Chris Swain swims in polluted waters to raise awareness about global issues concerning the safety and future of our oceans and harbors. He has survived collisions with boats, giant storage dams, industrial chemicals, nuclear waste, oil slicks, raw sewage, toxic blue-green algae, and repeated Sea Lamprey Eel attacks (source).

Chris is currently swimming the 1000+ miles from Marblehead, Massachusetts to Washington D.C. Check out Chris’ homepage Swim for a Healthy World (.org) or visit his Changents profile.

Hmmm, does this remind anyone else of the Seinfeld episode when Kramer swims in the East River?

On Friday, USA Swimming announced the names of the open water swimmers set to compete in the 2009 FINA World Championships in July. Open water events will take place between July 19th – 25th in the Harbor of Ostia (pictured).

Pictured: Ostia Lido di Roma in Ostia (Harbor of Ostia) by tedjel

From USASwimming.org:

The open water team at World Championships will be headlined by Pan American champion Fran Crippen (Philadelphia, Pa.) and 2008 NCAA champion Emily Brunemann (Crescent Springs, Ky.), who earned the top qualifying spots in the 10k race in Fort Myers. Both swimmers will compete in the 5k and 10k races in Rome. Second-place qualifier Andrew Gemmell (Wilmington, Del.) will compete in the 5K and 10K, while the women

The fourth installment of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix will double as the XX Sumidero Canyon Marathon on April 18th, 2009. FINA’s open water correspondent in Mexico reports that “The Sumidero Canyon competition will be staged at an altitude 528m above sea level and a mean water temperature of 28

An article on Nola.com from The Times-Picayune talks about training methods for the inaugural running of the Ochsner Ironman 70.3 in New Orleans. The Ochsner Ironman 70.3 New Orleans will be the first half-Ironman to come to the Big Easy. The race will finish in Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter–beautiful.

In any case, the article goes into some particulars about training for the swimming leg of the race. There are basically two schools of thought when preparing for swimming in a triathlon: train in a pool, or train in open water. The Times-Picayune interviewed Ben Elder, the only Level II certified triathlon instructor in the state, who argues that as long as your pool swimming technique is sound you should have no problem in open water events. Here is his quote from the article:

“The best thing to do is get your technique down in the pool,” Elder said. “The pool is a controlled environment for you. Whether you’re swimming in a lake, an ocean or a pool, the mechanics of swimming are the same. If you don’t have those sound mechanics technique-wise, that’s not going to help you.”

Kevin Pilet, co-coordinator of the Greater New Orleans Triathlon Club, would not agree. Pilet has been training triathletes in open water swimming and says that intermediate swimmers may advance further than pool-trained swimmers because they learn in the same environment in which they will be competing.

When looking at both training styles, some strengths and weaknesses emerge for both training camps. Pool swimmers have the luxury of focusing on solid swimming technique in a controlled environment, where a coach can pay close attention to movements, and swimmers can comfortably increase their yardage. Open water-trained swimmers, however, have the benefit of learning specific skills that will help them in the actual race. On the other hand, safe bodies of open water are not always readily available across the country, and receiving feedback from a coach may be difficult.

View the GoSwim.tv video: Open-Water Breathing for a demonstration of different techniques.

My suggestion? Why not do both! Get your basic swimming skills up to snuff and then train at least a few times in open water before the actual competition. Find a coach who is familiar with both styles to receive feedback about the necessary changes in mechanics.

> Visit the Ochsner Ironman 70.3 New Orleans website
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