A common experience during a triathlon swim or an open water swim is going off course. Because we spend most of our time face down in the water, it is normal to swim to far too the left or too far to the right before noticing that a correction is in order.

Learning how to see where we are going as we swim is an important part of swimming. Going off course by just ten percent is the same as being ten percent slower.

The breaststroke has a great deal to offer when swimming in the open water. Here is what the breaststroke has to offer as a seeing, sighting stroke while swimming.

1) We are able to look straight and swim straight at the target easily.

2) We give our freestyle muscles a rest while we are sighting with the breaststroke.
Too often, I think there is a freestyle swim machismo in triathlons regarding the freestyle stroke. Many beginning triathletes think that because experienced swimmers swim freestyle the entire distance that they should swim freestyle the entire distance too. From what I have seen though, many non-professional triathletes have poor sighting skills and often go off course or follow others off course inadvertently when sticking to just a freestyle stroke. It’s common to observe a triathlon swim where competitors go off course until a kayaker stops them or until they stop themselves to see where they are going.

When swimming outdoors determine how far you can swim before you are going off course. Before you normally would go off course, learn to look.

By practicing sighting indoors a swimming rhythm is developed will help a triathlon swim a great deal. At the half way point in your pool, regularly take looks to see where you are going to develop that part of your open water swim technique.