While it's perfectly normal to feel a little nervous when you first do an open-water session, you'll be surprised how quickly you'll come to enjoy swimming in the outdoors. Many centres offer coached  and supervised open-water swim sessions. It

triathlete you will eventually have to take the plunge into the great unknown. But every time you brave an open-water session you'll build the crucial confidence and skills that will prove invaluable on race day.Open-water swimming may seem deep, dark and a

Jumping in the Thames or heading for the beach aren’t always possible when you’re training for a triathlon but there are some open-water swimming skills you can practise in the pool. By spending a few minutes every week honing your ability, you

wanted to be in charge of my life again and I wanted to get back in the water.Open water; a common fear Open-water swimming is a concern for many triathletes: fear can be triggered by anything from the depth and darkness of the water to terror

"There is nothing like pink toilet paper or a floating plaster to come at you from the deep to make you swim faster!" says Duncan Hough, vice chair of the Birmingham Running and Triathlon Club (www.bratclub.co.uk). But your first open-water swim

other words, pit stops for your arms) occupy about a quarter of the time and distance. In open water, a mile will take at least 10 per cent more time to swim (because push-offs boost your speed) and there are no pit stops.Meeting these challenges demands

We've all committed open-water swimming sins. And no, that doesn't mean the undignified fisticuffs at the start of a race, but offences that are entirely our own fault: aiming for a swan instead of a buoy; forgetting everything we know about

markers to judge your pace, but swim pacing is a tricky business. Incorporate these stroke-count and pacing sessions from Dan Bullock, coach and trainer at www.swimfortri.co.uk, into your training and learn how to master your pacing in the open water

Keri-Anne Payne's name is synonymous with open-water swimming. She won silver in the gruelling 10km marathon swim at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games, when open-water made its Olympic debut.With London 2012 quickly approaching, Keri-Anne is predicted

in the water.I swim in two pools - one is a beautiful restored 1930s municipal pool. It's a slightly random 30.5m long (which makes doing the maths of how far I need to swim even harder!). The water is cool and clear and I usually get plenty of room to myself