There will be some races where a pre-race warm up swim is not allowed, but that does not need to stop you from preparing your body for the work to come that day.
Here’s how you can get ready:
- Start with 5-10 minutes of easy running to get core temp up.
- After, continue to stay warm with arm swings and keep blood up top.
- If you have not been able to get into the water before the race at all, try to find time to check out the water’s conditions, currents, landmarks for sighting and the course set up.
- When the water is on the colder side, you will be well-served to dunk the head a few times in the water if possible and get the system ready for it before entry
- Once in the water and the race has started, begin the swim on the easier side and ramp in (see the race warm up protocol below). With a more limited warm up, ramping into a sustainable race pace is going to be much better to avoid hyperventilation and shock to the system.
Once in the water, you can settle into racing with this race warm up:
5 min easy
30 strokes smooth - 30 strokes strong
30 strokes smooth - 25 strokes strong
30 strokes smooth - 20 strokes strong
30 strokes smooth - 15 strokes strong
30 strokes smooth - 10 strokes strong
30 strokes smooth - 5 strokes strong
then back up the other way, beginning with 30 strokes smooth, 5 strong and so on.
Best of luck!