22/08/2026
Open-water swimming has taught me that being a good swimmer and being a good OPEN-WATER swimmer are not quite the same thing.
What I now understand about open-water swimming came from actually spending time in cold UK lakes, reservoirs and seas.
Because fitness is only part of the equation.
You can be beautifully efficient in a 25 m pool and suddenly find yourself struggling when you remove the lane ropes, the black line and the warm water.
Over the years, a few things have stuck with me:
1. Confidence is a performance variable.
The first few minutes of an open-water swim can feel completely different from pool swimming.
Cold water. Restricted visibility. People around you. An elevated breathing rate. Occasionally a foot in the face.
The swimmer who can settle, control their breathing and make good decisions often performs far better than their pool times might predict.
2. You need to practise the environment, not just the physiology.
Pool fitness transfers. Pool familiarity doesn’t necessarily.
Sighting, swimming straight, drafting, turning around buoys, swimming in chop, dealing with contact and finding the exit are all skills.
They deserve practice just like threshold sets do.
3. Cold water changes things very quickly.
That initial respiratory response can make a perfectly fit athlete feel remarkably unfit.
The answer isn’t simply to “toughen up”.
Appropriate exposure, familiarisation, sensible progression and respecting the conditions matter.
4. Technique becomes a little more adaptable.
Open water isn’t always the place for your prettiest pool stroke.
Chop, swell, navigation, other swimmers and a wetsuit can all alter the movement solution you use.
Sometimes being effective matters more than looking technically perfect.
5. Don’t underestimate the transition back onto land.
Anyone who has raced knows that slightly drunken feeling of standing up after a hard swim.
You’ve gone from horizontal exercise, often in cold water, straight into running.
Practising the exit and transition can be surprisingly useful.
6. Experience doesn’t make the water predictable.
It makes YOU better at responding to it.
That might be the biggest lesson.
Open-water swimming isn’t about proving how tough you are.
It’s learning to assess the conditions, understand your own capabilities, make sensible decisions and become comfortable operating in an environment that will never be completely controllable.
And after decades around endurance sport, I increasingly think that’s part of what makes it so appealing.
Fitness gets you through the water. Experience teaches you how to deal with everything else.
Open-water swimming carries genuine risks. Use appropriate supervised/recognised venues where possible, understand the conditions and temperature, have a clear entry/exit plan and never allow confidence or competitive instinct to override sensible decision-making.
