Five things we learned about Open Water Swimming from #Rio2016
Article by Jason Bryce
Williamstown Open Water Swim Coaching
The Rio Olympics 2016 Open Water events were the most dramatic and exciting Olympic races in the short history of this sport. Both the Men’s and Women’s 10k featured heroic efforts by the competitors, huge twists at the end and completely gripping spectacles throughout.
This article was originally published by Jason Bryce through Open Water Magazine, Issue 5.
But there was more to Rio’s open water races than excitement and the thrill of the best the world striving for gold. This was an educational experience for all swimmers and coaches interested in how our sport is developing.
Rio was a marker, a milestone in the development of open water swimming technique and strategy. Anyone interested in improving their OW swimming needs to watch these events again — and closely. So I have linked to the Olympic YouTube channel here:
Rio Olympics Men’s open water 10k marathon final
Rio Olympics Women’s open water 10k Marathon final
And what did we learn from Rio? Here are five things the world learnt about open water swimming from #Rio2016:
1) The Dutch rule the roost
Dutch swimmers Ferry Weertman and Sharon Van Rouwendaal took away the two open water gold medals on offer at Rio.
Weertman’s ‘catch-up’ gliding freestyle stroke mowed down Australia’s Jarrod Poort in the final stages and he held on to win by a touch from the Greek open water legend Spiros Gianniotis.
Sharon Van Rouwendaal was well in front for most of the second half of the women’s race and no one was near her at the finish. Her 16 second margin over second place is the biggest margin, by a long way, in the Olympic history of marathon swimming.
Both the Dutch gold medalists stroke too slowly to dominate in many pool events, but in the longer open water events, they come into their own. Weertman stretches out for almost a meter in his catch before his stroke begins. Here he is apparently searching for water to catch:
2) You don’t need a high stroke rate in choppy conditions
Conventional open water swimming theory holds that in choppy conditions, swimmers should increase their stroke rate and minimize their glide time at the beginning of the stroke. Get a high catch and pull through quickly is what many open water swimmers are taught. Here is Aussie Pier to Pub legend Sam Sheppard explaining that:
The two gold medalists at Rio did the opposite of that. In the chopped up swell off Copacabana Beach, Weertman cruised ahead of the pack in the final 1 km with a stroke rate more often seen in your local pool’s slow lane.
The critical element though is that the Rio gold medalists both get their shoulders out of the water in recovery — and that is also what Sam Sheppard recommends.
Van Rouwendaal said after the race that she was feeling strong during the race and put on a 200m burst to take the lead. From there she “used my arms” to maintain the lead and “didn’t feel fatigue until near the end.”
She also has a long stroke and a big body rotation to get her shoulders out of the water. Both of the Dutch gold medalists have a long unbalanced loping stroke.
3) A man can sprint for 9km, but 10km?
Open water swimming is, like cycling, a game of cat and mouse. The accepted strategy is to stay with the pack until close to the finish, then sprint. To go out on your own and sprint the entire marathon is unheard of. That strategy is considered more than foolish, it’s madness. Jarrod Poort’s Rio swim may just change that thinking, and change the sport for the better.
He didn’t win, didn’t get a place, and didn’t finish inside the top twenty, but at the end of the day, Jarrod Poort was being described in the press as a cult hero who made open water swimming sexy.
Poort’s coach, Rod McKeon, had prepared him for two years for this strategy. It didn’t quite deliver a medal this time, but they might just have shown the way to a brighter future for the poor cousin of pool swimming.
4) Women do it differently
The world’s top women are showing the way for open water technique, and the men are copying.
The women are getting much higher in the water and preparing for their catch earlier in the stroke recovery. Here’s New Zealander Colleen Nielsen from the Samoa Swim Series 2016 showing us how it’s done:
This high body position is achieved by arching the back and maintaining a strong kick. All the world’s top women are pretty much technically perfect.
5) Kicking — how Rio showed your wetsuit is bad for you
All the top swimmers develop and maintain a powerful kick. Even if its a slow two-beat kick with a longer down-kick, with a gentle recovery, the kick is still there powering a solid core and keeping the legs up behind the front profile of the shoulders and body.
Wetsuit swimmers inevitably get lazy with their kick, and yes, you/re right, your legs won’t sink in a wetty. But with no kick, your core just floats along behind your shoulders. And with no firm foundation for effort, your shoulders and arms are taking on a bigger load. You are probably snaking through the water.
So not only are you not getting any go-forward from your legs, you are less streamlined and getting less power from your arms when you are not kicking.
The best thing about Rio was the spectacle. These warriors of the water showed us the future of our sport and they did so against a backdrop of a beautiful beach and Rio’s amazing skyline.
Who remembers the open water swimming in London? Laps of a murky pond. Who remembers Beijing’s brown canal? Yes, those freshwater venues provided some close vantage points for spectators but swimming in the sea looks appealing. Rio showcased our sport and I vote for swimming in the sea over freshwater any day.
