The Community Answers “What’s One Mistake You Still Make When Swimming in the Open?”

In our weekly “Ask the Community” series, we ask the open water swimming community a wide range of questions, from silly questions like “what fish would you like to be,” to the more serious, including “have you ever had to be pulled from the water during a swim?” 

Recently, we asked the community “What’s one mistake you still make when swimming in the open?” We received responses on Facebook and Instagram. Here are the responses we received from the open water swimming community: 

Facebook 

• “Not so much a mistake but forgetting to adjust my stroke as needed to the conditions. Where I live, in a single session the currents, wind and even tides can switch in rather quickly. Especially the wind and chop. I forget that I can change my stroke and stroke rate a few times rather than stick with the same ole metronome and form.” - Courtney W. 

• “If I’m tired like yesterday, I dive in without my goggles over my eyes .” - Aaron W. 

• “Not sighting enough.” - Shon J. 

Instagram 

• “Zone out like I’m in the pool and keep my head really low, not looking where I’m going.” - @your_friend_who_loves_horses

• “Not sighting enough.” - @coach_amyvan

• “Not sighting enough too.” - @genii_rutherford 

• “Doubting myself.” - @scardenasjr

• “Starting to think what might be below me.” - @newdad_tri

• “I forget to wear my earplugs!” - @allysonchains

• “Poor sighting.” - @cblythe1

• “Not so much a mistake but forgetting to adjust my stroke as needed to the conditions. Where I live, in a single session the currents, wind and even tides can switch in rather quickly. Especially the wind and chop. I forget that I can change my stroke and stroke rate a few times rather than stick with the same ole metronome and form.” - @cmw_in_the_360

• “Poor sighting, forget Vaseline in my armpits.” - @mrweskayak

• “Not getting out of the boat.” - @bayvoyager