Open Water Swimming Manual

Lynne Cox has set open water swimming records across the world, and now she has focused her decades-long experience and expertise into this definitive guide to swimming. Open Water Swimming Manual provides a wealth of knowledge for all swimmers, from seasoned triathletes and expert swimmers to beginners exploring open water swimming for the first time. Cox methodically addresses what is needed to succeed at and enjoy open water swimming, including choosing the right bathing suit and sunscreen; surviving in dangerous weather conditions, currents, and waves; confronting various marine organisms; treating ailments, such as being stung or bitten, and much more. Cox calls upon Navy SEAL training materials and instructors’ knowledge of open water swimming and safety procedures to guide her research. In addition, first-hand anecdotes from SEAL specialists and stories of Cox’s own experiences serve as both warnings and proper practices to adopt. Open Water Swimming Manual is the first manual of its kind to make use of oceanography, marine biology, and to weave in stories about the successes and failures of other athletes, giving us a deeper, broader understanding of this exhilarating and fast growing sport.

Open Water Swimming: A Complete Guide for Swimmers and Triathletes is aimed at all levels of open water swimmer, from beginners right through to competing professionals. It covers all aspects of the sport: its history and health benefits; a thorough introduction to getting started; a full discussion on training equipment and how it should be used; the safety and legal aspects of choosing a suitable location for swimming; acclimatization for both the beginner and the experienced swimmer. The author then goes on to explain in detail all technical aspects of open water swimming; sighting; drafting; turning around buoys; entraces, exits and transitions. Topics covered include: the importance of nutrition - for training, competition and improving recovery - and injury prevention and rehab, including a programme for core stability and stretching. The only open water swimming guide to be written by a professional athlete and Olympian. Basic training programmes for Triathlon 750m and 1500m distances, Ironman events and 10km and channel swimming. Superbly illustrated with 75 colour photographs.

Open water swimming is a unique and challenging discipline within the world of aquatics. Unlike pool swimming, open water events take place in natural bodies of water such as oceans, lakes, rivers, and even channels. It demands a combination of physical fitness, mental resilience, and a deep understanding of the aquatic environment.Elite open water swimmers are athletes who have honed their skills and abilities to compete at the highest levels in this demanding sport. They tackle races of varying distances, often navigating through unpredictable conditions, tides, currents, and even marine life. Success in open water swimming requires not only exceptional physical prowess but also the ability to adapt and strategize in the face of ever-changing challenges.

'An important, inspiring book by someone that has encouraged million of people to experience the wonders and friendships of Britain's rivers, lakes and seas' ROBERT MACFARLANE 'A treasured guide for anyone who wants to venture into rivers, estuaries, lakes and seas for a dip, a moonlit swim or a great adventure. I loved this book!' LYNNE COX Capturing the freewheeling spirit, community and wisdom that defines The Outdoor Swimming Society movement, founder Kate Rew reveals everything you need to know to explore rivers, lakes, seas and estuaries. Sharing tales of her own inspiring swims, Kate explores the rich and varied life of outdoor swimmers, from the physiology of cold to planning lazy hazy downstream swims. An exquisite guide for beginners and enthusiasts alike, The Outdoor Swimmers' Handbook will lead you to the shore and become your trusted companion for the adventures ahead.

Open Water Swimming is an essential guide to maneuvering the open-water environment and describes how to prepare logistically, physically, and mentally for open-water swims. The book includes stroke techniques, racing tactics, and training plans for triathlon, middle-distance, and marathon-distance swims.

From the art of efficient pack swimming to the best dryland & pool workouts for improving endurance, strength & power, Open Water Swimming covers it all.

Transform your technique in the water and become a better swimmer with this remarkable new approach to freestyle swimming, suitable for all levels - beginner, intermediate and advanced, as well as swimming coaches. Aimed at both fitness and competitive swimmers, it explains what makes a successful stroke and how to develop your own swimming style. _x000D_The Swim Smooth approach, developed by consultants to the gold medal winning British Triathlon team, helps you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your stroke and provides drill and training tips to make the most of your time in the water. It accepts differences in individual swimmers and shows you how to understand the fundamentals of swimming to find a style that works for you. Technique, fitness training, racing skills and open water swimming are all covered, with photographs and 3D graphics helping you to put theory into practice. _x000D_Swim efficiently. Swim fast. Swim Smooth.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this extraordinary book, the world’s most extraordinary distance swimmer writes about her emotional and spiritual need to swim and about the almost mystical act of swimming itself. Lynne Cox trained hard from age nine, working with an Olympic coach, swimming five to twelve miles each day in the Pacific. At age eleven, she swam even when hail made the water “like cold tapioca pudding” and was told she would one day swim the English Channel. Four years later—not yet out of high school—she broke the men’s and women’s world records for the Channel swim. In 1987, she swam the Bering Strait from America to the Soviet Union—a feat that, according to Gorbachev, helped diminish tensions between Russia and the United States. Lynne Cox’s relationship with the water is almost mystical: she describes swimming as flying, and remembers swimming at night through flocks of flying fish the size of mockingbirds, remembers being escorted by a pod of dolphins that came to her off New Zealand. She has a photographic memory of her swims. She tells us how she conceived of, planned, and trained for each, and re-creates for us the experience of swimming (almost) unswimmable bodies of water, including her most recent astonishing one-mile swim to Antarctica in thirty-two-degree water without a wet suit. She tells us how, through training and by taking advantage of her naturally plump physique, she is able to create more heat in the water than she loses. Lynne Cox has swum the Mediterranean, the three-mile Strait of Messina, under the ancient bridges of Kunning Lake, below the old summer palace of the emperor of China in Beijing. Breaking records no longer interests her. She writes about the ways in which these swims instead became vehicles for personal goals, how she sees herself as the lone swimmer among the waves, pitting her courage against the odds, drawn to dangerous places and treacherous waters that, since ancient times, have challenged sailors in ships.