need to.
As your confidence builds you can venture into deeper water. I have said in another posting about open water swimming what is needed is to be totally relaxed/confident in the water and also there is no shame in swimming to shore and walking back to your start point. There is always another day to come back to swim. Hope this helps

paky

martin6651 wrote: »

I'm probably one of the swimmers that you saw swimming in Galway as I go every day. You don't need to be very fit (I'm sixty and don't consider myself fit) all you need is the confidence to know that you can do it. What I suggest is swim in an area where you can put your feet on solid ground if you need to.
As your confidence builds you can venture into deeper water. I have said in another posting about open water swimming what is needed is to be totally relaxed/confident in the water and also there is no shame in swimming to shore and walking back to your start point. There is always another day to come back to swim. Hope this helps

thanks for that! you dont use a wetsuit of any kind do you?

martin6651

No I don't use a wetsuit. I sometimes use a pair of 3mm leggings if I want to do a long swim 2K +. During the winter I wear a cap, gloves and small booties. I'm thinking of doing the Galway Bay swim(13K) next year so I'll need to wear a suit.

mark 2

You need to do at least 3k Because most events are at leats 800m

orangebud

pretty good swimmer in the pool but once i get into the sea i just freak out no vision,, waves hitting me, drinking sea water

i think ill stay in the chlorine pool for the time being

kris71

just take your time and don't rush into it, start by getting in for 5 min, stay in a shallow water up to your waste just make sure you are not being on the sand bar. And gradually build into it. Remember safety first never swim alone, make sure that there is someone watching you from the ground (with mobile! + know your location) if you don't have that option at least make sure that you have someone who knows where did you go, it wouldn't be a bad idea to instruct them to call coast guard if you don't contact them after your swim... sounds stupid and most of the people don't do it but better safe then sorry.

paky

what times are best to swim, cause of tide and stuff?

kris71

I would say high tide but beginners wise probably tide going in would be safer depends on location as well.