The triathlon swim is lost by people who can swim. They arrive fit, having done the distance in a pool many times, and then discover they cannot see where they are going, cannot breathe to their preferred side because the chop is on it, and cannot stay calm with forty people swimming over them. Sighting, bilateral breathing and crowd tolerance are three separate skills, and none of them are trained by swimming more lengths.
This page is about the swim leg only. Distances and how to choose your first race are covered separately; here I want to deal with why competent pool swimmers have bad open-water swims.
The three skills, and what they cost you
| Skill | What goes wrong without it | Where to drill it |
|---|---|---|
| Sighting | You swim a longer course than everyone else | Pool, every session |
| Bilateral breathing | Chop on your breathing side; you inhale water | Pool, from today |
| Crowd tolerance | Panic in the first 200m | Open water, with a group |
| Wetsuit familiarity | Chest feels crushed; you think you cannot breathe | Open water, before race day |
| Starting easy | You blow up before the first buoy | Everywhere, constantly |
Of these, sighting is the one that costs measurable time and the one nobody practises. Swim ten degrees off line for 1.5km and you have swum a good deal further than the person next to you, at the same effort.
Drilling it in a pool
- Sight every six strokes, on a normal breath. Eyes just clear of the water, like a crocodile. Lift the eyes, not the whole head. Then rotate to breathe as usual.
- Do not sight and breathe in the same movement. That is what lifts the head, drops the hips and wrecks the stroke. Sight, then breathe.
- Practise it in the pool with your eyes on the clock at the far end. Every session, from the first week. It should feel automatic long before you meet a buoy.
- Swim a full 100m breathing only to your weak side. It will be awful. Do it until it is not.
- Swim in the middle of a busy lane deliberately. Get used to being touched, overtaken, and having someone’s feet in front of your face.
- Practise the first 200m easy. Deliberately. In every open-water session. Adrenaline will make you go out hard on race day; the habit has to be stronger than the adrenaline.
The wetsuit and the first two minutes
A wetsuit compresses your chest. Cold water triggers a gasp reflex and a rapid heart rate. Together, at the start of a race, this produces a very convincing sensation that you cannot breathe.
It passes. Slow down, exhale fully and slowly, roll onto your back if you need to, and let the first hundred metres be terrible. Almost everybody experiences some version of this. Almost nobody mentions it afterwards.
Swim in your wetsuit at least four times before you race in it.
Safety in open water
Never swim open water alone. Not for ten minutes, not on a calm day, not because the group cancelled. Swim with a partner or an organised session, wear a bright cap and a tow float, and tell someone on land when you expect to be back.
Respect currents, boat traffic and marine life. In Singapore, swim only in designated areas and organised sessions. Sport Singapore and ActiveSG publish guidance on where open-water swimming is permitted.
Never train breath-holding or hypoxic sets to “prepare” for the swim. Prolonged breath-holding can cause shallow-water blackout, in which a swimmer loses consciousness with no warning and no struggle. It kills strong swimmers. Triathlon requires none of it.
The swim start is the most cardiovascularly stressful moment in age-group endurance sport: cold, adrenaline, compression, exertion, all at once. Get medical clearance before you begin serious training, particularly if you are over forty or returning after time away. Chest pain, dizziness or an irregular heartbeat means stop and seek medical help, in training or in a race. Do not push through it.
If your shoulder hurts, see a physiotherapist. Swim volume on top of a cycling position is unkind to shoulders, and pushing through it ends seasons.
Common mistakes
- Training the swim only in a pool. The pool builds the stroke; open water teaches you to use it.
- Sighting by lifting the whole head. Hips drop, legs sink, you slow down and tire.
- Breathing to one side only. The chop will be on that side. It always is.
- Sprinting off the line. Go out easy. You will pass people at 400m.
- Racing in an unfamiliar wetsuit. It changes buoyancy, shoulder range and breathing.
- Assuming fitness equals calm. It does not. Calm is a trained skill.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I sight in a triathlon swim?
Every six to ten strokes in open water, more often in chop or when buoys are close. Lift only the eyes.
Do I need to breathe bilaterally?
You need to be able to. You can race breathing to one side, but if the waves are on that side you will regret it.
Why do I panic at the swim start?
Cold-shock response, wetsuit compression and adrenaline together. Slow down, breathe out fully, and let the first two minutes be uncomfortable. It resolves.
Is breaststroke allowed?
Yes. Any stroke is legal. Switching to breaststroke to calm down mid-swim is sensible, not shameful.
How much open-water practice do I need?
At least four sessions, in the wetsuit you will race in, with other people around you. Once is not enough.
Where do I fix my stroke first?
In a pool, with a coach watching. See privateswimming.sg for one-to-one work and swimmingclasses.sg for structured classes. If you cannot yet swim continuously, start there rather than with a race entry — find a pool at swimmingnearme.sg.
Nobody drowns on the bike. Train sighting in every pool session, breathe to both sides, and go out easy. Those three habits are the swim leg.
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